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Canoe of New Zealand.

THE
THREE
VOYAGES
OF
CAPTAIN JAMES COOK
ROUND THE WORLD.

COMPLETE

In Seven Volumes.

WITH MAP AND OTHER PLATES.

VOL. II.

BEING THE SECOND OF THE FIRST VOYAGE.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR

LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN,

PATERNOSTER-ROW.

1821.

CONTENTS
OF
THE SECOND VOLUME.

AN

ACCOUNT

OF A

VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD,

IN 1768, 1769, 1770, AND 1771.

BOOK II.
CHAP. VII.
RANGE FROM CAPE TURNAGAIN SOUTHWARD ALONG THE EASTERN COAST OF POENAMMOO, ROUND CAPE SOUTH, AND BACK TO THE WESTERN ENTRANCE OF COOK’S STREIGHT, WHICH COMPLETED THE CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THIS COUNTRY; WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE COAST, AND OF ADMIRALTY BAY: THE DEPARTURE FROM NEW ZEALAND, AND VARIOUS PARTICULARS.

At four o’clock in the afternoon of Friday the 9th of February, we tacked, and stood S. W. till eight o’clock the next morning; when, being not above three or four miles from the shore, we stood off two hours, and then again S. W. till noon, when, at the distance of about two miles from the shore, we had twenty-six fathom water.

We continued to make sail to the southward till sunset on the 11th, when a fresh breeze at N. E. had carried us back again the length of Cape Palliser, of which as the weather was clear we had a good view. It is of a height sufficient to be seen in clear weather at the distance of twelve or fourteen leagues, and the land is of a broken and hilly surface. Between the foot of the high land and the sea there is a low flat border, off which there are some rocks that appear above water. Between this Cape and Cape Turnagain, the land near the shore is, in many places, low and flat, and has a green and pleasant appearance; but farther from the sea it rises into hills. The land between Cape Palliser and Cape Tierawitte is high and makes in table-points; it also seemed to us to form two bays, but we were at too great a distance from this part of the coast to judge accurately from appearances. The wind having been variable, with calms, we had advanced no farther by the 12th at noon than latitude 41° 52ʹ, Cape Palliser then bearing north, distant about five leagues; and the snowy mountain S. 83 W.

At noon on the 13th, we found ourselves in the latitude of 42° 2ʹ S.; Cape Palliser bearing N. 20 E. distant eight leagues. In the afternoon, a fresh gale sprung up at N. E., and we steered S. W. by W. for the southermost land in sight, which at sunset bore from us S. 74 W. At this time the variation was 15° 4ʹ E.

At eight o’clock in the morning of the 14th, having run one-and-twenty leagues S. 58 W. since the preceding noon, it fell calm. We were then abreast of the snowy mountain which bore from us N. W. and in this direction lay behind a mountainous ridge of nearly the same height, which rises directly from the sea, and runs parallel with the shore, which lies N. E. ½ N. and S. W. ½ S. The north-west end of the ridge rises inland, not far from Cape Campbell; and both the mountain and the ridge are distinctly seen as well from Cape Koamaroo as Cape Palliser: from Koamaroo they are distant two-and-twenty leagues S. W. ½ S.; and from Cape Palliser thirty leagues W. S. W.; and are of a height sufficient to be seen at a much greater distance. Some persons on board were of opinion that they were as high as Teneriffe; but I did not think them as high as Mount Egmont on the south-west coast of Eahienomauwe; because the snow, which almost entirely covered Mount Egmont, lay only in patches upon these. At noon this day, we were in latitude 42° 34ʹ S. The southernmost land in sight bore S. W. ½ W.; and some low land that appeared like an island, and lay close under the foot of the ridge, bore N. W. by N. about five or six leagues.

In the afternoon, when Mr. Banks was out in the boat a shooting, we saw with our glasses four double canoes, having on board fifty-seven men, put off from that shore, and make towards him; we immediately made signals for him to come on board; but the ship, with respect to him, being right in the wake of the sun, he did not see them. We were at a considerable distance from the shore, and he was at a considerable distance from the ship, which was between him and the shore; so that, it being a dead calm, I began to be in some pain for him, fearing that he might not see the canoes time enough to reach the ship before they should get up with him: soon after, however, we saw his boat in motion, and had the pleasure to take him on board before the Indians came up, who probably had not seen him, as their attention seemed to be wholly fixed upon the ship. They came within about a stone’s cast, and then stopped, gazing at us with a look of vacant astonishment: Tupia exerted all his eloquence to prevail upon them to come nearer, but without any effect. After surveying us for some time, they left us, and made towards the shore; but had not measured more than half the distance between that and the ship before it was dark. We imagined that these people had heard nothing of us, and could not but remark the different behaviour and dispositions of the inhabitants of the different parts of this coast upon their first approaching the vessel. These kept aloof with a mixture of timidity and wonder; others had immediately commenced hostilities, by pelting us with stones: the gentleman whom we had found alone, fishing in his boat, seemed to think us entirely unworthy of his notice; and some, almost without invitation, had come on board with an air of perfect confidence and good-will. From the behaviour of our last visitors, I gave the land from which they had put off, and which, as I have before observed, had the appearance of an island, the name of Lookers-on.

At eight o’clock in the evening, a breeze sprung up at S. S. W. with which I stretched off south-east, because some on board thought they saw land in that quarter. In this course we continued till six o’clock the next morning, when we had run eleven leagues, but saw no land, except that which we had left.—Having stood to the S. E. with a light breeze, which veered from the west to the north, till noon, our latitude by observation was 42° 56ʹ S., and the high land that we were abreast of the preceding noon bore N. N. W. ½ W. In the afternoon we had a light breeze at N. E. with which we steered west, edging in for the land, which was distant about eight leagues. At seven in the evening, we were about six leagues from the shore, and the southermost extremity of the land in sight bore W. S. W.

At daybreak on the 16th, we discovered land bearing S. by W. and seemingly detached from the coast we were upon. About eight, a breeze sprung up, at N. by E. and we steered directly for it. At noon, we were in latitude 43° 19ʹ S. the peak on the snowy mountain bore N. 20 E. distant twenty-seven leagues; the southern extremity of the land we could see bore west, and the land which had been discovered in the morning appeared like an island extending from S. S. W. to S. W. by W. ½ W. distant about eight leagues. In the afternoon, we stood to the southward of it, with a fresh breeze at north: at eight in the evening, we had run eleven leagues, and the land then extended from S. W. by W. to N. by W. We were then distant about three or four leagues from the nearest shore, and in this situation had fifty fathom water, with a fine sandy bottom. The variation of the compass by this morning’s amplitude was 14° 39ʹ E.

At sunrise, the next morning, our opinion that the land we had been standing for was an island, was confirmed, by our seeing part of the land of Tovy Poenammoo open to the westward of it, extending as far as W. by S. At eight in the morning, the extremes of the island bore N. 76 W. and N. N. E. ½ E.; and an opening near the south point, which had the appearance of a bay or harbour, N. 20 W. distant between three and four leagues: in this situation we had thirty-eight fathom water with a brown sandy bottom.

This island, which I named after Mr. Banks, lies about five leagues from the coast of Tovy Poenammoo; the south point bears S. 21 W. from the highest peak on the snowy mountain, and lies in latitude 43° 32ʹ S. and in longitude 186° 30ʹ W. by an observation of the sun and moon which was made this morning: it is of a circular figure, and about twenty-four leagues in compass: it is sufficiently high to be seen at the distance of twelve or fifteen leagues, and the land has a broken irregular surface, with the appearance rather of barrenness than fertility; yet it was inhabited, for we saw smoke in one place, and a few straggling natives in another.

When this island was first discovered in the direction of S. by W. some persons on board were of opinion that they also saw land bearing S. S. E. and S. E. by E. I was myself upon the deck at the time, and told them, that in my opinion it was no more than a cloud, and that as the sun rose it would dissipate and vanish. However, as I was determined to leave no subject for disputation which experiment could remove, I ordered the ship to be wore, and steered E. S. E. by compass, in the direction which the land was said to bear from us at that time. At noon we were in latitude 44° 7ʹ S.; the south point of Banks’s Island bearing north, distant five leagues. By seven o’clock at night we had run eight-and-twenty miles, when seeing no land, nor any signs of any, but that which we had left, we bore away S. by W. and continued upon that course till the next day at noon, when we were in latitude 45° 16ʹ, the south point of Banks’s Island bearing N. 6° 30ʹ W. distant twenty-eight leagues. The variation by the azimuth this morning was 15° 30ʹ E. As no signs of land had yet appeared to the southward, and as I thought that we had stood far enough in that direction to weather all the land we had left, judging from the report of the natives in Queen Charlotte’s Sound, I hauled to the westward.

We had a moderate breeze at N. N. W. and N. till eight in the evening, when it became unsettled; and at ten fixed at south: during the night, it blew with such violence that it brought us under our close reefed topsails. At eight the next morning, having run twenty-eight leagues upon a W. by N. ½ N. course, and judging ourselves to be to the westward of the land of Tovy Poenammoo, we bore away N. W. with a fresh gale at south. At ten, having run eleven miles upon this course, we saw land extending from the S. W. to the N. W. at the distance of about ten leagues, which we hauled up for. At noon, our latitude by observation was 44° 38ʹ, the south-east point of Banks’s Island bore N. 58° 30ʹ E. distant thirty leagues, and the main body of the land in sight W. by N. A head sea prevented us from making much way to the southward; at seven in the evening the extremes of the land stretched from S. W. by S. to N. by W.; and at six leagues from the shore we had thirty-two fathom water. At four o’clock the next morning we stood in for the shore W. by S., and during a course of four leagues our depth of water was from thirty-two to thirteen fathom. When it was thirteen fathom we were but three miles distant from the shore, and therefore stood off; its direction is here nearly N. and S. The surface, to the distance of about five miles from the sea, is low and flat; but it then rises into hills of a considerable height. It appeared to be totally barren, and we saw no signs of its being inhabited. Our latitude, at noon, was 44° 44ʹ; and the longitude which we made from Banks’s Island to this place was 2° 22ʹ W. During the last twenty-four hours, though we carried as much sail as the ship would bear, we were driven three leagues to the leeward.

We continued to stand off and on all this day and the next, keeping at the distance of between four and twelve leagues from the shore, and having water from thirty-five to fifty-three fathom. On the 22d, at noon, we had no observation, but by the land judged ourselves to be about three leagues farther north than we had been the day before. At sunset, the weather, which had been hazy, clearing up, we saw a mountain which rose in a high peak, bearing N. W. by N.; and at the same time we saw the land more distinctly than before, extending from N. to S. W. by S. which, at some distance within the coast, had a lofty and mountainous appearance. We soon found that the accounts which had been given us by the Indians in Queen Charlotte’s Sound of the land to the southward were not true; for they had told us that it might be circumnavigated in four days.

On the 23d, having a hollow swell from the S. E. and expecting wind from the same quarter, we kept plying between seven and fifteen leagues from the shore, having from seventy to forty-four fathom. At noon, our latitude by observation was 44° 40ʹ S. and our longitude from Banks’s Island 1° 31ʹ W. From this time to six in the evening it was calm; but a light breeze then springing up at E. N. E. we steered S. S. E. all night, edging off from the land, the hollow swell still continuing; our depth of water was from sixty to seventy-five fathom. While we were becalmed, Mr. Banks, being out in the boat, shot two Port Egmont hens, which were in every respect the same as those that are found in great numbers upon the island of Faro, and were the first of the kind we had seen upon this coast, though we fell in with some a few days before we made land.

At daybreak, the wind freshened, and before noon we had a strong gale at N. N. E. At eight in the morning we saw the land extending as far as S. W. by S. and steered directly for it. At noon, we were in latitude 45° 22ʹ S.; and the land, which now stretched from S. W. ½ S. to N. N. W. appeared to be rudely diversified by hill and valley. In the afternoon, we steered S. W. by S. and S. W. edging in for the land with a fresh gale at north; but though we were at no great distance, the weather was so hazy that we could see nothing distinctly upon it, except a ridge of high hills lying not far from the sea, and parallel to the coast, which in this place stretches S. by W. and N. by E., and seemed to end in a high bluff point to the southward. By eight in the evening we were abreast of this point; but it being then dark, and I not knowing which way the land trended, we brought to for the night. At this time, the point bore west, and was distant about five miles: our depth of water was thirty-seven fathom, and the bottom consisted of small pebbles.

At daybreak, having made sail, the point bore north, distant three leagues, and we now found that the land trended from it S. W. by W. as far as we could see. This point I named Cape Saunders, in honour of Sir Charles. Our latitude was 45° 35ʹ S., and longitude 189° 4ʹ W. By the latitude, and the angles that are made by the coast, this point will be sufficiently known; there is, however, about three or four leagues to the south-west of it, and very near the shore, a remarkable saddle-hill, which is a good direction to it on that quarter. From one league to four leagues north of Cape Saunders, the shore forms two or three bays, in which there appeared to be good anchorage, and effectual shelter from the S. W. westerly, and N. westerly winds; but my desire of getting to the southward, in order to ascertain whether this country was an island or a continent, prevented my putting into any of them.

We kept at a small distance from the shore all this morning, with the wind at S. W., and had a very distinct view of it: it is of a moderate height, and the surface is broken by many hills which are green and woody; but we saw no appearance of inhabitants. At noon, Cape Saunders bore N. 30 W. distant about four leagues. We had variable winds and calms till five o’clock in the evening, when it fixed at W. S. W. and soon blew so hard that it put us past our topsails, and split the foresail all to pieces: after getting another to the yard, we continued to stand to the southward under two courses; and at six the next morning, the southermost land in sight bore W. by N. and Cape Saunders N. by W. distant eight leagues: at noon, it bore N. 20 W. fourteen leagues; and our latitude by observation was 46° 36ʹ. The gale continued, with heavy squalls and a large hollow sea all the afternoon; and at seven in the evening, we lay to under our foresail, with the ship’s head to the southward: at noon on the 27th, our latitude was 46° 54ʹ, and our longitude from Cape Saunders 1° 24ʹ E. At seven in the evening, we made sail under our courses; and at eight the next morning set the topsails close reefed. At noon, our latitude was 47° 43ʹ, and our longitude east from Cape Saunders 2° 10ʹ. At this time, we wore and stood to the northward: in the afternoon, we found the variation to be 16° 34ʹ E. At eight in the evening, we tacked and stood to the southward, with the wind at west.

At noon this day, our latitude by account was 47° 52ʹ, and our longitude from Cape Saunders 1° 8ʹ E. We stood to the southward till half an hour past three in the afternoon; and then, being in latitude 48° S. and longitude 188° W., and seeing no appearance of land, we tacked and stood to the northward, having a large swell from the S. W. by W. At noon the next day, our latitude was 46° 42ʹ S.; and Cape Saunders bore N. 46° W. distant eighty-six miles. The south-west swell continuing till the 3d, confirmed our opinion, that there was no land in that quarter. At four in the afternoon, we stood to the westward with all the sail we could make. In the morning of the 4th, we found the variation to be 16° 16ʹ E. This day we saw some whales and seals, as we had done several times after our having passed the streight; but we saw no seal while we were upon the coast of Eahienomauwe. We sounded both in the night and this morning, but had no ground with one hundred and fifty fathom. At noon, we saw Cape Saunders bearing N. ½ W.; and our latitude by observation was 46° 31ʹ S. At half an hour past one o’clock, we saw land bearing W. by S., which we steered for, and before it was dark were within three or four miles of it: during the whole night we saw fires upon it, and at seven in the morning were within about three leagues of the shore, which appeared to be high, but level. At three o’clock in the afternoon, we saw the land extending from N. E. by N. to N. W. ½ N.; and soon after we discovered some low land, which appeared like an island, bearing S. ½ W. We continued our course to the W. by S., and in two hours we saw high land over the low land, extending to the southward as far as S. W. by S.; but did not appear to be joined to the land to the northward, so that there is either water, a deep bay, or low land between them.

At noon on the 6th, we were nearly in the same situation as at noon on the day before: in the afternoon we found the variation, by several azimuths and the amplitude, to be 15° 10ʹ E. On the 7th at noon, we were in latitude 47° 6ʹ S., and had made twelve miles easting during the last twenty-four hours. We stood to the westward the remainder of this day, and all the next till sunset, when the extremes of the land bore from N. by E. to W. distant about seven or eight leagues: in this situation our depth of water was fifty-five fathom, and the variation by amplitude 16° 29ʹ E. The wind now veered from the N. to the W., and as we had fine weather, and moonlight, we kept standing close upon the wind to the S. W. all night. At four in the morning, we had sixty fathom water; and at daylight we discovered under our bow a ledge of rocks, extending from S. by W. to W. by S. upon which the sea broke very high: they were not more than three quarters of a mile distant, yet we had five-and-forty fathom water. As the wind was at N. W. we could not now weather them, and as I was unwilling to run to leeward, I tacked and made a trip to the eastward; the wind however soon after coming to the northward, enabled us to get clear of all. Our soundings, while we were passing within the ledge, were from thirty-five to forty-seven fathom, with a rocky bottom.

This ledge lies S. E. six leagues from the southermost part of the land, and S. E. by E. from some remarkable hills which stand near the shore: about three leagues to the northward of it, there is another ledge, which lies full three leagues from the shore, and on which the sea broke in a dreadful surf. As we passed these rocks to the north in the night, and discovered the others under our bow at break of day, it is manifest that our danger was imminent, and our escape critical in the highest degree: from the situation of these rocks, so well adapted to catch unwary strangers, I called them the Traps. Our latitude at noon was 47° 26ʹ S. The land in sight, which had the appearance of an island, extended from N. E. by N. to N. W. by W., and seemed to be about five leagues distant from the main; the eastermost ledge of rocks bore S. S. E. distant one league and an half, and the northermost N. E. ½ E. distant about three leagues. This land is high and barren, with nothing upon it but a few straggling shrubs, for not a single tree was to be seen; it was however remarkable for a number of white patches, which I took to be marble, as they reflected the sun’s rays very strongly: other patches of the same kind we had observed in different parts of this country, particularly in Mercury Bay: we continued to stand close upon a wind to the westward, and at sunset the southermost point of land bore N. 38 E. distant four leagues, and the westermost land in sight bore N. 2 E. The point which lies in latitude 47° 19ʹ S. longitude 192° 12ʹ W. I named South Cape; the westermost land was a small island, lying off the point of the main.

Supposing South Cape to be the southern extremity of this country, as indeed it proved to be, I hoped to get round it by the west, for a large hollow swell from the south-west, ever since our last hard gale, had convinced me that there was no land in that direction.

In the night we had a hard gale at N. E. by N. and N. which brought us under our courses, but about eight in the morning it became moderate; and at noon, veering to the west, we tacked and stood to the northward, having no land in sight. Our latitude, by observation, was 47° 33ʹ S., our longitude, west from the South Cape, 59ʹ. We stood away N. N. E. close upon a wind, without seeing any land, till two the next morning, when we discovered an island bearing N. W. by N. distant about five leagues: about two hours afterwards we saw land a-head, upon which we tacked and stood off till six, when we stood in to take a nearer view of it: at eleven we were within three leagues of it, but the wind seeming to incline upon the shore, I tacked and stood off to the southward. We had now sailed round the land which we had discovered on the 5th, and which then did not appear to be joined to the main which lay north of it; and being now come to the other side of what we supposed to be water, a bay, or low land, it had the same appearance, but when I came to lay it down upon paper I saw no reason to suppose it to be an island; on the contrary, I was clearly of opinion that it made part of the main. At noon, the western extremity of the main bore N. 59 W., and the island which we had seen in the morning S. 59 W. distant about five leagues. It lies in latitude 46° 31ʹ S. longitude 192° 49ʹ W., and is nothing but a barren rock about a mile in circuit, remarkably high, and lies full five leagues distant from the main. This island I named after Dr. Solander, and called it Solander’s Island. The shore of the main lies nearest E. by S. and W. by N. and forms a large open bay, in which there is no appearance of any harbour or shelter for shipping against S. W. and southerly winds: the surface of the country is broken into craggy hills, of a great height, on the summits of which are several patches of snow: it is not, however, wholly barren, for we could see wood not only in the valleys, but upon the highest ground, yet we saw no appearance of its being inhabited.

We continued to stand to the S. W. by S. till eleven o’clock the next morning, when the wind shifted to the S. W. by W., upon which we wore, and stood to the N. N. W., being then in latitude 47° 40ʹ S. longitude 193° 50ʹ W., and having a hollow sea from the S. W.

During the night, we steered N. N. W. till six in the morning, when, seeing no land, we steered N. by E. till eight, when we steered N. E. by E. ½ E. to make the land, which at ten we saw bearing E. N. E., but it being hazy, we could distinguish nothing upon it. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 46° S. About two it cleared up, and the land appeared to be high, rude, and mountainous: about half an hour after three I hauled in for a bay, in which there appeared to be good anchorage; but in about an hour, finding the distance too great to run before it would be dark, and the wind blowing too hard to make the attempt safe in the night, I bore away along the shore.

This bay, which I called Dusky Bay, lies in latitude 45° 47ʹ S.: it is between three and four miles broad at the entrance, and seems to be full as deep as it is broad: it contains several islands, behind which there must be shelter from all winds, though possibly there may not be sufficient depth of water. The north point of this bay, when it bears S. E. by S., is rendered very remarkable by five high peaked rocks which lie off it, and have the appearance of the four fingers and thumb of a man’s hand, for which reason I called it Point Five Fingers: the land of this point is farther remarkable, for being the only level land within a considerable distance. It extends near two leagues to the northward, is lofty, and covered with wood: the land behind it is very different, consisting wholly of mountains, totally barren and rocky; and this difference gives the Cape the appearance of an island.

At sunset, the southermost land in sight bore due south, distant about five or six leagues; and as this is the westermost point of land upon the whole coast, I called it West Cape. It lies about three leagues to the southward of Dusky Bay, in the latitude of 45° 54ʹ S. and in the longitude of 193° 17ʹ W. The land of this Cape is of a moderate height next the sea, and has nothing remarkable about it, except a very white cliff, two or three leagues to the southward of it: to the southward of it also the land trends away to the S. E. and to the northward it trends N. N. E.

Having brought to for the night, we made sail along the shore at four in the morning, in the direction of N. E. ½ N. with a moderate breeze at S. S. E. At noon our latitude, by observation, was 45° 13ʹ S. At this time, being about a league and a half from the shore, we sounded, but had no ground with seventy fathom: we had just passed a small narrow opening in land, where there seemed to be a very safe and convenient harbour, formed by an island, which lay in the middle of the opening at east. The opening lies in latitude 45° 16ʹ S., and on the land behind it are mountains, the summits of which were covered with snow, that appeared to have been recently fallen; and indeed for two days past we had found the weather very cold. On each side of the entrance of the opening, the land rises almost perpendicularly from the sea to a stupendous height, and this indeed was the reason why I did not carry the ship into it, for no wind could blow there but right in, or right out, in the direction of either east or west, and I thought it by no means advisable to put into a place whence I could not have got out but with a wind which experience had taught me did not blow more than one day in a month. In this, however, I acted contrary to the opinion of some persons on board, who in very strong terms expressed their desire to harbour for present convenience, without any regard to future disadvantages.

In the evening, being about two leagues from the shore, we sounded, and had no ground with 108 fathom: the variation of the needle, by azimuth, was 14° E. and by amplitude 15° 2ʹ. We made the best of our way along the shore with what wind we had, keeping at the distance of between two and three leagues. At noon, we were in latitude 44° 47ʹ, having run only twelve leagues upon a N. E. ¼ N. course, during the last four-and-twenty hours.

We continued to steer along the shore, in the direction of N. E. ¼ E. till six o’clock in the evening, when we brought to for the night. At four in the morning, we stood in for the land, and when the day broke we saw what appeared to be an inlet; but upon a nearer approach proved to be only a deep valley between two high lands: we proceeded therefore in the same course, keeping the shore at the distance of between four and five miles. At noon on the 16th, the northermost point of land in sight bore N. 60 E. at the distance of ten miles; and our latitude, by observation, was 44° 5ʹ, our longitude from Cape West 2° 8ʹ E. About two, we past the point which at noon had been distant ten miles, and found it to consist of high red cliffs, down which there fell a cascade of water in four small streams, and I therefore gave it the name of Cascade Point. From this Point, the land trends first N. 76 E. and afterwards more to the northward. At the distance of eight leagues from Cascade Point, in the direction of E. N. E., and at a little distance from the shore, lies a small low island, which bore from us S. by E. at the distance of about a league and a half.

At seven in the evening, we brought to, in thirty-three fathom, with a fine sandy bottom; at ten we had fifty fathom, and at twelve wore in sixty-five fathom, having driven several miles N. N. W. after our having brought to. At two in the morning, we had no ground with 140 fathom, by which it appears that the soundings extend but a little way from the shore. About this time it fell calm; at eight, a breeze sprung up at S. W. with which we steered along the shore, in the direction of N. E. by E. ½ E. at the distance of about three leagues. At six in the evening, being about one league from the shore, we had seventeen fathom; and at eight, being about three leagues from the shore, we had forty-four; we now shortened sail, and brought to, having run ten leagues N. E. by E. since noon.

It was calm most part of the night; but at ten in the morning a light breeze sprung up at S. W. by W. when we made sail again along the shore N. E. by N. having a large swell from the W. S. W. which had risen in the night; at noon, our latitude, by observation, was 43° 4ʹ S. and our longitude from Cape West 4° 12ʹ E. We observed, that the valleys as well as the mountains were this morning covered with snow, part of which we supposed to have fallen during the night, when we had rain. At six in the evening we shortened sail, and at ten brought to, at the distance of about five leagues from the shore, where we had 115 fathom. At midnight, there being little wind, we made sail, and at eight in the morning we stood to the N. E. close upon a wind till noon, when we tacked, being about three leagues from the land, and, by observation, in latitude 42° 8ʹ, and longitude from Cape West 5° 5ʹ E.

We continued to stand westward till two in the morning, when we made a trip to the eastward, and afterwards stood westward till noon, when, by our reckoning, we were in the latitude 42° 23ʹ, and longitude from Cape West 3° 55ʹ E. We now tacked and stood eastward, with a fresh gale at N. by W. till six in the evening, when the wind shifted to the S. and S. S. W. with which we steered N. E. by N. till six in the morning, when we hauled in E. by N. to make the land, which we saw soon afterwards; at noon, our latitude, by account, was 41° 37ʹ, and our longitude from Cape West 5° 42ʹ E. We were now within three or four leagues of the land, but it being foggy, we could see nothing upon it distinctly, and as we had much wind, and a vast swell rolling in upon the shore, from the W. S. W. I did not think it safe to go nearer.

In the afternoon, we had a gentle breeze from the S. S. W. with which we steered north along the shore till eight, when, being within between two and three leagues, we sounded, and had but thirty-four fathom; upon which we hauled off N. W. by N. till eleven at night, and then brought to, having sixty-four fathom. At four in the morning, we made sail to the N. E. with a light breeze at S. S. W. which at eight veered to the westward, and soon after died away; at this time we were within three or four miles of the land, and had fifty-four fathom, with a large swell from the W. S. W. rolling obliquely upon the shore, which made me fear that I should be obliged to anchor; but by the help of a light air now and then from the S. W. I was able to keep the ship from driving. At noon, the northermost land in sight bore N. E. by E. ½ E. distant about ten leagues; our latitude, by account, was 40° 55ʹ S. longitude from Cape West 6° 35ʹ E. From this time we had light airs from the southward, with intervals of calm, till noon on the 23d, when our latitude, by observation, was 40° 36ʹ 30ʺ S. and our longitude from Cape West 6° 52ʹ E. The eastermost point of land in sight bore E. 10 N. at the distance of seven leagues, and a bluff head or point, of which we had been abreast at noon the day before, and off which lay some rocks above water, bore S. 18 W. at the distance of six leagues. This point I called Rock’s Point. Our latitude was now 40° 55ʹ S., and having nearly run down the whole of the north-west coast of Tovy Poenammoo, I shall give some account of the face of the country.

I have already observed, that on the 11th, when we were off the southern part, the land then seen was craggy and mountainous, and there is great reason to believe that the same ridge of mountains extends nearly the whole length of the island. Between the westermost land which we saw that day, and the eastermost which we saw on the 13th, there is a space of about six or eight leagues, of which we did not see the coast, though we plainly discovered the mountains inland. The sea-coast near Cape West is low, rising with an easy and gradual ascent to the foot of the mountains, and being in most parts covered with wood. From Point Five Fingers, down to latitude 44° 20ʹ, there is a narrow ridge of hills that rises directly from the sea, and is covered with wood: close behind these hills are the mountains, extending in another ridge of a stupendous height, and consisting of rocks that are totally barren and naked, except where they are covered with snow, which is to be seen in large patches upon many parts of them; and has probably lain there ever since the creation of the world: a prospect more rude, craggy, and desolate than this country affords from the sea, cannot possibly be conceived, for, as far inland as the eye can reach, nothing appears but the summits of rocks, which stand so near together, that instead of valleys there are only fissures between them. From the latitude of 44° 20ʹ, to the latitude of 42° 8ʹ, these mountains lie farther inland, and the sea-coast consists of woody hills and valleys, of various height and extent, and has much appearance of fertility: many of the valleys form plains of considerable extent, wholly covered with wood, but it is very probable that the ground, in many places, is swampy, and interspersed with pools of water. From latitude 42° 8ʹ, to 41° 30ʹ, the land is not distinguished by any thing remarkable: it rises into hills directly from the sea, and is covered with wood; but the weather being foggy while we were upon this part of the coast, we could see very little inland, except now and then the summits of the mountains, towering above the cloudy mists that obscured them below, which confirmed my opinion that a chain of mountains extended from one end of the island to the other.

In the afternoon, we had a gentle breeze at S. W., which, before it was quite dark, brought us abreast of the eastern point which we had seen at noon; but not knowing what course the land took on the other side of it, we brought to in thirty-four fathom, at the distance of about one league from the shore. At eight in the evening, there being little wind, we filled and stood on till midnight, and then we brought to till four in the morning, when we again made sail, and at break of day we saw low land extending from the point to the S. S. E. as far as the eye could reach, the eastern extremity of which appeared in round hillocks: by this time the gale had veered to the eastward, which obliged us to ply to windward. At noon next day, the eastern point bore S. W. by S. distant sixteen miles, and our latitude was 40° 19ʹ: the wind continuing easterly, we were nearly in the same situation at noon on the day following. About three o’clock the wind came to the westward, and we steered E. S. E. with all the sail we could set till it was dark, and then shortened sail till the morning: as we had thick hazy weather all night, we kept sounding continually, and had from thirty-seven to forty-two fathom. When the day broke we saw land bearing S. E. by E. and an island lying near it, bearing E. S. E. distant about five leagues: this island I knew to be the same that I had seen from the entrance of Queen Charlotte’s Sound, from which it bears N. W. by N. distant nine leagues. At noon, it bore south, distant four or five miles, and the north-west head of the sound S. E. by S. distant ten leagues and a half. Our latitude, by observation, was 40° 33ʹ S.

As we had now circumnavigated the whole country, it became necessary to think of quitting it; but as I had thirty tons of empty water casks on board, this could not be done till I had filled them: I therefore hauled round the island, and entered a bay, which lies between that and Queen Charlotte’s Sound, leaving three more islands, which lay close under the western shore, between three or four miles within the entrance, on our starboard hand: while we were running in, we kept the lead continually going, and had from forty to twelve fathom. At six o’clock in the evening, we anchored in eleven fathom with a muddy bottom, under the west shore, in the second cove, that lies within three islands; and as soon as it was light the next morning, I took a boat, and went on shore to look for a watering place, and a proper birth for the ship, both which I found, much to my satisfaction. As soon as the ship was moored, I sent an officer on shore to superintend the watering, and the carpenter, with his crew, to cut wood, while the long-boat was employed in landing the empty casks.

In this employment we were busy till the 30th, when the wind seeming to settle at S. E. and our water being nearly completed, we warped the ship out of the cove, that we might have room to get under sail; and at noon I went away in the pinnace to examine as much of the bay as my time would admit.

After rowing about two leagues up it, I went ashore upon a point of land on the western side, and having climbed a hill, I saw the western arm of this bay run in S. W. by W. about five leagues farther, yet I could not discover the end of it: there appeared to be several other inlets, or at least small bays, between this and the north-west head of Queen Charlotte’s Sound, in each of which, I make no doubt, there is anchorage and shelter, as they are all covered from the sea wind by the islands which lie without them. The land about this bay, as far as I could see of it, is of a hilly surface, chiefly covered with trees, shrubs, and fern, which render travelling difficult and fatiguing. In this excursion I was accompanied by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, who found several new plants. We met with some huts, which seemed to have been long deserted, but saw no inhabitants. Mr. Banks examined several of the stones that lay upon the beach, which were full of veins, and had a mineral appearance; but he did not discover any thing in them which he knew to be ore: if he had had an opportunity to examine any of the bare rocks, perhaps he might have been more fortunate. He was also of opinion that what I had taken for marble in another place, was a mineral substance; and that, considering the correspondence of latitude between this place and South America, it was not improbable but that, by a proper examination, something very valuable might be found.

At my return in the evening, I found all the wood and water on board, and the ship ready for the sea; I resolved therefore to quit the country, and return home by such a route as might be of most advantage to the service; and upon this subject took the opinion of my officers. I had myself a strong desire to return by Cape Horn, because that would have enabled me finally to determine, whether there is or is not a southern continent; but against this it was a sufficient objection that we must have kept in a high southern latitude in the very depth of winter, with a vessel which was not thought sufficient for the undertaking; and the same reason was urged against our proceeding directly for the Cape of Good Hope, with still more force, because no discovery of moment could be hoped for in that route; it was therefore resolved that we should return by the East Indies, and that with this view we should, upon leaving the coast, steer westward, till we should fall in with the east coast of New Holland, and then follow the direction of that coast to the northward, till we should arrive at its northern extremity; but if that should be found impracticable, it was further resolved that we should endeavour to fall in with the land, or islands, said to have been discovered by Quiros.

With this view, at break of day on Saturday the 31st of March, 1770, we got under sail, and put to sea, with the advantage of a fresh gale at S. E. and clear weather, taking our departure from the eastern point, which we had seen at noon on the 23d, and to which, on this occasion, I gave the name of Cape Farewell.

The bay out of which we had just sailed I called Admiralty Bay, giving the name of Cape Stephens to the north-west point, and Cape Jackson to the south east, after the two gentlemen who at this time were Secretaries to the Board.

Admiralty Bay may easily be known by the island that has been just mentioned, which lies two miles N. E. of Cape Stephens, in latitude 40° 37ʹ S. longitude 185° 6ʹ W., and is of a considerable height. Between this island and Cape Farewell, which are between fourteen and fifteen leagues distant from each other, in the direction of W. by N. and E. by S. the shore forms a large deep bay, the bottom of which we could scarcely see while we were sailing in a straight line from one Cape to the other; it is, however, probably of less depth than it appeared to be, for as we found the water shallower here than at the same distance from any other part of the coast, there is reason to suppose, that the land at the bottom which lies next the sea is low, and therefore not easily to be distinguished from it. I have for this reason called it Blind Bay, and am of opinion that it is the same which was called Murderer’s Bay by Tasman.

Such particulars of this country and its inhabitants, with their manners and customs, as could be learnt while we were circumnavigating the coast, shall now be related.

CHAP. VIII.
A GENERAL ACCOUNT OF NEW ZEALAND: ITS FIRST DISCOVERY, SITUATION, EXTENT, CLIMATE, AND PRODUCTIONS.

New Zealand was first discovered by Abel Jansen Tasman, a Dutch navigator, whose name has been several times mentioned in this narrative, on the 13th of December, in the year 1642. He traversed the eastern coast from latitude 34° to 43°, and entered the streight which divides the two islands, and in the chart is called Cook’s Streight; but being attacked by the natives soon after he came to an anchor, in the place to which he gave the name of Murderer’s Bay, he never went on shore. He gave the country the name of Staaten Land, or the land of the States, in honour of the States-General, and it is now generally distinguished in our maps and charts by the name of New Zealand. As the whole of this country, except that part of the coast which was seen by Tasman from on board his ship, has from his time, to the voyage of the Endeavour, remained altogether unknown, it has by many been supposed to be part of a southern continent. It is, however, now known to consist of two large islands, divided from each other by a streight or passage, which is about four or five leagues broad.

These islands are situated between the latitudes of 34° and 48° S. and between the longitudes of 181° and 194° W., which is now determined with uncommon exactness, from innumerable observations of the sun and moon, and one of the transits of Mercury, by Mr. Green, a person of known abilities, who, as has been mentioned before, was sent out by the Royal Society, to observe the transit of Venus in the South Seas.

The northermost of these islands is called by the natives Eaheinomauwe, and the southermost Tovy, or Tavai Poenammoo; yet, as I have observed before, we are not sure whether the name Tovy Poenammoo comprehends the whole southern island, or only part of it. The figure and extent of these islands, with the situation of the bays and harbours they contain, and the smaller islands that lie about them, will appear from the chart that I have drawn, every part of which, however, I cannot vouch to be equally accurate. The coast of Eaheinomauwe, from Cape Palliser to East Cape, is laid down with great exactness, both in its figure, and the course and distance from point to point; for the opportunities that offered, and the methods that I used, were such as could scarcely admit of an error. From East Cape to St. Maria van Diemen, the chart, though perhaps not equally exact, is without any error of moment, except possibly in some few places which are here, and in other parts of the chart, distinguished by a dotted line, and which I had no opportunity to examine: from Cape Maria van Diemen to latitude 36° 15ʹ, we were seldom nearer the shore than between five and eight leagues; and therefore the line that marks the sea-coast may possibly be erroneous. From latitude 36° 15ʹ, to nearly the length of Entry Island, our course was very near the shore, and in this part of the chart therefore there can be no material error, except perhaps at Cape Tierawitte. Between Entry Island and Cape Palliser we were again farther from the shore, and this part of the coast therefore may not be laid down with minute exactness; yet, upon the whole, I am of opinion that this island will be found not much to differ from the figure that I have given it, and that upon the coast there are few or no harbours which are not noticed in the journal, or delineated in the chart. I cannot however say as much of Tovy Poenammoo: the season of the year, and the circumstances of the voyage, would not permit me to spend so much time about this island as I had employed upon the other; and the storms that we met with made it both difficult and dangerous to keep near the shore. However, from Queen Charlotte’s Sound to Cape Campbell, and as far to the S. W. as latitude 43°, the chart will be found pretty accurate. Between latitude 43° and latitude 44° 20ʹ the line may be doubted, for of some part of the coast which it represents we had scarcely a view. From latitude 44° 20ʹ, to Cape Saunders, our distance would not permit me to be particular, and the weather was besides extremely unfavourable. From Cape Saunders to Cape South, and even to Cape West, there is also reason to fear that the chart will in many places be found erroneous, as we were seldom able to keep the shore, and were sometimes blown to such a distance that it could not be seen. From Cape West to Cape Farewell, and even to Charlotte’s Sound, it is not more to be trusted.

Tovy Poenammoo is for the most part a mountainous, and to all appearance a barren country; and the people whom we saw in Queen Charlotte’s Sound, those that came off to us under the snowy mountains, and the fires to the west of Cape Saunders, were all the inhabitants, and signs of inhabitants, that we discovered upon the whole island.

Eaheinomauwe has a much better appearance; it is indeed not only hilly but mountainous, yet even the hills and mountains are covered with wood, and every valley has a rivulet of water: the soil in these valleys, and in the plains, of which there are many that are not overgrown with wood, is in general light but fertile, and in the opinion of Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, as well as of every other gentleman on board, all kinds of European grain, plants, and fruit, would flourish here in the utmost luxuriance: from the vegetables that we found here, there is reason to conclude, that the winters are milder than those in England, and we found the summer not hotter, though it was more equally warm; so that if this country should be settled by people from Europe, they would, with a little industry, be very soon supplied not only with the necessaries, but the luxuries of life in great abundance.

In this country there are no quadrupeds but dogs and rats, at least we saw no other, and the rats are so scarce that many of us never saw them. The dogs live with the people, who breed them for no other purpose than to eat: there might indeed be quadrupeds that we did not see; but this is not probable, because the chief pride of the natives, with respect to their dress, is in the skins and hair of such animals as they have, and we never saw the skin of any animal about them but those of dogs and birds: there are indeed seals upon the coast, and we once saw a sea lion, but we imagine they are seldom caught, for though we saw some of their teeth, which were fashioned into an ornament like a bodkin, and worn by the natives at their breast, and highly valued, we saw none of their skins: there are whales also upon this coast, and though the people did not appear to have any art or instrument by which such an animal could be taken and killed, we saw pattoo-pattoos in the possession of some of them, which were made of the bone of a whale, or of some other animal whose bone had exactly the same appearance.

Of birds the species are not many; and of these none, except perhaps the gannet, is the same with those of Europe: here are ducks indeed, and shags of several kinds, sufficiently resembling those of Europe, to be called the same, by those who have not examined them very nicely. Here are also hawks, owls, and quails, which differ but little from those of Europe at first sight; and several small birds, whose song, as has been remarked in the course of the narrative, is much more melodious than any that we had ever heard.

The sea-coast is also visited by many oceanic birds, particularly albatrosses, sheerwaters, pintados, and a few of the birds which Sir John Narborough has called Penguins, and which indeed are what the French call Nuance, and seem to be a middle species between bird and fish; for their feathers, especially those upon their wings, differ very little from scales; and their wings themselves, which they use only in diving, and not to accelerate their motion even upon the surface of the water, may, perhaps with equal propriety, be called fins.

Neither are insects in greater plenty than birds: a few butterflies and beetles, flesh flies, very like those in Europe, and some musquitos and sand flies, perhaps exactly the same with those of North America, make up the whole catalogue. Of musquitos and sand flies, however, which are justly accounted the curse of every country where they abound, we did not see many: there were indeed a few in almost every place where we went on shore, but they gave us so little trouble, that we did not make use of the shades which we had provided for the security of our faces.

For this scarcity of animals upon the land, the sea, however, makes an abundant recompense; every creek swarming with fish, which are not only wholesome, but equally delicious with those of Europe: the ship seldom anchored in any station, or with a light gale passed any place, that did not afford us enough with hook and line to serve the whole ship’s company, especially to the southward: when we lay at anchor, the boats, with hook and line, near the rocks, could take fish in any quantity; and the seine seldom failed of producing a still more ample supply; so that both times when we anchored in Cook’s Streight, every mess in the ship, that was not careless and improvident, salted as much as lasted many weeks after they went to sea. Of this article, the variety was equal to the plenty; we had mackrel of many kinds, among which, one was exactly the same as we have in England: these came in immense shoals, and were taken by the natives in their seines, who sold them to us at a very easy rate. Besides these, there were fish of many species which we had never seen before, but to all which the seamen very readily gave names: so that we talked here as familiarly of hakes, bream, cole-fish, and many others, as we do in England; and though they are by no means of the same family, it must be confessed that they do honour to the name. But the highest luxury which the sea afforded us, even in this place, was the lobster or sea cray-fish, which are probably the same that in the account of Lord Anson’s Voyage are said to have been found at the island of Juan Fernandes, except that, although large, they are not quite equal in size: they differ from ours in England in several particulars, they have a greater number of prickles on their backs, and they are red when first taken out of the water. These we also bought every where to the northward in great quantities of the natives, who catch them by diving near the shore, and finding out where they lie with their feet. We had also a fish that Frezier, in his Voyage to the Spanish Main in South America, has described by the names of Elefant, Pejegallo, or Poison coq, which, though coarse, we eat very heartily. Several species of the skate, or sting-ray, are also found here, which were still coarser than the Elefant; but as an atonement, we had among many kinds of dog-fish one spotted with white, which was in flavour exactly similar to our best skate, but much more delicious. We had also flat fish resembling both soles and flounders, besides eels and congers of various kinds, with many others of which those who shall hereafter visit this coast will not fail to find the advantage; and shell-fish in great variety, particularly clams, cockles, and oysters.

Among the vegetable productions of this country, the trees claim a principal place; for here are forests of vast extent, full of the straightest, the cleanest, and the largest timber trees that we had ever seen: their size, their grain, and apparent durability, render them fit for any kind of building, and indeed for every other purpose except masts; for which, as I have already observed, they are too hard, and too heavy: there is one in particular which, when we were upon the coast, was rendered conspicuous by a scarlet flower, that seemed to be a compendage of many fibres; it is about as large as an oak, and the wood is exceedingly hard and heavy, and excellently adapted to the use of the millwright. There is another which grows in the swamps, remarkably tall and straight, thick enough to make masts for vessels of any size, and, if a judgment may be formed by the direction of its grain, very tough: this, which, as has been before remarked, our carpenter thought to resemble the pitch-pine, may probably be lightened by tapping, and it will then make the finest masts in the world: it has a leaf not unlike a yew, and bears berries in small bunches.

Great part of the country is covered with a luxuriant verdure, and our natural historians were gratified by the novelty, if not the variety of the plants. Sow-thistle, garden night-shade, one or two kinds of grass, the same as in England, and two or three kinds of fern, like those of the West Indies, with a few of the plants that are to be found in almost every part of the world, were all, out of about four hundred species, that have hitherto been described by any botanists, or had been seen elsewhere during the course of this voyage, except about five or six which had been gathered at Terra del Fuego.

Of eatable vegetables there are but few; our people, indeed, who had been long at sea, eat, with equal pleasure and advantage, of wild celery, and a kind of cresses, which grew in great abundance upon all parts of the sea-shore. We also, once or twice, met with a plant like what the country people in England call Lamb’s quarters, or Fat-hen, which we boiled instead of greens; and once we had the good fortune to find a cabbage-tree, which afforded us a delicious meal; and, except the fern-root, and one other vegetable, totally unknown in Europe, and which, though eaten by the natives, was extremely disagreeable to us, we found no other vegetable production that was fit for food, among those that appeared to be the wild produce of the country; and we could find but three esculent plants among those which are raised by cultivation, yams, sweet potatoes, and coccos. Of the yams and potatoes there are plantations consisting of many acres; and I believe that any ship which should happen to be here in the autumn, when they are dug up, might purchase them in any quantity.

Gourds are also cultivated by the natives of this place, the fruit of which furnishes them with vessels for various uses. We also found here the Chinese paper mulberry-tree, the same as that of which the inhabitants of the South Sea islands make their cloth; but it is so scarce, that though the New Zealanders also make cloth of it, they have not enough for any other purpose than to wear as an ornament in the holes which they make in their ears, as I have observed before.

But among all the trees, shrubs, and plants of this country, there is not one that produces fruit, except a berry which has neither sweetness nor flavour, and which none but the boys took pains to gather, should be honoured with that appellation. There is, however, a plant that serves the inhabitants instead of hemp and flax, which excels all that are put to the same purposes in other countries. Of this plant there are two sorts; the leaves of both resemble those of flags, but the flowers are smaller, and their clusters more numerous; in one kind they are yellow, and in the other a deep red. Of the leaves of these plants, with very little preparation, they make all their common apparel; and of these they make also their strings, lines, and cordage for every purpose, which are so much stronger than any thing we can make with hemp, that they will not bear a comparison. From the same plant, by another preparation, they draw long slender fibres which shine like silk, and are as white as snow: of these, which are also surprisingly strong, the finer clothes are made; and of the leaves, without any other preparation than splitting them into proper breadths, and tying the strips together, they make their fishing nets; some of which, as I have before remarked, are of an enormous size.

A plant which, with such advantage, might be applied to so many useful and important purposes, would certainly be a great acquisition to England, where it would probably thrive with very little trouble, as it seems to be hardy, and to affect no particular soil; being found equally in hill and valley; in the driest mould, and the deepest bogs: the bog, however, it seems rather to prefer, as near such places we observed it to be larger than elsewhere.

I have already observed, that we found great plenty of iron sand in Mercury Bay, and therefore that iron ore is undoubtedly to be found at no great distance. As to other metals we had scarcely knowledge enough of the country for conjecture.

If the settling of this country should ever be thought an object worthy the attention of Great Britain, the best place for establishing a colony would be either on the banks of the Thames, or in the country bordering upon the Bay of Islands. In either place there would be the advantage of an excellent harbour; and, by means of the river, settlements might be extended, and a communication established with the inland parts of the country: vessels might be built of the fine timber which abounds in these parts, at very little trouble and expence, fit for such a navigation as would answer the purpose. I cannot indeed exactly assign the depth of water which a vessel intended to navigate this river, even as far up as I went with the boat, should draw, because this depends upon the depth of water that is upon the bar, or flats, which lie before the narrow part of the river, for I had no opportunity to make myself acquainted with them; but I am of opinion, that a vessel which should draw not more than twelve feet would perfectly answer the purpose.

When we first arrived upon the coast of this country, we imagined it to be much better peopled than we afterwards found it, concluding that the inland parts were populous from the smoke that we saw at a considerable distance from the shore; and, perhaps, that may really be the case with respect to the country behind Poverty Bay, and the Bay of Plenty, where the inhabitants appeared to be more numerous than in other places. But we had reason to believe, that, in general, no part of the country but the sea-coast is inhabited; and even there we found the people but thinly scattered, all the western coast from Cape Maria Van Diemen to Mount Egmont being totally desolate; so that upon the whole the number of inhabitants bears no proportion to the extent of country.

CHAP. IX.
A DESCRIPTION OF THE INHABITANTS, THEIR HABITATIONS, APPAREL, ORNAMENTS, FOOD, COOKERY, AND MANNER OF LIFE.

The stature of the men in general is equal to the largest of those in Europe: they are stout, well limbed, and fleshy; but not fat, like the lazy and luxurious inhabitants of the islands in the South Seas: they are also exceedingly vigorous and active; and have an adroitness and manual dexterity in an uncommon degree, which are discovered in whatever they do. I have seen the strokes of fifteen paddles on a side in one of their canoes made with incredible quickness, and yet with such minute exactness of time, that all the rowers seemed to be actuated by one common soul. Their colour in general is brown; but in few deeper than that of a Spaniard, who has been exposed to the sun; in many not so deep. The women have not a feminine delicacy in their appearance, but their voice is remarkably soft; and by that, the dress of both sexes being the same, they are principally distinguished: they have, however, like the women of other countries, more airy cheerfulness, and a greater flow of animal spirits, than the other sex. Their hair, both of the head and beard, is black; and their teeth extremely regular, and as white as ivory: the features of both sexes are good: they seem to enjoy high health; and we saw many who appeared to be of a great age. The dispositions both of the men and women seemed to be mild and gentle: they treat each other with the tenderest affection, but are implacable towards their enemies, to whom, as I have before observed, they never give quarter. It may, perhaps, at first, seem strange, that where there is so little to be got by victory, there should so often be war; and that every little district of a country inhabited by people so mild and placid, should be at enmity with all the rest. But possibly more is to be gained by victory among these people than at first appears, and they may be prompted to mutual hostilities by motives which no degree of friendship or affection is able to resist. It appears, by the account that has already been given of them, that their principal food is fish, which can only be procured upon the sea-coast; and there, in sufficient quantities, only at certain times; the tribes, therefore, who live inland, if any such there are, and even those upon the coast, must be frequently in danger of perishing by famine. Their country produces neither sheep, nor goats, nor hogs, nor cattle; tame fowls they have none, nor any art by which those that are wild can be caught in sufficient plenty to serve as provision. If there are any whose situation cuts them off from a supply of fish, the only succedaneum of all other animal food, except dogs, they have nothing to support life, but the vegetables that have already been mentioned, of which the chief are fern-root, yams, clams, and potatoes; when by any accident these fail, the distress must be dreadful; and even among the inhabitants of the coast, many tribes must frequently be reduced to nearly the same situation, either by the failure of their plantations, or the deficiency of their dry stock, during the season when but few fish are to be caught. These considerations will enable us to account, not only for the perpetual danger in which the people who inhabit this country appear to live, by the care which they take to fortify every village, but for the horrid practice of eating those who are killed in battle; for the hunger of him who is pressed by famine to fight, will absorb every feeling, and every sentiment which would restrain him from allaying it with the body of his adversary. It may, however, be remarked, that, if this account of the origin of so horrid a practice is true, the mischief does by no means end with the necessity that produced it: after the practice has been once begun on one side by hunger, it will naturally be adopted on the other by revenge. Nor is this all, for though it may be pretended, by some who wish to appear speculative and philosophical, that whether the dead body of an enemy be eaten or buried is in itself a matter perfectly indifferent; as it is, whether the breasts or thighs of a woman should be covered or naked; and that prejudice and habit only make us shudder at the violation of custom in one instance, and blush at it in the other: yet, leaving this as a point of doubtful disputation, to be discussed at leisure, it may safely be affirmed, that the practice of eating human flesh, whatever it may be in itself, is relatively, and in its consequences, most pernicious; tending manifestly to eradicate a principle which is the chief security of human life, and more frequently restrains the hand of murder than the sense of duty, or even the fear of punishment.

Among those who are accustomed to eat the dead, death must have lost much of its horror; and where there is little horror at the sight of death, there will not be much repugnance to kill. A sense of duty, and fear of punishment, may be more easily surmounted than the feelings of nature, or those which have been ingrafted upon nature by early prejudice and uninterrupted custom. The horror of the murderer arises less from the guilt of the fact, than its natural effect; and he who has familiarised the effect, will consequently lose much of the horror. By our laws, and our religion, murder and theft incur the same punishment, both in this world and the next; yet, of the multitude who would deliberately steal, there are but very few who would deliberately kill, even to procure much greater advantage. But there is the strongest reason to believe, that those who have been so accustomed to prepare a human body for a meal, that they can with as little feeling cut up a dead man, as our cook-maids divide a dead rabbit for a fricassee, would feel as little horror in committing a murder as in picking a pocket, and consequently would take away life with as little compunction as property; so that men, under these circumstances, would be made murderers by the slight temptations that now make them thieves. If any man doubts whether this reasoning is conclusive, let him ask himself, whether in his own opinion he should not be safer with a man in whom the horror of destroying life is strong, whether in consequence of natural instinct unsubdued, or of early prejudice, which has nearly an equal influence, than in the power of a man who under any temptation to murder him would be restrained only by considerations of interest; for to these all motives of mere duty may be reduced, as they must terminate either in hope of good, or fear of evil.

The situation and circumstances, however, of these poor people, as well as their temper, are favourable to those who shall settle as a colony among them. Their situation sets them in need of protection, and their temper renders it easy to attach them by kindness; and whatever may be said in favour of a savage life among people who live in luxurious idleness upon the bounty of nature, civilization would certainly be a blessing to those whom her parsimony scarcely furnishes with the bread of life, and who are perpetually destroying each other by violence, as the only alternative of perishing by hunger.

But these people, from whatever cause, being inured to war, and by habit considering every stranger as an enemy, were always disposed to attack us when they were not intimidated by our manifest superiority. At first, they had no notion of any superiority but numbers; and when this was on their side, they considered all our expressions of kindness as the artifices of fear and cunning, to circumvent them, and preserve ourselves: but when they were once convinced of our power, after having provoked us to the use of our fire-arms, though loaded only with small shot; and of our clemency, by our forbearing to make use of weapons so dreadful except in our defence, they became at once friendly, and even affectionate, placing in us the most unbounded confidence, and doing every thing which could incite us to put equal confidence in them. It is also remarkable, that when an intercourse was once established between us, they were very rarely detected in any act of dishonesty. Before, indeed, and while they considered us as enemies, who came upon their coast only to make an advantage of them, they did not scruple by any means to make any advantage of us; and would, therefore, when they had received the price of any thing they had offered to sell, pack up both the purchase and the purchase money with all possible composure, as so much lawful plunder from people who had no view but to plunder them.

I have observed that our friends in the South Seas had not even the idea of indecency, with respect to any object or any action; but this was by no means the case with the inhabitants of New Zealand, in whose carriage and conversation there was as much modesty, reserve, and decorum with respect to actions, which yet in their opinion were not criminal, as are to be found among the politest people in Europe. The women were not impregnable; but the terms and manner of compliance were as decent as those in marriage among us, and according to their notions the agreement was as innocent. When any of our people made an overture to one of their young women, he was given to understand that the consent of her friends was necessary, and by the influence of a proper present it was generally obtained; but when these preliminaries were settled, it was also necessary to treat the wife for a night with the same delicacy that is here required by the wife for life, and the lover who presumed to take any liberties by which this was violated, was sure to be disappointed.

One of our gentlemen having made his addresses to a family of the better sort, received an answer, which, translated into our language, according to the mode and spirit of it, as well as the letter, would have been exactly in these terms: “Any of these young ladies will think themselves honoured by your addresses, but you must first make me a suitable present, and you must then come and sleep with us on shore, for daylight must by no means be a witness of what passes between you.”

I have already observed, that in personal cleanliness they are not quite equal to our friends at Otaheite; because, not having the advantage of so warm a climate, they do not so often go into the water; but the most disgustful thing about them is the oil, with which, like the islanders, they anoint their hair: it is certainly the fat either of fish or of birds, melted down, and though the better sort have it fresh, their inferiors use that which is rancid, and consequently are almost as disagreeable to the smell as a Hottentot; neither are their heads free from vermin, though we observed that they were furnished with combs, both of bone and wood: these combs are sometimes worn stuck upright in the hair as an ornament, a fashion which at present prevails among the ladies of England. The men generally wear their beards short, and their hair tied upon the crown of the head in a bunch, in which they stick the feathers of various birds in different manners, according to their fancies; sometimes one is placed on each side of the temples, pointing forwards, which we thought made a very disagreeable appearance. The women wear their hair sometimes cropped short, and sometimes flowing over their shoulders.

The bodies of both sexes are marked with the black stains called Amoco, by the same method that is used at Otaheite, and called Tattowing; but the men are more marked, and the women less. The women in general stain no part of their bodies but the lips, though sometimes they are marked with small black patches on other parts: the men, on the contrary, seem to add something every year to the ornaments of the last, so that some of them, who appeared to be of an advanced age, were almost covered from head to foot. Besides the Amoco, they have marks impressed by a method unknown to us, of a very extraordinary kind: they are furrows of about a line deep, and a line broad, such as appear upon the bark of a tree which has been cut through, after a year’s growth: the edges of these furrows are afterwards indented by the same method, and being perfectly black, they make a most frightful appearance. The faces of the old men are almost covered with these marks; those who are very young, black only their lips like the women; when they are somewhat older, they have generally a black patch upon one cheek, and over one eye, and so proceed gradually, that they may grow old and honourable together: but though we could not but be disgusted with the horrid deformity which these stains and furrows produced in the “human face divine,” we could not but admire the dexterity and art with which they were impressed. The marks upon the face in general are spirals, which are drawn with great nicety, and even elegance, those on one side exactly corresponding with those on the other: the marks on the body somewhat resemble the foliage in old chased ornaments, and the convolutions of fillagree work; but in these they have such a luxuriance of fancy, that of an hundred, which at first sight appeared to be exactly the same, no two were, upon a close examination, found to be alike. We observed, that the quantity and form of these marks were different in different parts of the coast, and that as the principal seat of them at Otaheite was the breech, in New Zealand it was sometimes the only part which was free, and in general was less distinguished than any other.

The skins of these people, however, are not only dyed, but painted; for, as I have before observed, they smear their bodies with red oker, some rubbing it on dry, and some applying it in large patches mixed with oil, which is always wet, and which the least touch will rub off, so that the transgressions of such of our people as were guilty of ravishing a kiss from these blooming beauties, were most legibly written upon their faces.

The dress of a New Zealander is certainly, to a stranger at first sight, the most uncouth that can be imagined. It is made of the leaves of the flag, which has been described among the vegetable productions of this country: these leaves are split into three or four slips, and the slips, when they are dry, interwoven with each other into a kind of stuff between netting and cloth, with all the ends, which are eight or nine inches long, hanging out on the upper side, like the shag or thrump mats, which we sometimes see lying in a passage. Of this cloth, if cloth it may be called, two pieces serve for a complete dress; one of them is tied over their shoulders with a string, and reaches as low as the knees; to the end of this string is fastened a bodkin of bone, which is easily passed through any two parts of this upper garment, so as tack them together; the other piece is wrapped round the waist, and reaches nearly to the ground: the lower garment, however, is worn by the men only upon particular occasions; but they wear a belt, to which a string is fastened, for a very singular use. The inhabitants of the South Sea islands slit up the prepuce so as to prevent it from covering the glans of the penis; but these people, on the contrary, bring the prepuce over the glans, and to prevent it from being drawn back by the contraction of the part, they tie the string which hangs from their girdle round the end of it. The glans, indeed, seemed to be the only part of their body which they were solicitous to conceal, for they frequently threw off all their dress but the belt and string, with the most careless indifference, but showed manifest signs of confusion, when, to gratify our curiosity, they were requested to untie the string, and never consented but with the utmost reluctance and shame. When they have only their upper garment on, and sit upon their hams, they bear some resemblance to a thatched house; but this covering, though it is ugly, is well adapted to the use of those who frequently sleep in the open air, without any other shelter from the rain.

But besides this coarse shag or thatch, they have two sorts of cloth, which have an even surface, and are very ingeniously made, in the same manner with that manufactured by the inhabitants of South America, some of which we procured at Rio de Janeiro. One sort is as coarse as our coarsest canvass, and somewhat resembles it in the manner of laying the threads, but it is ten times as strong; the other is formed by many threads lying very close one way, and a few crossing them the other, so as to bind them together; but these are about half an inch asunder, somewhat like the round pieces of cane matting which are sometimes placed under the dishes upon a table. This is frequently striped, and always had a pretty appearance, for it is composed of the fibres of the same plant, which are prepared so as to shine like silk. It is made in a kind of frame of the size of the cloth, generally about five feet long, and four broad, across which the long threads, which lie close together, or warp, are strained, and the cross threads, or woof, are worked in by hand, which must be a very tedious operation.

To both these kinds of cloth they work borders of different colours, in stitches, somewhat like carpeting, or rather like those used in the samplars which girls work at school. These borders are of various patterns, and wrought with a neatness, and even an elegance, which, considering they have no needle, is surprising: but the great pride of their dress consists in the fur of their dogs, which they use with such economy, that they cut it into stripes, and sew them upon their cloth at a distance from each other, which is a strong proof that dogs are not plenty among them; these stripes are also of different colours, and disposed so as to produce a pleasing effect. We saw some dresses that were adorned with feathers instead of fur, but these were not common; and we saw one that was entirely covered with the red feathers of the parrot.

The dress of the man who was killed when we first went ashore in Poverty Bay has been described already; but we saw the same dress only once more during our stay upon the coast, and that was in Queen Charlotte’s Sound.

The women, contrary to the custom of the sex in general, seemed to affect dress rather less than the men: their hair, which, as I have observed before, is generally cropt short, is never tied upon the top of the head when it is suffered to be long, nor is it ever adorned with feathers. Their garments were made of the same materials, and in the same form, as those of the other sex, but the lower one was always bound fast round them, except when they went into the water to catch lobsters, and then they took great care not to be seen by the men. Some of us happening one day to land upon a small island in Tolaga Bay, we surprised several of them at this employment; and the chaste Diana, with her nymphs, could not have discovered more confusion and distress at the sight of Actæon than these women expressed upon our approach. Some of them hid themselves among the rocks, and the rest crouched down in the sea till they had made themselves a girdle and apron of such weeds as they could find, and when they came out, even with this veil, we could perceive that their modesty suffered much pain by our presence. The girdle and apron which they wear in common have been mentioned before.

Both sexes bore their ears, and, by stretching them, the holes become large enough to admit a finger at least. In these holes they wear ornaments of various kinds, cloth, feathers, bones of large birds, and even sometimes a stick of wood; and to these receptacles of finery they generally applied the nails which we gave them, and every thing which it was possible they could contain. The women sometimes thrust through them the down of the albatros, which is as white as snow, and which, spreading before and behind the hole in a bunch almost as big as the fist, makes a very singular, and, however strange it may be thought, not a disagreeable appearance. Besides the ornaments that are thrust through the holes of the ears, many others are suspended to them by strings; such as chissels or bodkins made of green talc, upon which they set a high value, the nails and teeth of their deceased relations, the teeth of dogs, and every thing else that they can get, which they think either curious or valuable. The women also wear bracelets and anclets, made of the bones of birds, shells, or any other substances which they can perforate and string upon a thread. The men had sometimes hanging to a string, which went round the neck, a piece of green talc, or whalebone, somewhat in the shape of a tongue, with the rude figure of a man carved upon it; and upon this ornament they set a high value. In one instance, we saw the gristle that divides the nostrils, and called by anatomists the septum nasi, perforated, and a feather thrust through the hole, which projected on each side over the cheeks: it is probable that this frightful singularity was intended as an ornament; but of the many people we saw, we never observed it in any other, nor even a perforation that might occasionally serve for such a purpose.

Their houses are the most inartificially made of any thing among them, being scarcely equal, except in size, to an English dog-kennel: they are seldom more than eighteen or twenty feet long, eight or ten broad, and five or six high, from the pole that runs from one end to the other, and forms the ridge, to the ground. The framing is of wood, generally slender sticks, and both walls and roof consist of dry grass and hay, which, it must be confessed, is very tightly put together; and some are also lined with the bark of trees, so that in cold weather they must afford a very comfortable retreat. The roof is sloping, like those of our barns, and the door is at one end, just high enough to admit a man, creeping upon his hands and knees: near the door is a square hole, which serves the double office of window and chimney, for the fire-place is at that end, nearly in the middle between the two sides. In some conspicuous part, and generally near the door, a plank is fixed, covered with carving after their manner: this they value as we do a picture, and in their estimation it is not an inferior ornament. The side-walls and roof project about two feet beyond the walls at each end, so as to form a kind of porch, in which there are benches for the accommodation of the family. That part of the floor which is allotted for the fire-place is enclosed in a hollow square, by partitions either of wood or stone, and in the middle of it the fire is kindled. The floor, along the inside of the walls, is thickly covered with straw, and upon this the family sleep.

Their furniture and implements consist of but few articles, and one chest commonly contains them all, except their provision-baskets, the gourds that hold their fresh water, and the hammers that are used to beat their fern-root, which generally stand without the door: some rude tools, their clothes, arms, and a few feathers to stick in their hair, make the rest of their treasure.

Some of the better sort, whose families are large, have three or four houses enclosed within a court-yard, the walls of which are constructed of poles and hay, and are about ten or twelve feet high.

When we were on shore in the district called Tolaga, we saw the ruins, or rather the frame of a house, for it had never been finished, much superior in size to any that we saw elsewhere: it was thirty feet in length, about fifteen in breadth, and twelve high: the sides of it were adorned with many carved planks, of a workmanship much superior to any other that we had met with in the country; but for what purpose it was built, or why it was deserted, we could never learn.

But these people, though in their houses they are so well defended from the inclemency of the weather, seem to be quite indifferent whether they have any shelter at all during their excursions in search of fern-roots and fish, sometimes setting up a small shade to windward, and sometimes altogether neglecting even that precaution, sleeping with their women and children under bushes, with their weapons ranged round them, in the manner that has already been described. The party, consisting of forty or fifty, whom we saw at Mercury Bay, in a district which the natives call Opoorage, never erected the least shelter while we staid there, though it sometimes rained incessantly for four-and-twenty hours together.

The articles of their food have been enumerated already; the principal, which to them is what bread is to the inhabitants of Europe, is the roots of the fern which grows upon the hills, and is nearly the same with what grows upon our high commons in England, and is called indifferently fern, bracken, or brakes. The birds, which sometimes serve them for a feast, are chiefly penguins and albatrosses, with a few other species that have been occasionally mentioned in this narrative.

Having no vessel in which water can be boiled, their cookery consists wholly of baking and roasting. They bake nearly in the same manner as the inhabitants of the South Seas, and to the account that has been already given of their roasting, nothing need be added, but that the long skewer or spit to which the flesh is fastened is placed sloping towards the fire, by setting one stone against the bottom of it, and supporting it near the middle with another, by the moving of which, to a greater or less distance from the end, the degree of obliquity is increased or diminished at pleasure.

To the northward, as I have observed, there are plantations of yams, sweet potatoes, and coccos, but we saw no such to the southward; the inhabitants, therefore, of that part of the country must subsist wholly upon fern root and fish, except the scanty and accidental resource which they may find in sea-fowl and dogs; and that fern and fish are not to be procured at all seasons of the year, even at the sea-side, and upon the neighbouring hills, is manifest from the stores of both that we saw laid up dry, and the reluctance which some of them expressed at selling any part of them to us when we offered to purchase them, at least the fish, for sea stores. And this particular seems to confirm my opinion, that this country scarcely sustains the present number of its inhabitants, who are urged to perpetual hostilities by hunger, which naturally prompted them to eat the dead bodies of those who were slain in the contest.

Water is their universal and only liquor, as far as we could discover, and if they have really no means of intoxication, they are, in this particular, happy beyond any other people that we have yet seen or heard of.

As there is, perhaps, no source of disease, either critical or chronic, but intemperance and inactivity, it cannot be thought strange that these people enjoy perfect and uninterrupted health. In all our visits to their towns, where young and old, men and women, crowded about us, prompted by the same curiosity that carried us to look at them, we never saw a single person who appeared to have any bodily complaint, nor among the numbers that we have seen naked did we once perceive the slightest eruption upon the skin, or any marks that an eruption had left behind. At first, indeed, observing that some of them when they came off to us were marked in patches with a white flowery appearance upon different parts of their bodies, we thought that they were leprous, or highly scorbutic; but upon examination we found that these marks were owing to their having been wetted by the spray of the sea in their passage, which, when it was dried away, left the salts behind it in a fine white powder.

Another proof of health, which we have mentioned upon a former occasion, is the facility with which the wounds healed that had left scars behind them, and that we saw in a recent state; when we saw the man who had been shot with a musket-ball through the fleshy part of his arm, his wound seemed to be so well digested, and in so fair a way of being perfectly healed, that if I had not known no application had been made to it, I should certainly have enquired, with a very interested curiosity, after the vulnerary herbs and surgical art of the country.

A farther proof that human nature is here untainted with disease, is the great number of old men that we saw, many of whom, by the loss of their hair and teeth, appeared to be very ancient, yet none of them were decrepit; and though not equal to the young in muscular strength, were not a whit behind them in cheerfulness and vivacity.

CHAP. X.
OF THE CANOES AND NAVIGATION OF THE INHABITANTS OF NEW ZEALAND: THEIR TILLAGE, WEAPONS, AND MUSIC: GOVERNMENT, RELIGION, AND LANGUAGE: WITH SOME REASONS AGAINST THE EXISTENCE OF A SOUTHERN CONTINENT.

The ingenuity of these people appears in nothing more than in their canoes: they are long and narrow, and in shape very much resemble a New England whale-boat: the larger sort seem to be built chiefly for war, and will carry from forty to eighty, or an hundred armed men. We measured one which lay ashore at Tolaga: she was sixty-eight feet and a half long, five feet broad, and three feet and a half deep; the bottom was sharp, with straight sides like a wedge, and consisted of three lengths, hollowed out to about two inches, or an inch and a half thick, and well fastened together with strong plaiting: each side consisted of one entire plank, sixty-three feet long, ten or twelve inches broad, and about an inch and quarter thick, and these were fitted and lashed to the bottom part with great dexterity and strength. A considerable number of thwarts were laid from gunwale to gunwale, to which they were securely lashed on each side, as a strengthening to the boat. The ornament at the head projected five or six feet beyond the body, and was about four feet and a half high; the ornament at the stern was fixed upon that end, as the stern-post of a ship is upon her keel, and was about fourteen feet high, two feet broad, and an inch and a half thick. They both consisted of boards of carved work, of which the design was much better than the execution. All their canoes, except a few at Opoorage or Mercury Bay, which were of one piece, and hollowed by fire, are built after this plan, and few are less than twenty feet long: some of the smaller sort have outriggers, and sometimes two of them are joined together, but this is not common. The carving upon the stern and head ornaments of the inferior boats, which seemed to be intended wholly for fishing, consists of the figure of a man, with a face as ugly as can be conceived, and a monstrous tongue thrust out of the mouth, with the white shells of sea-ears stuck in for the eyes. But the canoes of the superior kind, which seem to be their men-of-war, are magnificently adorned with open work, and covered with loose fringes of black feathers, which had a most elegant appearance: the gunwale boards were also frequently carved in a grotesque taste, and adorned with tufts of white feathers placed upon a black ground. Of visible objects that are wholly new, no verbal description can convey a just idea, but in proportion as they resemble some that are already known, to which the mind of the reader must be referred: the carving of these people being of a singular kind, and not in the likeness of any thing that is known on our side of the ocean, either “in the heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters that are under the earth,” I must refer wholly to the representations which will be found of it in Plate XV.

The paddles are small, light, and neatly made; the blade is of an oval shape, or rather of a shape resembling a large leaf, pointed at the bottom, broadest in the middle, and gradually losing itself in the shaft, the whole length being about six feet, of which the shaft or loom including the handle is four, and the blade two. By the help of these oars they push on their boats with amazing velocity.

In sailing they are not expert, having no art of going otherwise than before the wind: the sail is of netting or matt, which is set up between two poles that are fixed upright upon each gunwale, and serve both for masts and yards: two ropes answered the purpose of sheets, and were consequently fastened above to the top of each pole. But clumsy and inconvenient as this apparatus is, they make good way before the wind, and are steered by two men who sit in the stern, with each a paddle in his hand for that purpose.

Having said thus much of their workmanship, I shall now give some account of their tools: they have adzes, axes, and chisels, which serve them also as augers for the boring of holes: as they have no metal, their adzes and axes are made of a hard black stone, or of a green talc, which is not only hard but tough; and their chisels of human bone, or small fragments of jasper, which they chip off from a block in sharp angular pieces like a gun-flint. Their axes they value above all that they possess, and never would part with one of them for any thing that we could give: I once offered one of the best axes I had in the ship, besides a number of other things, for one of them, but the owner would not sell it; from which I conclude that good ones are scarce among them. Their small tools of jasper, which are used in finishing their nicest work, they use till they are blunt, and then, as they have no means of sharpening them, throw them away. We had given the people at Tolaga a piece of glass, and in a short time they found means to drill a hole through it, in order to hang it round the neck as an ornament by a thread; and we imagine the tool must have been a piece of this jasper. How they bring their large tools first to an edge, and sharpen the weapon which they call Patoo-Patoo, we could not certainly learn; but probably it is by bruising the same substance to powder, and, with this, grinding two pieces against each other.

Their nets, particularly their seine, which is of an enormous size, have been mentioned already: one of these seems to be the joint work of a whole town, and I suppose it to be the joint property also: the other net, which is circular, and extended by two or three hoops, has been particularly described, as well as the manner of baiting and using it. Their hooks are of bone or shell, and in general are ill made. To receive the fish when it is caught, and to hold their other provisions, they have baskets of various kinds and dimensions, very neatly made of wickerwork.

They excel in tillage, as might naturally be expected where the person that sows is to eat the produce, and where there is so little besides that can be eaten: when we first came to Tegadoo, a district between Poverty Bay and East Cape, their crops were just covered, and had not yet begun to sprout; the mould was as smooth as in a garden, and every root had its small hillock, ranged in a regular quincunx by lines, which with the pegs were still remaining in the field. We had not an opportunity to see any of these husbandmen work, but we saw what serves them at once for spade and plough: this instrument is nothing more than a long narrow stake sharpened to an edge at one end, with a short piece fastened transversely at a little distance above it, for the convenience of pressing it down with the foot. With this they turn up pieces of ground six or seven acres in extent, though it is not more than three inches broad; but as the soil is light and sandy, it makes little resistance.

Tillage, weaving, and the other arts of peace, seem to be best known and most practised in the northern part of this country; for there is little appearance of any of them in the south: but the arts of war flourish equally through the whole coast.

Of weapons they have no great variety, but such as they have are well fitted for destruction; they have spears, darts, battle-axes, and the Patoo-Patoo. The spear is fourteen or fifteen feet long, pointed at both ends, and sometimes headed with bone: these are grasped by the middle, so that the part behind balancing that before, makes a push more difficult to be parried, than that of a weapon which is held by the end. The dart and other weapons have been sufficiently described already; and it has also been remarked, that these people have neither sling nor bow. They throw the dart by hand, and so they do stones; but darts and stones are seldom used, except in defending their forts. Their battles, whether in boats or on shore, are generally hand to hand, and the slaughter must consequently be great, as a second blow with any of their weapons is unnecessary, if the first takes place: their trust, however, seems to be principally placed in the Patoo-Patoo, which is fastened to their wrists by a strong strap, lest it should be wrenched from them, and which the principal people generally wear sticking in their girdles, considering it as a military ornament, and part of their dress, like the poniard of the Asiatic, and the sword of the European. They have no defensive armour; but, besides their weapons, the chiefs carry a staff of distinction, in the same manner as our officers do the spontoon: this was generally the rib of a whale, as white as snow, with many ornaments of carved work, dog’s hair, and feathers; but sometimes it was a stick, about six feet long, adorned in the same manner, and inlaid with a shell like mother-of-pearl. Those who bore this mark of distinction were generally old, at least past the middle age, and were also more marked with the Amoco than the rest.

One or more persons, thus distinguished, always appeared in each canoe, when they came to attack us, according to the size of it. When they came within about a cable’s length of the ship, they used to stop; and the chiefs rising from their seat, put on a dress which seemed appropriated to the occasion, generally of dog’s skin, and holding out their decorated staff, or weapon, directed the rest of the people what they should do. When they were at too great a distance to reach us with a lance or a stone, they presumed that we had no weapon with which we could reach them; here then the defiance was given, and the words were almost universally the same,—Haromai, haromai, harre uta a patoo-patoo oge: “Come to us, come on shore, and we will kill you all with our patoo-patoos.” While they were uttering these menaces, they came gradually nearer and nearer, till they were close alongside; talking at intervals in a peaceable strain, and answering any questions that we asked them; and at intervals renewing their defiance and threats, till being encouraged by our apparent timidity, they began their war-song and dance, as a prelude to an attack, which always followed, and was sometimes continued till it became absolutely necessary to repress them by firing some small shot; and sometimes ended after throwing a few stones on board, as if content with having offered us an insult, which we did not dare to revenge.

The war-dance consists of a great variety of violent motions, and hideous contortions of the limbs, during which the countenance also performs its part: the tongue is frequently thrust out to an incredible length, and the eye-lids so forcibly drawn up, that the white appears both above and below, as well as on each side of the iris, so as to form a circle round it; nor is any thing neglected that can render the human shape frightful and deformed: at the same time they brandish their spears, shake their darts, and cleave the air with their patoo-patoos. This horrid dance is always accompanied by a song; it is wild, indeed, but not disagreeable, and every strain ends in aloud and deep sigh, which they utter in concert. In the motions of the dance, however horrid, there is a strength, firmness, and agility, which we could not but behold with admiration; and in their song they keep time with such exactness, that I have often heard above an hundred paddles struck against the sides of their boats at once, so as to produce but a single sound, at the divisions of their music.

A song not altogether unlike this, they sometimes sing without the dance, and as a peaceable amusement: they have also other songs which are sung by the women, whose voices are remarkably mellow and soft, and have a pleasing and tender effect; the time is slow, and the cadence mournful; but it is conducted with more taste than could be expected among the poor ignorant savages of this half-desolate country; especially as it appeared to us, who were none of us much acquainted with music as a science, to be sung in parts; it was at least sung by many voices at the same time.

They have sonorous instruments, but they can scarcely be called instruments of music; one is the shell, called the Triton’s trumpet, with which they make a noise not unlike that which our boys sometimes make with a cow’s horn: the other is a small wooden pipe, resembling a child’s nine-pin, only much smaller, and in this there is no more music than in a pea-whistle. They seem sensible indeed that these instruments are not musical; for we never heard an attempt to sing to them, or to produce with them any measured tones that bore the least resemblance to a tune.

To what has been already said of the practice of eating human flesh, I shall only add, that in almost every cove where we landed, we found flesh-bones of men near the places where fires had been made; and that among the heads that were brought on board by the old man, some seemed to have false eyes, and ornaments in their ears as if alive. That which Mr. Banks bought was sold with great reluctance by the possessor: the head was manifestly that of a young person about fourteen or fifteen years of age, and by the contusions on one side appeared to have received many violent blows, and indeed a part of the bone near the eye was wanting. These appearances confirmed us in the opinion that the natives of this country give no quarter, nor take any prisoners to be killed and eaten at a future time, as is said to have been a practice among the Indians of Florida: for if prisoners had been taken, this poor young creature, who cannot be supposed capable of making much resistance, would probably have been one, and we knew that he was killed with the rest, for the fray had happened but a few days before.

The towns or Hippahs of these people, which are all fortified, have been sufficiently described already, and from the Bay of Plenty to Queen Charlotte’s Sound they seem to be the constant residence of the people: but about Poverty Bay, Hawke’s Bay, Tegadoo, and Tolaga, we saw no Hippahs, but single houses scattered at a distance from each other; yet upon the sides of the hills there were stages of a great length, furnished with stones and darts, probably as retreats for the people at the last extremity, as upon these stages a fight may be carried on with much advantage against those below, who may be reached with great effect by darts and stones, which it is impossible for them to throw up with equal force. And indeed the forts themselves seem to be no farther serviceable than by enabling the possessors to repress a sudden attack; for as there is no supply of water within the lines, it would be impossible to sustain a siege. A considerable stock of fern-root and dry fish is indeed laid up in them; but they may be reserved against seasons of scarcity, and that such seasons there are, our observations left us no room to doubt; besides, while an enemy should be prowling in the neighbourhood, it would be easy to snatch a supply of water from the side of the hill, though it would be impossible to dig up fern-root or catch fish.

In this district, however, the people seemed to live in a state of conscious security, and to avail themselves of their advantage: their plantations were more numerous, their canoes were more decorated, and they had not only finer carving, but finer clothes. This part of the coast also was much the most populous, and possibly their apparent peace and plenty might arise from their being united under one Chief, or King; for the inhabitants of all this part of the country told us, that they were the subjects of Teratu: when they pointed to the residence of this Prince, it was in a direction which we thought inland; but which, when we knew the country better, we found to be the Bay of Plenty.

It is much to be regretted that we were obliged to leave this country without knowing any thing of Teratu but his name. As an Indian monarch, his territory is certainly extensive: he was acknowledged from Cape Kidnappers to the northward, and westward as far as the Bay of Plenty, a length of coast upwards of eighty leagues; and we do not yet know how much farther westward his dominions may extend. Possibly the fortified towns which we saw in the Bay of Plenty may be his barrier; especially as at Mercury Bay he was not acknowledged, nor indeed any other single chief: for wherever we landed, or spoke with the people upon that coast, they told us that we were at but a small distance from their enemies.

In the dominions of Teratu we saw several subordinate chiefs, to whom great respect was paid, and by whom justice was probably administered; for upon our complaint to one of them, of a theft that had been committed on board the ship by a man that came with him, he gave him several blows and kicks, which the other received as the chastisement of authority, against which no resistance was to be made, and which he had no right to resent. Whether this authority was possessed by appointment or inheritance we could not learn; but we observed that the chiefs, as well here as in other parts, were elderly men. In other parts, however, we learnt that they possessed their authority by inheritance.

The little societies which we found in the southern parts seemed to have several things in common, particularly their fine clothes, and fishing nets. Their fine clothes, which possibly might be the spoils of war, were kept in a small hut, which was erected for that purpose in the middle of the town: the nets we saw making in almost every house, and the several parts being afterwards collected were joined together. Less account seems to be made of the women here than in the South Sea islands; such at least was the opinion of Tupia, who complained of it as an indignity to the sex. We observed that the two sexes eat together; but how they divide their labour we do not certainly know. I am inclined to believe that the men till the ground, make nets, catch birds, and go out in their boats to fish; and that the women dig up fern-roots, collect lobsters and other shell-fish near the beach, dress the victuals, and weave cloth: such at least were their employments when we had an opportunity of observing them, which was but seldom; for in general our appearance made a holiday wherever we went, men, women and children, flocking round us, either to gratify their curiosity, or to purchase some of the valuable merchandise which we carried about with us, consisting principally of nails, paper, and broken glass.

Of the religion of these people it cannot be supposed that we could learn much; they acknowledge the influence of superior beings, one of whom is supreme, and the rest subordinate; and gave nearly the same account of the origin of the world, and the production of mankind, as our friends in Otaheite: Tupia, however, seemed to have a much more deep and extensive knowledge of these subjects than any of the people here; and whenever he was disposed to instruct them, which he sometimes did in a long discourse, he was sure of a numerous audience, who listened in profound silence, with such reverence and attention, that we could not but wish them a better teacher.

What homage they pay to the deities they acknowledge we could not learn; but we saw no place of public worship, like the Morais of the South Sea islands: yet we saw, near a plantation of sweet potatoes, a small area, of a square figure, surrounded with stones, in the middle of which one of the sharpened stakes which they use as a spade was set up, and upon it was hung a basket of fern-roots: upon inquiry, the natives told us, that it was an offering to the gods, by which the owner hoped to render them propitious, and obtain a plentiful crop.

As to their manner of disposing of their dead, we could form no certain opinion of it, for the accounts that we received by no means agreed. In the northern parts, they told us that they buried them in the ground; and in the southern, that they threw them into the sea: it is however certain that we saw no grave in the country, and that they affected to conceal every thing relating to their dead with a kind of mysterious secrecy. But whatever may be the sepulchre, the living are themselves the monuments; for we saw scarcely a single person of either sex whose body was not marked by the scars of wounds which they had inflicted upon themselves as a testimony of their regret for the loss of a relation or friend: some of these wounds we saw in a state so recent that the blood was scarcely staunched, which shows that death had been among them while we were upon the coast; and makes it more extraordinary that no funeral ceremony should have fallen under our notice: some of the scars were very large and deep, and in many instances had greatly disfigured the face. One monument indeed we observed of another kind,—the cross that was set up near Queen Charlotte’s Sound.

Having now given the best account in my power of the customs and opinions of the inhabitants of New Zealand, with their boats, nets, furniture, and dress, I shall only remark, that the similitude between these particulars here and in the South Sea islands is a very strong proof that the inhabitants have the same origin; and that the common ancestors of both, were natives of the same country. They have both a tradition that their ancestors, at a very remote period of time, came from another country; and according to the tradition of both, that the name of that country was Heawije; but the similitude of the language seems to put the matter altogether out of doubt. I have already observed, that Tupia, when he accosted the people here in the language of his own country, was perfectly understood; and I shall give a specimen of the similitude by a list of words in both languages, according to the dialect of the northern and southern islands of which New Zealand consists, by which it will appear that the language of Otaheite does not differ more from that of New Zealand, than the language of the two islands from each other.

By this specimen, I think it appears to demonstration that the language of New Zealand and Otaheite is radically the same. The language of the northern and southern parts of New Zealand differs chiefly in the pronunciation, as the same English word is pronounced gate in Middlesex, and geäte in Yorkshire: and as the southern and northern words were not written down by the same person, one might possibly use more letters to produce the same sound than the other.

I must also observe, that it is the genius of the language, especially in the southern parts, to put some article before a noun, as we do the or a; the articles used here were generally he or ko; it is also common here to add the word öeia after another word as an iteration, especially if it is an answer to a question; as we say, yes indeed, to be sure, really, certainly: this sometimes led our gentlemen into the formation of words of an enormous length, judging by the ear only, without being able to refer each sound into its signification. An example will make this perfectly understood.

In the Bay of Islands there is a remarkable one, called by the natives Matuaro. One of our gentlemen having asked a native the name of it, he answered, with the particle, Kematuaro; the gentleman hearing the sound imperfectly, repeated his question, and the Indian repeating his answer, added öeia, which made the word Kematuaroöeia; and thus it happened that in the log book I found Metuaro transformed into Cumettiwarroweia: and the same transformation by the same means, might happen to an English word. Suppose a native of New Zealand at Hackney church, to inquire “What village is this?” the answer would be, “It is Hackney:” suppose the question to be repeated with on air of doubt and uncertainty, the answer might be, “it is Hackney indeed,” and the New Zealander, if he had the use of letters, would probably record, for the information of his countrymen, that during his residence among us he had visited a village called “Ityshak neeindede.” The article used by the inhabitants of the South Sea islands, instead of he or ko, is to or ta, but the word öeia is common to both; and when we began to learn the language, it led us into many ridiculous mistakes.

But supposing these islands, and those in the South Seas, to have been peopled originally from the same country, it will perhaps for ever remain a doubt what country that is: we were, however, unanimously of opinion, that the people did not come from America, which lies to the eastward; and except there should appear to be a continent to the southward, in a moderate latitude, it will follow that they came from the westward.

Thus far our navigation has certainly been unfavourable to the notion of a southern continent, for it has swept away at least three-fourths of the positions upon which it has been founded. The principal navigators, whose authority has been urged on this occasion, are Tasman, Juan Fernandes, Hermite, the commander of a Dutch squadron, Quiros, and Roggewein; and the track of the Endeavour has demonstrated that the land seen by these persons, and supposed to be part of a continent, is not so; it has also totally subverted the theoretical arguments which have been brought to prove that the existence of a southern continent is necessary to preserve an equilibrium between the two hemispheres; for upon this principle what we have already proved to be water, would render the southern hemisphere too light. In our route to the northward, after doubling Cape Horn, when we were in the latitude of 40°, our longitude was 110°; and in our return to the southward, after leaving Ulietea, when we were again in latitude 40°, our longitude was 145°; the difference is 35°. When we were in latitude 30° the difference of longitude between the two tracks was 21°, which continued till we were as low as 20°; but a single view of the chart will convey a better idea of this than the most minute description: yet as upon a view of the chart it will appear that there is a large space extending quite to the tropics, which neither we, nor any other navigators to our knowledge, have explored, and as there will appear to be room enough for the Cape of a southern continent to extend northward into a low southern latitude, I shall give my reason for believing there is no Cape of any southern continent, to the northward of 40° south.

Notwithstanding what has been laid down by some geographers in their maps, and alleged by Mr. Dalrymple, with respect to Quiros, it is improbable in the highest degree that he saw to the southward of two islands, which he discovered in latitude 25 or 26, and which I suppose may lie between the longitude of 130° and 140° W., any signs of a continent, much less any thing which, in his opinion, was a known or indubitable sign of such land; for if he had, he would certainly have sailed southward in search of it, and if he had sought, supposing the signs to have been indubitable, he must have found: the discovery of a southern continent was the ultimate object of Quiros’s voyage, and no man appears to have had it more at heart; so that if he was in latitude 26° S. and in longitude 146° W., where Mr. Dalrymple has placed the islands he discovered, it may fairly be inferred, that no part of a southern continent extends to that latitude.

It will, I think, appear with equal evidence from the accounts of Roggewein’s voyage, that between the longitudes of 130° and 150° W. there is no main land to the northward of 35° S. Mr. Pingre, in a treatise concerning the transit of Venus, which he went out to observe, has inserted an extract of Roggewein’s voyage, and a map of the South Seas; and for reasons which may be seen at large in his work, supposes him, after leaving Easter Island, which he places in latitude 28-½ S. longitude 123° W., to have steered S. W. as high as 34° S. and afterwards W. N. W.; and if this was indeed his route, the proof that there is no main land to the northward of 35° S. is irrefragable. Mr. Dalrymple indeed supposes his route to have been different, and that from Easter Isle he steered N. W., taking a course afterwards very little different from that of La Maire; but I think it is highly improbable that a man, who, at his own request was sent to discover a southern continent, should take a course in which La Maire had already proved no continent could be found: it must, however, be confessed, that Roggewein’s track cannot certainly be ascertained, because, in the accounts that have been published of his voyage, neither longitudes nor latitudes are mentioned. As to myself, I saw nothing that I thought a sign of land in my route, either to the northward, southward, or westward, till a few days before I made the east coast of New Zealand. I did indeed frequently see large flocks of birds, but they were generally such as are found at a very remote distance from any coast; and it is also true that I frequently saw pieces of rock-weed, but I could not infer the vicinity of land from these, because I have been informed, upon indubitable authority, that a considerable quantity of the beans called ox-eyes, which are known to grow no where but in the West Indies, are every year thrown up on the coast of Ireland, which is not less than twelve hundred leagues distant.

Thus have I given my reasons for thinking that there is no continent to the northward of latitude 40° S. Of what may lie farther to the southward than 40°, I can give no opinion; but I am so far from wishing to discourage any future attempt, finally to determine a question which has long been an object of attention to many nations; that now this voyage has reduced the only possible site of a continent in the southern hemisphere, north of latitude 40°, to so small a space, I think it would be pity to leave that any longer unexamined, especially as the voyage may turn to good account, besides determining the principal question, if no continent should be found, by the discovery of new islands in the tropical regions, of which there is probably a great number that no European vessel has ever yet visited. Tupia, from time to time, gave us an account of about one hundred and thirty; and, in a chart drawn by his own hand, he actually laid down no less than seventy-four.

BOOK III.
CHAP. I.
THE RUN FROM NEW ZEALAND TO BOTANY BAY, ON THE EAST COAST OF NEW HOLLAND, NOW CALLED NEW SOUTH WALES; VARIOUS INCIDENTS THAT HAPPENED THERE; WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE COUNTRY AND ITS INHABITANTS.

Having sailed from Cape Farewell, which lies in latitude 40° 33ʹ S., longitude 186° W., on Saturday the 31st of March, 1770, we steered westward, with a fresh gale at N. N. E., and at noon, on the 2d of April, our latitude, by observation, was 40°, our longitude from Cape Farewell 2° 31ʹ W.

In the morning of the 9th, being in latitude 38° 29ʹ S., we saw a tropic bird, which, in so high a latitude, is very uncommon.

In the morning of the 10th, being in latitude 38° 51ʹ S., longitude 202° 43ʹ W., we found the variation, by the amplitude, to be 11° 25ʹ E., and by the azimuth 11° 20ʹ.

In the morning of the 11th, the variation was 13° 48ʹ, which is two degrees and a half more than the day before, though I expected to have found it less.

In the course of the 13th, being in latitude 39° 23ʹ S., longitude 204° 2ʹ W., I found the variation to be 12° 27ʹ E., and in the morning of the 14th it was 11° 30ʹ, this day we also saw some flying fish. On the 15th, we saw an egg bird and a gannet, and as these are birds that never go far from the land, we continued to sound all night, but had no ground with 130 fathom. At noon, on the 16th, we were in latitude 39° 45ʹ S., longitude 208° W. At about two o’clock the wind came about to the W. S. W., upon which we tacked and stood to the N. W.; soon after, a small land-bird perched upon the rigging, but we had no ground with 120 fathom. At eight we wore and stood to the southward till twelve at night, and then wore and stood to the N. W. till four in the morning, when we again stood to the southward, having a fresh gale at W. S. W., with squalls and dark weather till nine, when the weather became clear, and there being little wind, we had an opportunity to take several observations of the sun and moon, the mean result of which gave 207° 56ʹ W. longitude: our latitude at noon was 39° 36ʹ S. We had now a hard gale from the southward, and a great sea from the same quarter, which obliged us to run under our fore-sail and mizen all night, during which we sounded every two hours, but had no ground with 120 fathom.

In the morning of the 18th, we saw two Port Egmont hens, and a pintado bird, which are certain signs of approaching land, and, indeed, by our reckoning, we could not be far from it, for our longitude was now one degree to the westward of the east side of Van Diemen’s land, according to the longitude laid down by Tasman, whom we could not suppose to have erred much in so short a run as from this land to New Zealand; and by our latitude we could not be above fifty or fifty-five leagues from the place whence he took his departure. All this day we had frequent squalls and a great swell. At one in the morning we brought to and sounded, but had no ground with 130 fathom; at six we saw land extending from N. E. to W., at the distance of five or six leagues, having eighty fathom water, with a fine sandy bottom.

We continued standing westward, with the wind at S. S. W., till eight, when we made all the sail we could, and bore away along the shore N. E. for the eastermost land in sight, being at this time in latitude 37° 58ʹ S., and longitude 210° 39ʹ W. The southermost point of land in sight, which bore from us W. ¼ S., I judged to lie in latitude 38°, longitude 211° 7ʹ, and gave it the name of Point Hicks, because Mr. Hicks, the first lieutenant, was the first who discovered it. To the southward of this Point no land was to be seen, though it was very clear in that quarter, and by our longitude, compared with that of Tasman, not as it is laid down in the printed charts, but in the extracts from Tasman’s journal, published by Rembrantse, the body of Van Diemen’s land ought to have borne due south; and, indeed, from the sudden falling of the sea after the wind abated, I had reason to think it did; yet as I did not see it, and as I found this coast trend N. E. and S. W., or rather more to the eastward, I cannot determine whether it joins to Van Diemen’s land or not.

At noon we were in latitude 37° 5ʹ, longitude 210° 29ʹ W. The extremes of the land extended from N. W. to E. N. E., and a remarkable point bore N. 20 E., at the distance of about four leagues. This point rises in a round hillock, very much resembling the Ram Head at the entrance of Plymouth Sound, and therefore I called it by the same name. The variation by an azimuth, taken this morning, was 3° 7ʹ E.; and what we had now seen of the land, appeared low and level: the sea-shore was a white sand, but the country within was green and woody. About one o’clock, we saw three water-spouts at once; two were between us and the shore, and the third at some distance, upon our larboard quarter: this phenomenon is so well known, that it is not necessary to give a particular description of it here.

At six o’clock in the evening we shortened sail, and brought to for the night, having fifty-six fathom water, and a fine sandy bottom. The northermost land in sight then bore N. by E. ½ E., and a small island lying close to a point on the main bore W. distant two leagues. This point, which I called Cape Howe, may be known by the trending of the coast, which is north on the one side and south-west on the other; it may also be known by some round hills upon the main, just within it.

We brought to for the night, and at four in the morning made sail along shore to the northward. At six, the northermost land in sight bore N. N. W. and we were at this time about four leagues from the shore. At noon we were in latitude 36° 51ʹ S., longitude 209° 53ʹ W., and about three leagues distant from the shore. The weather being clear, gave us a good view of the country, which has a very pleasing appearance: it is of a moderate height, diversified by hills and valleys, ridges and plains, interspersed with a few lawns of no great extent, but in general covered with wood: the ascent of the hills and ridges is gentle, and the summits are not high. We continued to sail along the shore to the northward, with a southerly wind, and in the afternoon we saw smoke in several places, by which we knew the country to be inhabited. At six in the evening we shortened sail, and sounded: we found forty-four fathom water, with a clear sandy bottom, and stood on under an easy sail till twelve, when we brought to for the night, and had ninety fathom water.

At four in the morning we made sail again, at the distance of about five leagues from the land, and at six, we were abreast of a high mountain, lying near the shore, which, on account of its figure, I called Mount Dromedary. Under this mountain the shore forms a point, to which I gave the name of Point Dromedary, and over it there is a peaked hillock. At this time, being in latitude 36° 18ʹ S., longitude 209° 55ʹ W., we found the variation to be 10° 42ʹ E.

Between ten and eleven, Mr. Green and I took several observations of the sun and moon, the mean result of which gave 209° 17ʹ longitude W. By an observation made the day before, our longitude was 210° 9ʹ W., from which 20ʹ being subtracted, there remains 209° 49ʹ, the longitude of the ship this day at noon, the mean of which, with this day’s observation, gives 209° 33ʹ, by which I fix the longitude of this coast. At noon our latitude was 35° 49ʹ S., Cape Dromedary bore S. 30 W., at the distance of twelve leagues, and an open bay, in which were three or four small islands, bore N. W. by W., at the distance of five or six leagues. This bay seemed to afford but little shelter from the sea winds, and yet it is the only place where there appeared a probability of finding anchorage upon the whole coast. We continued to steer along the shore N. by E. and N. N. E., at the distance of about three leagues, and saw smoke in many places near the beach. At five in the evening we were abreast of a point of land which rose in a perpendicular cliff, and which, for that reason, I called Point Upright. Our latitude was 35° 35ʹ S. when this point bore from us due west, distant about two leagues: in this situation, we had about thirty-one fathom water, with a sandy bottom. At six in the evening, the wind falling, we hauled off E. N. E., and at this time the northermost land in sight bore N. by E. ½ E. At midnight, being in seventy fathom water, we brought to till four in the morning, when we made sail in for the land; but at day-break found our situation nearly the same as it had been at five the evening before, by which it was apparent that we had been driven about three leagues to the southward, by a tide or current, during the night. After this we steered along the shore N. N. E. with a gentle breeze at S. W., and were so near the land as to distinguish several of the natives upon the beach, who appeared to be of a black, or very dark colour. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 35° 27ʹ S. and longitude 209° 23ʹ W., Cape Dromedary bore S. 28 W., distant nineteen leagues, a remarkable peaked hill, which resembled a square dove-house, with a dome at the top, and which for that reason I called the Pigeon House, bore N. 32° 30ʹ W., and a small low island, which lay close under the shore, bore N. W., distant about two or three leagues. When I first discovered this island, in the morning, I was in hopes, from its appearance, that I should have found shelter for the ship behind it; but when we came near it, it did not promise security even for the landing of a boat. I should however have attempted to send a boat on shore, if the wind had not veered to that direction, with a large hollow sea rolling in upon the land from the S. E., which indeed had been the case ever since we had been upon it. The coast still continued to be of a moderate height, forming alternately rocky points and sandy beaches; but within, between Mount Dromedary and the Pigeon House, we saw high mountains, which, except two, are covered with wood: these two lie inland behind the Pigeon House, and are remarkably flat at the top, with steep rocky cliffs all round them, as far as we could see. The trees, which almost every where clothe this country, appear to be large and lofty. This day the variation was found to be 9° 50ʹ E., and for the two last days, the latitude, by observation, was twelve or fourteen miles to the southward of the ship’s account, which could have been the effect of nothing but a current setting in that direction. About four in the afternoon, being near five leagues from the land, we tacked, and stood off S. E. and E., and the wind having veered in the night, from E. to N. E. and N., we tacked about four in the morning, and stood in, being then about nine or ten leagues from the shore. At eight, the wind began to die away, and soon after it was calm. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 35° 38ʹ, and our distance from the land about six leagues. Cape Dromedary bore S. 37 W., distant seventeen leagues, and the Pigeon House N. 40 W. In this situation we had 74 fathom water. In the afternoon, we had variable light airs and calms, till six in the evening, when a breeze sprung up at N. by W.: at this time, being about four or five leagues from the shore, we had seventy fathom water. The Pigeon House bore N. 45 W., Mount Dromedary S. 30 W., and the northermost land in sight N. 19 E.

We stood to the north-east till noon the next day, with a gentle breeze at N. W., and then we tacked and stood westward. At this time our latitude by observation, was 35° 10ʹ S., and longitude 208° 51ʹ W. A point of land which I had discovered on St. George’s day, and which therefore I called Cape George, bore W. distant nineteen miles, and the Pigeon House (the latitude and longitude of which I found to be 35° 19ʹ S. and 209° 42ʹ W.) S. 75 W. In the morning we had found the variation, by amplitude, to be 7° 50ʹ E., and by several azimuths 7° 54ʹ E. We had a fresh breeze at N. W. from noon till three; it then came to the west, when we tacked and stood to the northward. At five in the evening, being about five or six leagues from the shore, with the Pigeon House bearing W. S. W. distant about nine leagues, we had eighty-six fathom water; and at eight, having thunder and lightning, with heavy squalls, we brought to in 120 fathom.

At three in the morning, we made sail again to the northward, having the advantage of a fresh gale at S. W. At noon we were about three or four leagues from the shore, and in latitude 34° 22ʹ S., longitude 208° 36ʹ W. In the course of this day’s run from the preceding noon, which was forty-five miles north-east, we saw smoke in several places near the beach. About two leagues to the northward of Cape George, the shore seemed to form a bay, which promised shelter from the north-east winds, but as the wind was with us, it was not in my power to look into it without beating up, which would have cost me more time than I was willing to spare. The north point of this bay, on account of its figure, I named Long Nose; its latitude is 35° 6ʹ, and about eight leagues north of it there lies a point, which, from the colour of the land about it, I called Red Point: its latitude is 34° 29ʹ, and longitude 208° 45ʹ W. To the north-west of Red Point, and a little way inland, stands a round hill, the top of which looks like the crown of a hat. In the afternoon of this day we had a light breeze at N. N. W. till five in the evening, when it fell calm. At this time, we were between three and four leagues from the shore, and had forty-eight fathom water: the variation by azimuth was 8° 48ʹ E. and the extremities of this land were from N. E. by N. to S. W. by S. Before it was dark, we saw smoke in several places along the shore, and a fire two or three times afterwards. During the night we lay becalmed, driving in before the sea till one in the morning, when we got a breeze from the land, with which we steered N. E., being then in thirty-eight fathom. At noon it veered to N. E. by N., and we were then in latitude 34° 10ʹ S., longitude 208° 27ʹ W.: the land was distant about five leagues, and extended from S. 37 W. to N. ½ E. In this latitude there are some white cliffs, which rise perpendicularly from the sea to a considerable height. We stood off the shore till two o’clock, and then tacked and stood in till six, when we were within four or five miles of it, and at that distance had fifty fathom water. The extremities of the land bore from S. 28 W. to N. 25° 30ʹ E. We now tacked and stood off till twelve, then tacked and stood in again till four in the morning, when we made a trip off till daylight; and during all this time we lost ground, owing to the variableness of the winds. We continued at the distance of between four and five miles from the shore, till the afternoon, when we came within two miles, and I then hoisted out the pinnace and yawl to attempt a landing, but the pinnace proved to be so leaky that I was obliged to hoist her in again. At this time we saw several of the natives walking briskly along the shore, four of whom carried a small canoe upon their shoulders. We flattered ourselves that they were going to put her into the water, and come off to the ship, but finding ourselves disappointed, I determined to go on shore in the yawl, with as many as it would carry. I embarked, therefore, with only Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, Tupia, and four rowers: we pulled for that part of the shore where the Indians appeared, near which four small canoes were lying at the water’s edge. The Indians sat down upon the rocks, and seemed to wait for our landing; but to our great regret, when we came within about a quarter of a mile, they ran away into the woods. We determined, however, to go ashore, and endeavour to procure an interview; but in this we were again disappointed, for we found so great a surf beating upon every part of the beach, that landing with our little boat was altogether impracticable. We were therefore obliged to be content with gazing at such objects as presented themselves from the water. The canoes, upon a near view, seemed very much to resemble those of the smaller sort at New Zealand. We observed, that among the trees on shore, which were not very large, there was no underwood; and could distinguish that many of them were of the palm kind, and some of them cabbage trees: after many a wishful look we were obliged to return, with our curiosity rather excited than satisfied, and about five in the evening got on board the ship. About this time it fell calm, and our situation was by no means agreeable. We were now not more than a mile and a half from the shore, and within some breakers, which lay to the southward; but happily a light breeze came off the land, and carried us out of danger. With this breeze we stood to the northward, and at day-break we discovered a bay, which seemed to be well sheltered from all winds, and into which, therefore, I determined to go with the ship. The pinnace being repaired, I sent her, with the master, to sound the entrance, while I kept turning up, having the wind right out. At noon, the mouth of the bay bore N. N. W., distant about a mile, and seeing a smoke on the shore, we directed our glasses to the spot, and soon discovered ten people, who, upon our nearer approach, left their fire, and retired to a little eminence, whence they could conveniently observe our motions. Soon after two canoes, each having two men on board, came to the shore just under the eminence, and the men joined the rest on the top of it. The pinnace, which had been sent a-head to sound, now approached the place, upon which all the Indians retired farther up the hill, except one, who hid himself among some rocks near the landing-place. As the pinnace proceeded along the shore, most of the people took the same route, and kept abreast of her at a distance. When she came back, the master told us, that in a cove a little within the harbour, some of them had come down to the beach, and invited him to land by many signs and words, of which he knew not the meaning; but that all of them were armed with long pikes, and a wooden weapon shaped somewhat like a cimeter. The Indians who had not followed the boat, seeing the ship approach, used many threatening gestures, and brandished their weapons; particularly two, who made a very singular appearance, for their faces seemed to have been dusted with a white powder, and their bodies painted with broad streaks of the same colour, which passing obliquely over their breasts and backs, looked not unlike the cross-belts worn by our soldiers; the same kind of streaks were also drawn round their legs and thighs, like broad garters. Each of these men held in his hand the weapon that had been described to us as like a cimeter, which appeared to be about two feet and a half long; and they seemed to talk to each other with great earnestness.

We continued to stand into the bay, and early in the afternoon anchored under the south shore, about two miles within the entrance, in six fathom water, the south point bearing S. E., and the north point East. As we came in we saw, on both points of the bay, a few huts, and several of the natives, men, women, and children. Under the south head we saw four small canoes, with each one man on board, who were very busily employed in striking fish with a long pike or spear. They ventured almost into the surf, and were so intent upon what they were doing, that although the ship passed within a quarter of a mile of them, they scarcely turned their eyes toward her; possibly, being deafened by the surf, and their attention wholly fixed upon their business or sport, they neither saw nor heard her go past them.

The place where the ship had anchored was abreast of a small village, consisting of about six or eight houses; and while we were preparing to hoist out the boat, we saw an old woman, followed by three children, come out of the wood; she was loaded with fire-wood, and each of the children had also its little burden. When she came to the houses, three more children, younger than the others, came out to meet her: she often looked at the ship, but expressed neither fear nor surprise. In a short time she kindled a fire, and the four canoes came in from fishing. The men landed, and having hauled up their boats, began to dress their dinner, to all appearance, wholly unconcerned about us, though we were within half a mile of them. We thought it remarkable that all of the people we had yet seen, not one had the least appearance of clothing, the old woman herself being destitute even of a fig-leaf.

After dinner the boats were manned, and we set out from the ship, having Tupia of our party. We intended to land where we saw the people, and began to hope that as they had so little regarded the ship’s coming into the bay, they would as little regard our coming on shore. In this, however, we were disappointed; for as soon as we approached the rocks, two of the men came down upon them to dispute our landing, and the rest ran away. Each of the two champions was armed with a lance about ten feet long, and a short stick, which he seemed to handle as if it was a machine to assist him in managing or throwing the lance. They called to us in a very loud tone, and in a harsh dissonant language, of which neither we nor Tupia understood a single word: they brandished their weapons, and seemed resolved to defend their coast to the uttermost, though they were but two, and we were forty. I could not but admire their courage, and being very unwilling that hostilities should commence with such inequality of force between us, I ordered the boat to lie upon her oars: we then parlied by signs for about a quarter of an hour, and to bespeak their good-will, I threw them nails, beads, and other trifles, which they took up, and seemed to be well pleased with. I then made signs that I wanted water, and, by all the means that I could devise, endeavoured to convince them that we would do them no harm. They now waved to us, and I was willing to interpret it as an invitation; but upon our putting the boat in, they came again to oppose us. One appeared to be a youth about nineteen or twenty, and the other a man of middle age: as I had now no other resource, I fired a musket between them. Upon the report, the youngest dropped a bundle of lances upon the rock, but recollecting himself in an instant, he snatched them up again with great haste. A stone was then thrown at us, upon which I ordered a musket to be fired with small shot, which struck the eldest upon the legs, and he immediately ran to one of the houses, which was distant about an hundred yards. I now hoped that our contest was over, and we immediately landed; but we had scarcely left the boat when he returned, and we then perceived that he had left the rock only to fetch a shield or target for his defence. As soon as he came up, he threw a lance at us, and his comrade another; they fell where we stood thickest, but happily hurt nobody. A third musket with small shot was then fired at them, upon which one of them threw another lance, and both immediately ran away: if we had pursued, we might probably have taken one of them; but Mr. Banks suggesting that the lances might be poisoned, I thought it not prudent to venture into the woods. We repaired immediately to the huts, in one of which we found the children, who had hidden themselves behind a shield and some bark; we peeped at them, but left them in their retreat, without their knowing that they had been discovered, and we threw into the house, when we went away, some beads, ribbons, pieces of cloth, and other presents, which we hoped would procure us the good-will of the inhabitants when they should return; but the lances which we found lying about, we took away with us, to the number of about fifty: they were from six to fifteen feet long, and all of them had four prongs in the manner of a fish-gig, each of which was pointed with fish-bone, and very sharp: we observed that they were smeared with a viscous substance of a green colour, which favoured the opinion of their being poisoned, though we afterwards discovered that it was a mistake: they appeared, by the sea-weed that we found sticking to them, to have been used in striking fish. Upon examining the canoes that lay upon the beach, we found them to be the worst we had ever seen: they were between twelve and fourteen feet long, and made of the bark of a tree in one piece, which was drawn together and tied up at each end, the middle being kept open by sticks, which were placed across them from gunwale to gunwale as thwarts. We then searched for fresh water, but found none, except in a small hole which had been dug in the sand.

Having reimbarked in our boat, we deposited our lances on board the ship, and then went over to the north point of the bay, where we had seen several of the inhabitants when we were entering it, but which we now found totally deserted. Here, however, we found fresh water, which trickled down from the top of the rocks, and stood in pools among the hollows at the bottom; but it was situated so as not to be procured for our use without difficulty.

In the morning, therefore, I sent a party of men to that part of the shore where we first landed, with orders to dig holes in the sand where the water might gather; but going ashore myself with the gentlemen soon afterwards, we found, upon a more diligent search, a small stream, more than sufficient for our purpose.

Upon visiting the hut where we had seen the children, we were greatly mortified to find that the beads and ribbons which we had left there the night before had not been moved from their places, and that not an Indian was to be seen.

Having sent some empty water-casks on shore, and left a party of men to cut wood, I went myself in the pinnace to sound, and examine the bay; during my excursion I saw several of the natives, but they all fled at my approach. In one of the places where I landed, I found several small fires, and fresh muscles broiling upon them; here also I found some of the largest oyster-shells I had ever seen.

As soon as the wooders and waterers came on board to dinner, ten or twelve of the natives came down to the place, and looked with great attention and curiosity at the casks, but did not touch them: they took away, however, the canoes which lay near the landing-place, and again disappeared. In the afternoon, when our people were again ashore, sixteen or eighteen Indians, all armed, came boldly within about an hundred yards of them, and then stopped: two of them advanced somewhat nearer; and Mr. Hicks, who commanded the party on shore, with another, advanced to meet them, holding out presents to them as he approached, and expressing kindness and amity by every sign he could think of, but all without effect; for before he could get up with them they retired, and it would have answered no purpose to pursue. In the evening I went with Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander to a sandy cove on the north side of the bay, where, in three or four hauls with the seine, we took above three hundred weight of fish, which was equally divided among the ship’s company.

The next morning, before day-break, the Indians came down to the houses that were abreast of the ship, and were heard frequently to shout very loud. As soon as it was light, they were seen walking along the beach; and soon after they retired to the woods, where, at the distance of about a mile from the shore, they kindled several fires.

Our people went ashore as usual, and with them Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, who, in search of plants, repaired to the woods. Our men, who were employed in cutting grass, being the farthest removed from the main body of the people, a company of fourteen or fifteen Indians advanced towards them, having sticks in their hands, which, according to the report of the serjeant of marines, shone like a musket. The grass-cutters upon seeing them approach, drew together, and repaired to the main body. The Indians, being encouraged by this appearance of a flight, pursued them; they stopped, however, when they were within about a furlong of them, and after shouting several times, went back into the woods. In the evening they came again in the same manner, stopped at the same distance, shouted and retired. I followed them myself, alone and unarmed, for a considerable way along the shore, but I could not prevail upon them to stop.

This day Mr. Green took the sun’s meridian altitude a little within the south entrance of the bay, which gave the latitude 34° S., the variation of the needle was 11° 3ʹ E.

Early the next morning, the body of Forby Sutherland, one of our seamen, who died the evening before, was buried near the watering-place; and from this incident I called the south point of this bay Sutherland Point. This day we resolved to make an excursion into the country. Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, myself, and seven others, properly accoutred for the expedition, set out, and repaired first to the huts near the watering-place, whither some of the natives continued every day to resort; and though the little presents which we had left there before had not yet been taken away, we left others of somewhat more value, consisting of cloth, looking-glasses, combs, and beads, and then went up into the country. We found the soil to be either swamp or light sand, and the face of the country finely diversified by wood and lawn. The trees are tall, straight, and without underwood, standing at such a distance from each other, that the whole country, at least where the swamps do not render it incapable of cultivation, might be cultivated without cutting down one of them. Between the trees the ground is covered with grass, of which there is great abundance, growing in tufts about as big as can well be grasped in the hand, which stand very close to each other. We saw many houses of the inhabitants, and places where they had slept upon the grass without any shelter; but we saw only one of the people, who, the moment he discovered us, ran away. At all these places we left presents, hoping that at length they might produce confidence and good-will. We had a transient and imperfect view of a quadruped, about as big as a rabbit. Mr. Banks’s greyhound, which was with us, got sight of it, and would probably have caught it, but the moment he set off he lamed himself against a stump which lay concealed in the long grass. We afterwards saw the dung of an animal which fed upon grass, and which we judged could not be less than a deer; and the footsteps of another, which was clawed like a dog, and seemed to be about as big as a wolf. We also tracked a small animal, whose foot resembled that of a polecat or weasel. The trees over our head abounded with birds of various kinds, among which were many of exquisite beauty, particularly loriquets and cockatoos, which flew in flocks of several scores together. We found some wood which had been felled by the natives with a blunt instrument, and some that had been barked. The trees were not of many species; among others there was a large one which yielded a gum not unlike the sanguis draconis; and in some of them steps had been cut at about three feet distance from each other, for the convenience of climbing them.

From this excursion we returned between three and four o’clock, and having dined on board, we went ashore again at the watering-place, where a party of men were filling casks. Mr. Gore, the second lieutenant, had been sent out in the morning with a boat to dredge for oysters at the head of the bay; when he had performed this service, he went ashore, and having taken a midshipman with him, and sent the boat away, set out to join the waterers by land. In his way he fell in with a body of two-and-twenty Indians, who followed him, and were often not more than twenty yards distant. When Mr. Gore perceived them so near, he stopped, and faced about, upon which they stopped also; and when he went on again, continued their pursuit. They did not, however, attack him, though they were all armed with lances, and he and the midshipman got in safety to the watering-place. The Indians, who had slackened their pursuit when they came in sight of the main body of our people, halted at about the distance of a quarter of a mile, where they stood still. Mr. Monkhouse and two or three of the waterers took it into their head to march up to them; but seeing the Indians keep their ground till they came pretty near them, they were seized with a sudden fear very common to the rash and fool-hardy, and made a hasty retreat. This step, which insured the danger that it was taken to avoid, encouraged the Indians, and four of them running forward, discharged their lances at the fugitives, with such force, that flying no less than forty yards, they went beyond them. As the Indians did not pursue, our people, recovering their spirits, stopped to collect the lances when they came up to the place where they lay; upon which the Indians, in their turn, began to retire. Just at this time I came up, with Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, and Tupia; and being desirous to convince the Indians that we were neither afraid of them, nor intended them any mischief, we advanced towards them, making signs of expostulation and entreaty; but they could not be persuaded to wait till we could come up. Mr. Gore told us, that he had seen some of them up the bay, who had invited him by signs to come on shore, which he, certainly with great prudence, declined.

The morning of the next day was so rainy, that we were all glad to stay on board. In the afternoon, however, it cleared up, and we made another excursion along the sea-coast to the southward: we went ashore, and Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander gathered many plants; but besides these we saw nothing worthy of notice. At our first entering the woods, we met with three of the natives, who instantly ran away: more of them were seen by some of the people, but they all disappeared, with great precipitation, as soon as they found that they were discovered. By the boldness of these people at our first landing, and the terror that seized them at the sight of us afterwards, it appears that they were sufficiently intimidated by our fire-arms: not that we had any reason to think the people much hurt by the small shot which we were obliged to fire at them, when they attacked us at our coming out of the boat; but they had probably seen the effects of them, from their lurking-places, upon the birds that we had shot. Tupia, who was now become a good marksman, frequently strayed from us to shoot parrots; and he had told us, that while he was thus employed, he had once met with nine Indians, who, as soon as they perceived he saw them, ran from him, in great confusion and terror.

The next day, twelve canoes, in each of which was a single Indian, came towards the watering-place, and were within half a mile of it a considerable time: they were employed in striking fish, upon which, like others that we had seen before, they were so intent, that they seemed to regard nothing else. It happened, however, that a party of our people were out a shooting near the place, and one of the men, whose curiosity might at length, perhaps, be roused by the report of the fowling-pieces, was observed by Mr. Banks to haul up his canoe upon the beach, and go towards the shooting-party. In something more than a quarter of an hour, he returned, launched his canoe, and went off in her to his companions. This incident makes it probable that the natives acquired a knowledge of the destructive power of our fire-arms, when we knew nothing of the matter; for this man was not seen by any of the party whose operations he had reconnoitred.

While Mr. Banks was gathering plants near the watering-place, I went with Dr. Solander and Mr. Monkhouse to the head of the bay, that I might examine that part of the country, and make farther attempts to form some connexion with the natives. In our way we met with eleven or twelve small canoes, with each a man in it, probably the same that were afterwards abreast of the shore, who all made into shoal water upon our approach. We met other Indians on shore the first time we landed, who instantly took to their canoes, and paddled away. We went up the country to some distance, and found the face of it nearly the same with that which has been described already, but the soil was much richer; for, instead of sand, I found a deep black mould, which I thought very fit for the production of grain of any kind. In the woods we found a tree which bore fruit that in colour and shape resembled a cherry: the juice had an agreeable tartness, though but little flavour. We found also interspersed some of the finest meadows in the world: some places, however, were rocky, but these were comparatively few: the stone is sandy, and might be used with advantage for building. When we returned to the boat, we saw some smoke upon another part of the coast, and went thither in hopes of meeting with the people, but at our approach, these also ran away. We found six small canoes, and six fires very near the beach, with some muscles roasting upon them, and a few oysters lying near: by this we judged that there had been one man in each canoe, who having picked up some shell fish, had come ashore to eat it, and made his separate fire for that purpose. We tasted of their cheer, and left them in return some strings of beads, and other things which we thought would please them. At the foot of a tree in this place we found a small well of fresh water, supplied by a spring; and the day being now far spent, we returned to the ship. In the evening, Mr. Banks made a little excursion with his gun, and found such a number of quails, resembling those in England, that he might have shot as many as he pleased; but his object was variety and not number.

The next morning, as the wind would not permit me to sail, I sent out several parties into the country to try again whether some intercourse could not be established with the natives. A midshipman, who belonged to one of these parties, having straggled a long way from his companions, met with a very old man and woman, and some little children; they were sitting under a tree by the water side, and neither party saw the other till they were close together. The Indians showed signs of fear, but did not attempt to run away. The man happened to have nothing to give them but a parrot that he had shot; this he offered, but they refused to accept it, withdrawing themselves from his hand either through fear or aversion. His stay with them was but short, for he saw several canoes near the beach fishing, and being alone, he feared they might come ashore and attack him. He said, that these people were very dark-coloured, but not black; that the man and woman appeared to be very old, being both grey-headed; that the hair of the man’s head was bushy, and his beard long and rough; that the woman’s hair was cropped short; and both of them were stark naked. Mr. Monkhouse, the surgeon, and one of the men, who were with another party near the watering-place, also strayed from their companions, and as they were coming out of a thicket, observed six Indians standing together, at the distance of about fifty yards. One of them pronounced a word very loud, which was supposed to be a signal, for a lance was immediately thrown at him out of the wood, which very narrowly missed him. When the Indians saw that the weapon had not taken effect, they ran away with the greatest precipitation; but on turning about towards the place whence the lance had been thrown, he saw a young Indian, whom he judged to be about nineteen or twenty years old, come down from a tree, and he also ran away with such speed as made it hopeless to follow him. Mr. Monkhouse was of opinion that he had been watched by these Indians in his passage through the thicket, and that the youth had been stationed in the tree to discharge the lance at him, upon a signal, as he should come by; but however this be, there could be no doubt but that he was the person who threw the lance.

In the afternoon, I went myself with a party over to the north shore, and while some of our people were hauling the seine, we made an excursion a few miles into the country, proceeding afterwards in the direction of the coast. We found this place without wood, and somewhat resembling our moors in England; the surface of the ground, however, was covered with a thin brush of plants, about as high as the knees. The hills near the coast are low, but others rise behind them, increasing by a gradual ascent to a considerable distance, with marshes and morasses between. When we returned to the boat, we found that our people had caught with the seine a great number of small fish, which are well known in the West-Indies, and which our sailors call leather-jackets, because their skin is remarkably thick. I had sent the second lieutenant out in the yawl a striking, and when we got back to the ship, we found that he also had been very successful. He had observed that the large sting-rays, of which there is great plenty in the bay, followed the flowing tide into very shallow water; he therefore took the opportunity of flood, and struck several in not more than two or three feet water: one of them weighed no less than two hundred and forty pounds after his entrails were taken out.

The next morning, as the wind still continued northerly, I sent out the yawl again, and the people struck one still larger, for when his entrails were taken out he weighed three hundred and thirty-six pounds.

The great quantity of plants which Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander collected in this place induced me to give it the name of Botany Bay. It is situated in the latitude of 34° S., longitude 208° 37ʹ W. It is capacious, safe, and convenient, and may be known by the land on the sea-coast, which is nearly level, and of a moderate height; in general higher than it is farther inland, with steep rocky cliffs next the sea, which have the appearance of a long island lying close under the shore. The harbour lies about the middle of this land, and in approaching it from the southward, is discovered before the ship comes abreast of it; but from the northward it is not discovered so soon: the entrance is a little more than a quarter of a mile broad, and lies in W. N. W. To sail into it, the southern shore should be kept on board, till the ship is within a small bare island, which lies close under the north shore; within this island the deepest water on that side is seven fathom shallowing to five a good way up. At a considerable distance from the south shore there is a shoal reaching from the inner south point quite to the head of the harbour; but over towards the north and north-west shore there is a channel of twelve or fourteen feet at low water, for three or four leagues, up to a place where there is three or four fathom; but here I found very little fresh water. We anchored near the south shore, about a mile within the entrance, for the convenience of sailing with a southerly wind, and because I thought it the best situation for watering; but I afterwards found a very fine stream on the north shore, in the first sandy cove within the island, before which a ship might lie almost land-locked, and procure wood as well as water in great abundance. Wood, indeed, is every where plenty, but I saw only two kinds which may be considered as timber. These trees are as large, or larger, than the English oak, and one of them has not a very different appearance; this is the same that yields the reddish gum like sanguis draconis, and the wood is heavy, hard, and dark-coloured, like lignum vitæ: the other grows tall and straight, something like the pine; and the wood of this, which has some resemblance to the live oak of America, is also hard and heavy. There are a few shrubs, and several kinds of the palm: mangroves also grow in great plenty near the head of the bay. The country in general is level, low, and woody, as far as we could see. The woods, as I have before observed, abound with birds of exquisite beauty, particularly of the parrot kind: we found also crows here, exactly the same with those in England. About the head of the harbour, where there are large flats of sand and mud, there is great plenty of water-fowl, most of which were altogether unknown to us; one of the most remarkable was black and white, much larger than a swan, and in shape somewhat resembling a pelican. On these banks of sand and mud there are great quantities of oysters, muscles, cockles, and other shell-fish, which seem to be the principal subsistence of the inhabitants, who go into shoal water with their little canoes, and pick them out with their hands. We did not observe that they eat any of them raw, nor do they always go on shore to dress them, for they have frequently fires in their canoes for that purpose. They do not, however, subsist wholly upon this food, for they catch a variety of other fish, some of which they strike with gigs, and some they take with hook and line. All the inhabitants that we saw were stark naked; they did not appear to be numerous, nor to live in societies, but, like other animals, were scattered about along the coast, and in the woods. Of their manner of life, however, we could know but little, as we were never able to form the least connection with them: after the first contest at our landing, they would never come near enough to parley; nor did they touch a single article of all that we had left at their huts, and the places they frequented, on purpose for them to take away.

During my stay in this harbour I caused the English colours to be displayed on shore every day, and the ship’s name, and the date of the year, to be inscribed upon one of the trees near the watering-place.

It is high-water here at the full and change of the moon about eight o’clock, and the tide rises and falls perpendicularly between four and five feet.

CHAP. II.
THE RANGE FROM BOTANY BAY TO TRINITY BAY; WITH A FARTHER ACCOUNT OF THE COUNTRY, ITS INHABITANTS, AND PRODUCTIONS.

At day-break, on Sunday, the 6th of May, 1770, we set sail from Botany Bay, with a light breeze at N. W., which soon after coming to the southward, we steered along the shore N. N. E.; and at noon, our latitude, by observation, was 33° 50ʹ S. At this time we were between two and three miles distant from the land, and abreast of a bay or harbour, in which there appeared to be good anchorage, and which I called Port Jackson. This harbour lies three leagues to the northward of Botany Bay: the variation, by several azimuths, appeared to be 8° E. At sun-set, the northermost land in sight bore N. 26 E., and some broken land, that seemed to form a bay, bore N. 40 W., distant four leagues. This bay, which lies in latitude 33° 42ʹ, I called Broken Bay. We steered along the shore N. N. E. all night, at the distance of about three leagues from the land, having from thirty-two to thirty-six fathom water, with a hard sandy bottom.

Soon after sun-rise on the 7th, I took several azimuths, with four needles belonging to the azimuth compass, the mean result of which gave the variation 7° 56ʹ E. At noon our latitude, by observation, was 33° 22ʹ S.: we were about three leagues from the shore, the northermost land in sight bore N. 19 E., and some lands which projected in three bluff points, and which, for that reason, I called Cape Three Points, bore S. W., distant five leagues. Our longitude from Botany Bay was 19ʹ E. In the afternoon, we saw smoke in several places upon the shore, and in the evening, found the variation to be 8° 25ʹ E. At this time we were between two and three miles from the shore, in twenty-eight fathom; and at noon, the next day, we had not advanced one step to the northward. We stood off shore, with the winds northerly, till twelve at night, and at the distance of about five leagues, had seventy fathom; at the distance of six leagues we had eighty fathom, which is the extent of the soundings; for at the distance of ten leagues, we had no ground with 150 fathom.

The wind continuing northerly till the morning of the 10th, we continued to stand in and off the shore, with very little change of situation in other respects; but a gale then springing up at S. W., we made the best of our way along the shore to the northward. At sun-rise, our latitude was 33° 2ʹ S., and the variation 8° E. At nine in the forenoon, we passed a remarkable hill, which stood a little way inland, and somewhat resembled the crown of a hat; and at noon, our latitude, by observation, was 32° 53ʹ S., and our longitude 208° W. We were about two leagues distant from the land, which extended from N. 41 E. to S. 41 W., and a small round rock, or island, which lay close under the land, bore S. 82 W., distant between three and four leagues. At four in the afternoon, we passed, at the distance of about a mile, a low rocky point, which I called Point Stephens; on the north side of which is an inlet, which I called Port Stephens: this inlet appeared to me, from the masthead, to be sheltered from all winds. It lies in latitude 32° 40ʹ, longitude 207° 51ʹ, and at the entrance are three small islands, two of which are high; and on the main near the shore are some high round hills, which at a distance appear like islands. In passing this bay, at the distance of two or three miles from the shore, our soundings were from thirty-three to twenty-seven fathom, from which I conjectured that there must be a sufficient depth of water within it. At a little distance within land, we saw smoke in several places; and at half an hour past five, the northermost land in sight bore N. 36 E. and Point Stephens S. W., distant four leagues. Our soundings in the night were from forty-eight to sixty-two fathom, at the distance of between three and four leagues from the shore, which made in two hillocks. This Point I called Cape Hawke: it lies in the latitude of 32° 14ʹ S., longitude 207° 30ʹ W.; and at four o’clock in the morning bore W., distant about eight miles; at the same time the northermost land in sight bore N. 6 E. and appeared like an island. At noon, this land bore N. 8 E., the northermost land in sight N. 13 E., and Cape Hawke S. 37 W. Our latitude, by observation, was 32° 2ʹ S. which was twelve miles to the southward of that given by the log; so that probably we had a current setting that way: by the morning amplitude and azimuth, the variation was 9° 10ʹ E. During our run along the shore, in the afternoon, we saw smoke in several places, at a little distance from the beach, and one upon the top of a hill, which was the first we had seen upon elevated ground since our arrival upon the coast. At sunset, we had twenty-three fathom, at the distance of a league and a half from the shore: the northermost land then bore N. 13 E., and three hills, remarkably large and high, lying contiguous to each other, and not far from the beach, N. N. W. As these hills bore some resemblance to each other, we called them The Three Brothers. They lie in latitude 31° 40ʹ, and may be seen fourteen or sixteen leagues. We steered N. E. by N. all night, having from twenty-seven to sixty-seven fathom, at the distance of between two and six leagues from the shore.

At day-break, we steered north, for the northermost land in sight. At noon, we were four leagues from the shore, and, by observation, in latitude 31° 18ʹ S., which was fifteen miles to the southward of that given by the log; our longitude 206° 58ʹ W. In the afternoon, we stood in for the land, where we saw smoke in several places, till six in the evening, when, being within three or four miles of it, and in twenty-four fathom of water, we stood off with a fresh breeze at N. and N. N. W. till midnight, when we had 118 fathom, at the distance of eight leagues from the land, and then tacked. At three in the morning, the wind veered to the westward, when we tacked and stood to the northward. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 30° 43ʹ S., and our longitude 206° 45ʹ W. At this time we were between three and four leagues from the shore, the northermost part of which bore from us N. 13 W. and a point, or head-land, on which we saw fires that produced a great quantity of smoke, bore W., distant four leagues. To this point I gave the name of Smokey Cape: it is of a considerable height, and over the pitch of the point is a round hillock; within it are two others, much higher and larger, and within them the land is very low. Our latitude was 30° 31ʹ S., longitude 206° 54ʹ W.: this day the observed latitude was only five miles south of the log. We saw smoke in several parts along the coast, besides that seen upon Smokey Cape.

In the afternoon, the wind being at N. E., we stood off and on, and at three or four miles distance from the shore had thirty fathom water: the wind afterwards coming cross off land, we stood to the northward, having from thirty to twenty-one fathom, at the distance of four or five miles from the shore.

At five in the morning, the wind veered to the north, and blew fresh, attended with squalls: at eight it began to thunder and rain, and in about an hour it fell calm, which gave us an opportunity to sound, and we had eighty-six fathom at between four and five leagues from the shore. Soon after this we had a gale from the southward, with which we steered N. by W. for the northermost land in sight. At noon we were about four leagues from the shore, and by observation, in latitude 30° 22ʹ, which was nine miles to the southward of our reckoning, longitude 206° 39ʹ W. Some lands near the shore, of a considerable height, bore W.

As we advanced to the northward from Botany Bay, the land gradually increased in height, so that in this latitude it may be called a hilly country. Between this latitude and the Bay, it exhibits a pleasing variety of ridges, hills, vallies, and plains, all clothed with wood, of the same appearance with that which has been particularly described. The land near the shore is in general low and sandy, except the points, which are rocky, and over many of them are high hills, which, at their first rising out of the water, have the appearance of islands. In the afternoon, we had some small rocky islands between us and the land, the southermost of which lies in latitude 30° 10ʹ, and the northermost in 29° 58ʹ, and somewhat more than two leagues from the land: about two miles without the northermost island we had thirty-three fathom water. Having the advantage of a moon, we steered along the shore all night, in the direction of N. and N. by E., keeping at the distance of about three leagues from the land, and having from twenty to twenty-five fathom water. As soon as it was light, having a fresh gale, we made all the sail we could; and at nine o’clock in the morning, being about a league from the shore, we discovered smoke in many places, and having recourse to our glasses, we saw about twenty of the natives, who had each a large bundle upon his back, which we conjectured to be palm-leaves for covering their houses. We continued to observe them above an hour, during which they walked upon the beach, and up a path that led over a hill of a gentle ascent, behind which we lost sight of them: not one of them was observed to stop and look towards us, but they trudged along, to all appearance, without the least emotion, either of curiosity or surprise, though it is impossible they should not have seen the ship by a casual glance as they walked along the shore; and though she must, with respect to every other object they had yet seen, have been little less stupendous and unaccountable than a floating mountain with all its woods would have been to us. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 28° 39ʹ S., and longitude 206° 27ʹ W. A high point of land, which I named Cape Byron, bore N. W. by W., at the distance of three miles. It lies in latitude 28° 37ʹ 30ʺ S., longitude 206° 30ʹ W., and may be known by a remarkable sharp-peaked mountain, which lies inland, and bears from it N. W. by W. From this point the land trends N. 13 W.: inland it is high and hilly, but low near the shore: to the southward of the point it is also low and level. We continued to steer along the shore with a fresh gale, till sun-set, when we suddenly discovered breakers a-head, directly in the ship’s course, and also on our larboard bow. At this time we were about five miles from the land, and had twenty fathom water: we hauled up east till eight, when we had run eight miles, and increased our depth of water to forty-four fathom; we then brought to, with the ship’s head to the eastward, and lay upon this tack till ten, when, having increased our sounding to seventy-eight fathom, we wore and lay with the ship’s head to the land till five in the morning, when we made sail, and, at day-light, were greatly surprised to find ourselves farther to the southward than we had been the evening before, though the wind had been southerly, and blown fresh all night. We now saw the breakers again within us, and passed them at the distance of one league. They lie in latitude 28° 8ʹ S., stretching off east two leagues from a point of land, under which is a small island. Their situation may always be known by the peaked mountain which has been just mentioned, and which bears from them S. W. by W.: for this reason I have named it Mount Warning. It lies seven or eight leagues inland, in latitude 28° 22ʹ S. The land about it is high and hilly, but it is of itself sufficiently conspicuous to be at once distinguished from every other object. The point off which these shoals lie I have named Point Danger. To the northward of this point the land is low, and trends N. W. by N.; but it soon turns again more to the northward.

At noon we were about two leagues from the land, and, by observation, in latitude 27° 46ʹ S., which was seventeen miles to the southward of the log: our longitude was 206° 26ʹ W. Mount Warning bore S. 26 W. distant fourteen leagues, and the northernmost land in sight bore N. We pursued our course along the shore, at the distance of about two leagues, in the direction of N. ¾ E. till between four and five in the afternoon, when we discovered breakers on our larboard bow. Our depth of water was thirty-seven fathom, and at sunset, the northernmost land bore N. by W., the breakers N. W. by W., distant four miles, and the northernmost land set at noon, which formed a point, and to which I gave the name of Point Look-out, W. distant five or six miles, in the latitude of 27° 6ʹ. On the north side of this point, the shore forms a wide open bay, which I called Moreton’s Bay, in the bottom of which the land is so low that I could but just see it from the top-mast head. The breakers lie between three or four miles from Point Look-out; and at this time we had a great sea from the southward, which broke upon them very high. We stood on N. N. E. till eight o’clock, when having passed the breakers, and deepened our water to fifty-two fathom, we brought to till midnight, when we made sail again to the N. N. E. At four in the morning we had 135 fathom, and when the day broke, I perceived that during the night I had got much farther northward, and from the shore, than I expected from the course we steered, for we were distant at least seven leagues; I therefore hauled in N. W. by W., with a fresh gale at S. S. W. The land that was farthest to the north the night before now bore S. S. W., distant six leagues, and I gave it the name of Cape Moreton, it being the north point of Moreton’s Bay: its latitude is 26° 56ʹ, and its longitude is 206° 28ʹ. From Cape Moreton the land trends away west, farther than can be seen, for there is a small space, where at this time no land is visible; and some on board having also observed that the sea looked paler than usual, were of opinion that the bottom of Moreton’s Bay opened into a river. We had here thirty-four fathom water, and a fine sandy bottom: this alone would have produced the change that had been observed in the colour of the water; and it was by no means necessary to suppose a river to account for the land at the bottom of the bay not being visible; for supposing the land there to be as low as we knew it to be in a hundred other parts of the coast, it would have been impossible to see it from the station of the ship; however, if any future navigator should be disposed to determine the question, whether there is or is not a river in this place, which the wind would not permit us to do, the situation may always be found by three hills which lie to the northward of it, in the latitude of 26° 53ʹ. These hills lie but a little way inland, and not far from each other: they are remarkable for the singular form of their elevation, which very much resembles a glass-house, and for which reason I called them the Glass-Houses. The northernmost of the three is the highest and largest: there are also several other peaked hills inland to the northward of these, but they are not nearly so remarkable. At noon our latitude was, by observation, 26° 28ʹ S., which was ten miles to the northward of the log, a circumstance which had never before happened upon this coast; our longitude was 206° 46ʹ. At this time we were between two and three leagues from the land, and had twenty-four fathom water. A low bluff point, which was the south head of a sandy bay, bore N. 62 W., distant three leagues, and the northernmost point of land in sight bore N. ¼ E. This day we saw smoke in several places, and some at a considerable distance inland.

In steering along the shore at the distance of two leagues, our soundings were from twenty-four to thirty-two fathom, with a sandy bottom. At six in the evening the northernmost point of the land bore N. ¼ W., distant four leagues; at ten it bore N. W. by W. ½ W., and as we had seen no land to the northward of it, we brought to, not well knowing which way to steer.

At two in the morning, however, we made sail with the wind at S. W., and at day-light, we saw the land extending as far as N. ¾ E.: the point we had set the night before bore S. W. by W., distant between three and four leagues. It lies in latitude 25° 58ʹ, longitude 206° 48ʹ W.: the land within it is of a moderate and equal height, but the point itself is so unequal, that it looks like two small islands lying under the land, for which reason I gave it the name of Double Island Point: it may also be known by the white cliffs on the north side of it. Here the land trends to the N. W., and forms a large open bay, the bottom of which is so low a flat that from the deck it could scarcely be seen. In crossing this bay, our depth of water was from thirty to twenty-two fathom, with a white sandy bottom. At noon we were about three leagues from the shore, in latitude 25° 34ʹ S., longitude 206° 45ʹ W.: Double Island Point bore S. ¾ W., and the northernmost land in sight N. ¾ E. This part of the coast, which is of a moderate height, is more barren than any we had seen, and the soil more sandy. With our glasses we could discover that the sands, which lay in great patches of many acres, were moveable, and that some of them had not been long in the place they possessed; for we saw in several parts trees half buried, the tops of which were still green; and in others, the naked trunks of such as the sand had surrounded long enough to destroy. In other places the woods appeared to be low and shrubby, and we saw no signs of inhabitants. Two water-snakes swam by the ship: they were beautifully spotted, and in every respect like land snakes, except that their tails were broad and flat, probably to serve them instead of fins in swimming. In the morning of this day the variation was 8° 20ʹ E., and in the evening 8° 36ʹ. During the night we continued our course to the northward, with a light breeze from the land, being distant from it between two and three leagues, and having from twenty-three to twenty-seven fathom, with a fine sandy bottom.

At noon, on the 19th, we were about four miles from the land, with only thirteen fathom. Our latitude was 25° 4ʹ, and the northernmost land in sight bore N. 21 W., distant eight miles. At one o’clock, being still four miles distant from the shore, but having seventeen fathom water, we passed a black bluff head, or point of land, upon which a great number of the natives were assembled, and which therefore I called Indian Head: it lies in latitude 25° 3ʹ. About four miles N. by W. of this head is another very like it, from whence the land trends away somewhat more to the westward: next to the sea it is low and sandy, and behind it nothing was to be seen, even from the mast-head. Near Indian Head we saw more of the natives, and upon the neighbouring shore fires by night, and smoke by day. We kept to the northward all night, at the distance of from four miles to four leagues from the shore, and with a depth of water from seventeen to thirty-four fathom. At day-break, the northernmost land bore from us W. S. W., and seemed to end in a point, from which we discovered a reef running out to the northward as far as we could see. We had hauled our wind to the westward before it was light, and continued the course till we saw the breakers upon our lee-bow. We now edged away N. W. and N. N. W. along the eastside of the shoal, from two to one mile distant, having regular soundings from thirteen to seven fathom, with a fine sandy bottom. At noon our latitude, by observation, was 20° 26ʹ, which was thirteen miles to the northward of the log: we judged the extreme point of the shoal to bear from us about N. W., and the point from which it seemed to run out bore S. ¾ W., distant twenty miles. This point I named Sandy Cape, from two very large patches of white sand which lay upon it. It is sufficiently high to be seen at the distance of twelve leagues, in clear weather, and lies in latitude 24° 45ʹ, longitude 206° 51ʹ: the land trends from it S. W. as far as can be seen. We kept along the east side of the shoal till two in the afternoon, when, judging that there was a sufficient depth of water upon it to allow passage for the ship, I sent the boat a-head to sound, and upon her making the signal for more than five fathom, we hauled our wind, and stood over the tail of it in six fathom. At this time we were in latitude 24° 22ʹ, and Sandy Cape bore S. ½ E., distant eight leagues; but the direction of the shoal is nearest N. N. W. and S. S. E. It is remarkable that when on board the ship we had six fathom, the boat, which was scarcely a quarter of a mile to the southward, had little more than five, and that immediately after six fathom we had thirteen, and then twenty, as fast as the man could cast the lead: from these circumstances, I conjectured that the west side of the shoal was steep. This shoal I called the Break Sea Spit, because we had now smooth water, and to the southward of it we had always a high sea from the S. E. At six in the evening, the land of Sandy Cape extended from S. 17 E. to S. 27 E., at the distance of eight leagues; our depth of water was twenty-three fathom: with the same soundings we stood to the westward all night. At seven in the morning, we saw, from the mast-head, the land of Sandy Cape bearing S. E. ½ E., distant about thirteen leagues: at nine, we discovered land to the westward, and soon after saw smoke in several places. Our depth of water was now decreased to seventeen fathom, and by noon we had no more than thirteen, though we were seven leagues from the land, which extended from S. by W. to W. N. W. Our latitude at this time was 24° 28ʹ S. For a few days past we had seen several of the sea-birds called boobies, not having met with any of them before; last night a small flock of them passed the ship, and went away to the N. W., and in the morning, from about half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after, flights of them were continually coming from the N. N. W. and flying to the S. S. E., nor was one of them seen to fly in any other direction; we therefore conjectured that there was a lagoon, river, or inlet of shallow water, in the bottom of the deep bay, to the southward of us, whither these birds resorted to feed in the day, and that not far to the northward there were some islands to which they repaired in the night. To this bay I gave the name of Hervey’s Bay, in honour of Captain Hervey. In the afternoon we stood in for the land, steering S. W., with a gentle breeze at S. E. till four o’clock, when, being in latitude 24° 36ʹ, about two leagues from the shore, and having nine fathom water, we bore away along the coast N. W. by W., and at the same time could see land extending to the S. S. E. about eight leagues. Near the sea the land is very low, but within there are some lofty hills, all thickly clothed with wood. While we were running along the shore, we shallowed our water from nine to seven fathom, and at one time we had but six, which determined us to anchor for the night.

At six in the morning we weighed, with a gentle breeze from the southward, and steered N. W. ¼ W., edging in for the land, till we got within two miles of it, with water from seven to eleven fathom; we then steered N. N. W. as the land lay, and at noon our latitude was 24° 19ʹ. We continued in the same course, at the same distance, with from twelve fathom to seven, till five in the evening, when we were abreast of the south point of a large open bay, in which I intended to anchor. During this course, we discovered with our glasses that the land was covered with palm-nut trees, which we had not seen from the time of our leaving the islands within the tropic: we also saw two men walking along the shore, who did not condescend to take the least notice of us. In the evening, having hauled close upon a wind, and made two or three trips, we anchored about eight o’clock in five fathom, with a fine sandy bottom. The south point of the bay bore E. ¾ S. distant two miles, the north point N. W. ¼ N., and about the same distance from the shore.

Early the next morning I went ashore, with a party of men, in order to examine the country, accompanied by Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, the other gentlemen, and Tupia: the wind blew fresh, and we found it so cold, that being at some distance from the shore, we took our cloaks as a necessary equipment for the voyage. We landed a little within the south point of the bay, where we found a channel leading into a large lagoon: this channel I proceeded to examine, and found three fathom water till I got about a mile up it, where I met with a shoal, upon which there was little more than one fathom, but having passed over it, I had three fathom again. The entrance of this channel lies close to the south point of the bay, being formed by the shore on the east, and on the west by a large spit of sand: it is about a quarter of a mile broad, and lies in S. by W. In this place there is room for a few ships to lie in great security, and a small stream of fresh water: I would have rowed into the lagoon, but was prevented by shallows. We found several bogs, and swamps of salt water, upon which, and by the sides of the lagoon, grows the true mangrove, such as is found in the West Indies, and the first of the kind that we had met with. In the branches of these mangroves there were many nests of a remarkable kind of ant, that was as green as grass: when the branches were disturbed they came out in great numbers, and punished the offender by a much sharper bite than ever we had felt from the same kind of animal before. Upon these mangroves also we saw small green caterpillars in great numbers: their bodies were thick set with hairs, and they were ranged upon the leaves side by side like a file of soldiers, to the number of twenty or thirty together: when we touched them, we found that the hair of their bodies had the quality of a nettle, and gave us a much more acute, though less durable pain. The country here is manifestly worse than about Botany Bay: the soil is dry and sandy, but the sides of the hills are covered with trees, which grow separately, without underwood. We found here the tree that yields a gum like the sanguis draconis; but it is somewhat different from the trees of the same kind which we had seen before, for the leaves are longer, and hang down like those of the weeping willow. We found also much less gum upon them, which is contrary to the established opinion, that the hotter the climate the more gums exude. Upon a plant also, which yielded a yellow gum, there was less than upon the same kind of plant in Botany Bay. Among the shoals and sand-banks we saw many large birds, some in particular of the same kind that we had seen in Botany Bay, much bigger than swans, which we judged to be pelicans; but they were so shy that we could not get within gun-shot of them. Upon the shore we saw a species of the bustard, one of which we shot: it was as large as a turkey, and weighed seventeen pounds and a half. We all agreed that this was the best bird we had eaten since we left England; and in honour of it we called this inlet Bustard Bay. It lies in latitude 24° 4ʹ, longitude 208° 18ʹ. The sea seemed to abound with fish; but, unhappily, we tore our seine all to pieces at the first haul. Upon the mud banks, under the mangroves, we found innumerable oysters of various kinds; among others, the hammer-oyster, and a large proportion of small pearl-oysters: if in deeper water there is equal plenty of such oysters at their full growth, a pearl fishery might certainly be established here to very great advantage.

The people who were left on board the ship said, that while we were in the woods about twenty of the natives came down to the beach, abreast of her, and having looked at her some time, went away; but we that were ashore, though we saw smoke in many places, saw no people: the smoke was at places too distant for us to get to them by land, except one, to which we repaired: we found ten small fires still burning within a few paces of each other; but the people were gone. We saw near them several vessels of bark, which we supposed to have contained water, and some shells and fish-bones, the remains of a recent meal. We saw also, lying upon the ground, several pieces of soft bark, about the length and breadth of a man, which we imagined might be their beds; and, on the windward side of the fires, a small shade, about a foot and a half high, of the same substance. The whole was in a thicket of close trees, which afforded good shelter from the wind. The place seemed to be much trodden, and as we saw no house, nor any remains of a house, we were inclined to believe that, as these people had no clothes, they had no dwelling, but spent their nights, among the other commoners of nature, in the open air; and Tupia himself, with an air of superiority and compassion, shook his head, and said, that they were Taata Enos, “poor wretches.” I measured the perpendicular height of the last tide, and found it to be eight feet above low water-mark; and from the time of low water this day, I found that it must be high-water at the full and change of the moon at eight o’clock.

At four o’clock in the morning we weighed, and with a gentle breeze at south made sail out of the bay. In standing out, our soundings were from five to fifteen fathom; and at daylight, when we were in the greatest depth, and abreast of the north head of the bay, we discovered breakers stretching out from it N. N. E. between two and three miles, with a rock at the outermost point of them, just above water. While we were passing these rocks, at the distance of about half a mile, we had from fifteen to twenty fathom, and as soon as we had passed them, we hauled along shore W. N. W. for the farthest land we had in sight. At noon our latitude, by observation, was 23° 52ʹ S.; the north part of Bustard Bay bore S. 62 E., distant ten miles, and the northernmost land in sight N. 60 W.; the longitude was 208° 37ʹ, and our distance from the nearest shore six miles, with fourteen fathom water.

Till five in the afternoon it was calm, but afterwards we steered before the wind N. W. as the land lay till ten at night, and then brought to, having had all along fourteen and fifteen fathom. At five in the morning we made sail; and at daylight the northernmost point of the main bore N. 70 W. Soon after we saw more land, making like islands, and bearing N. W. by N. At nine we were abreast of the point, at the distance of one mile, with fourteen fathom water. This point I found to lie directly under the tropic of Capricorn; and for that reason I called it Cape Capricorn: its longitude is 208° 58ʹ W.: it is of a considerable height, looks white and barren, and may be known by some islands which lie to the N. W. of it, and some small rocks at the distance of about a league S. E. On the west side of the Cape there appeared to be a lagoon, and on the two spits which formed the entrance, we saw an incredible number of the large birds that resemble a pelican. The northernmost land now in sight bore from Cape Capricorn N. 24 W., and appeared to be an island; but the main land trended W. by N. ½ N., which course we steered, having from fifteen to six fathom, and from six to nine, with a hard sandy bottom. At noon our latitude, by observation, was 23° 24ʹ S.; Cape Capricorn bore S. 60 E. distant two leagues; and a small island N. by E. two miles: in this situation we had nine fathom, being about four miles from the main, which, next the sea, is low and sandy, except the points which are high and rocky. The country inland is hilly, but by no means of a pleasing aspect. We continued to stand to the N. W. till four o’clock in the afternoon, when it fell calm; and we soon after anchored in twelve fathom, having the main land and islands in a manner all round us, and Cape Capricorn bearing S. 54 E., distant four leagues. In the night we found the tide rise and fall near seven feet; and the flood to set to the westward, and the ebb to the eastward, which is just contrary to what we found when we were at anchor to the eastward of Bustard Bay.

At six in the morning we weighed, with a gentle breeze at south, and stood away to the N. W. between the outermost range of islands and the main, leaving several small islands between the main and the ship, which we passed at a very little distance: our soundings being irregular, from twelve to four fathom, I sent a boat ahead to sound. At noon we were about three miles from the main, and about the same distance from the islands without us: our latitude, by observation, was 23° 7ʹ S. The main land here is high and mountainous; the islands which lie off it are also most of them high, and of a small circuit, having an appearance rather of barrenness than fertility. At this time we saw smoke in many places at a considerable distance inland, and therefore conjectured that there might be a lagoon, river, or inlet, running up the country, the rather as we had passed two places which had the appearance of being such; but our depth of water was too little to encourage me to venture where I should probably have less. We had not stood to the northward above an hour, before we suddenly fell into three fathom; upon which I anchored, and sent away the master to sound the channel which lay to leeward of us, between the northernmost island and the main: it appeared to be pretty broad, but I suspected that it was shallow, and so indeed it was found; for the master reported at his return that in many places he had only two fathom and a half, and where we lay at anchor we had only sixteen feet, which was not two feet more than the ship drew. While the master was sounding the channel, Mr. Banks tried to fish from the cabin windows with hook and line. The water was too shallow for fish; but the ground was almost covered with crabs, which readily took the bait, and sometimes held it so fast in their claws, that they did not quit their hold till they were considerably above water. These crabs were of two sorts, and both of them such as we had not seen before: one of them was adorned with the finest blue that can be imagined, in every respect equal to the ultra-marine, with which all his claws and every joint was deeply tinged: the under part of him was white, and so exquisitely polished, that in colour and brightness it exactly resembled the white of old china. The other was also marked with the ultra-marine upon his joints and his toes, but somewhat more sparingly; and his back was marked with three brown spots, which had a singular appearance. The people who had been out with the boat to sound, reported, that, upon an island where we had observed two fires, they had seen several of the inhabitants, who called to them, and seemed very desirous that they should land. In the evening the wind veered to E. N. E., which gave us an opportunity to stretch three or four miles back by the way we came; after which, the wind shifted to the south, and obliged us again to anchor in six fathom.

At five in the morning I sent away the master to search for a passage between the islands, while we got the ship under sail; and as soon as it was light we followed the boat, which made a signal that a passage had been found. As soon as we had got again into deep water, we made sail to the northward, as the land lay, with soundings from nine fathom to fifteen, and some small islands still without us. At noon we were about two leagues distant from the main; and, by observation, in latitude 22° 53ʹ S. The northernmost point of land in sight now bore N. N. W., distant ten miles. To this point I gave the name of Cape Manifold, from the number of high hills which appeared over it: it lies in latitude 22° 43ʹ S., and distant about seventeen leagues from Cape Capricorn, in the direction of N. 26 W. Between these capes the shore forms a large bay, which I called Keppel Bay; and I also distinguished the islands by the name of Keppel’s Islands. In this bay there is good anchorage; but what refreshments it may afford I know not: we caught no fish, though we were at anchor; but probably there is fresh water in several places, as both the islands and the main are inhabited. We saw smoke and fires upon the main; and upon the islands we saw people. At three in the afternoon we passed Cape Manifold, from which the land trends N. N. W. The land of the Cape is high, rising in hills directly from the sea; and may be known by three islands which lie off it, one of them near the shore, and the other two eight miles out at sea. One of these islands is low and flat, and the other high and round. At six o’clock in the evening we brought to, when the northernmost part of the main in sight bore N. W., and some islands which lie off it N. 31 W. Our soundings after twelve o’clock were from twenty to twenty-five fathom, and in the night from thirty to thirty-four.

At daybreak we made sail, Cape Manifold bearing S. by E., distant eight leagues, and the islands which I had set the night before were distant four miles in the same direction. The farthest visible point of the main bore N. 67 W., at the distance of twenty-two miles; but we could see several islands to the northward of this direction. At nine o’clock in the forenoon we were abreast of the point which I called Cape Townshend. It lies in latitude 22° 15ʹ; longitude 209° 43ʹ: the land is high and level, and rather naked than woody. Several islands lie to the northward of it, at the distance of four or five miles out at sea; three or four leagues to the S. E. the shore forms a bay, in the bottom of which there appeared to be an inlet or harbour. To the westward of the Cape the land trends S. W. ½ S., and there forms a very large bay, which turns to the eastward, and probably communicates with the inlet, and makes the land of the Cape an island. As soon as we got round this Cape, we hauled our wind to the westward, in order to get within the islands, which lie scattered in the bay in great numbers, and extend out to sea as far as the eye could reach even from the mast-head. These islands vary, both in height and circuit, from each other; so that, although they are very numerous, no two of them are alike. We had not stood long upon a wind before we came into shoal water, and were obliged to tack at once to avoid it. Having sent a boat ahead, I bore away W. by N., many small islands, rocks, and shoals, lying between us and the main, and many of a larger extent without us. Our soundings till near noon were from fourteen to seventeen fathom, when the boat made the signal for meeting with shoal water. Upon this we hauled close upon a wind to the eastward, but suddenly fell into three fathom and a quarter: we immediately dropped an anchor, which brought the ship up with all her sails standing. When the ship was brought up we had four fathom, with a coarse sandy bottom, and found a strong tide setting to the N. W. by W. ½ W. at the rate of near three miles an hour, by which we were so suddenly carried upon the shoal. Our latitude by observation was 22° 8ʹ S.; Cape Townshend bore E. 16 S., distant thirteen miles; and the westernmost part of the main in sight W. ¾ N. At this time a great number of islands lay all round us.

In the afternoon, having sounded round the ship, and found that there was water sufficient to carry her over the shoal, we weighed, and about three o’clock made sail and stood to the westward, as the land lay, having sent a boat ahead to sound. At six in the evening we anchored in ten fathom, with a sandy bottom, at about two miles distance from the main; the westernmost part of which bore W. N. W., and a great number of islands, lying a long way without us, were still in sight.

At five o’clock the next morning I sent away the master with two boats to sound the entrance of an inlet which bore from us west, at about the distance of a league, into which I intended to go with the ship, that I might wait a few days till the moon should increase, and in the mean time examine the country. As soon as the ship could be got under sail, the boats made the signal for anchorage; upon which we stood in, and anchored in five fathom water, about a league within the entrance of the inlet; which, as I observed a tide to flow and ebb considerably, I judged to be a river that ran up the country to a considerable distance. In this place I had thoughts of laying the ship ashore, and cleaning her bottom; I therefore landed with the master in search of a convenient place for that purpose, and was accompanied by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander. We found walking here exceedingly troublesome, for the ground was covered with a kind of grass, the seeds of which were very sharp, and bearded backwards; so that whenever they stuck into our clothes, which indeed was at every step, they worked forwards by means of the beard, till they got at the flesh; and at the same time we were surrounded by a cloud of musquitos, which incessantly tormented us with their stings. We soon met with several places where the ship might conveniently be laid ashore; but to our great disappointment we could find no fresh water. We proceeded, however, up the country, where we found gum-trees like those that we had seen before, and observed that here also the gum was in very small quantities. Upon the branches of these trees, and some others, we found ants’ nests, made of clay, as big as a bushel, something like those described in Sir Hans Sloan’s Natural History of Jamaica, vol. ii. p. 221. tab. 258., but not so smooth: the ants which inhabited these nests were small, and their bodies white. But upon another species of the tree we found a small black ant, which perforated all the twigs, and having worked out the pith, occupied the pipe which had contained it; yet the parts in which these insects had thus formed a lodgment, and in which they swarmed in amazing numbers, bore leaves and flowers, and appeared to be in as flourishing a state as those that were sound. We found also an incredible number of butterflies, so that for the space of three or four acres the air was so crowded with them, that millions were to be seen in every direction, at the same time that every branch and twig was covered with others that were not upon the wing. We found here also a small fish of a singular kind; it was about the size of a minnow, and had two very strong breast fins: we found it in places that were quite dry, where we supposed it might have been left by the tide; but it did not seem to have become languid by the want of water; for upon our approach it leaped away, by the help of the breast fins, as nimbly as a frog: neither, indeed, did it seem to prefer water to land; for when we found it in the water, it frequently leaped out, and pursued its way upon dry ground: we also observed, that when it was in places where small stones were standing above the surface of the water at a little distance from each other, it chose rather to leap from stone to stone, than to pass through the water; and we saw several of them pass entirely over puddles in this manner, till they came to dry ground, and then leap away.

In the afternoon, we renewed our search after fresh water, but without success; and therefore I determined to make my stay here but short: however, having observed from an eminence that the inlet penetrated a considerable way into the country, I determined to trace it in the morning.

At sun-rise I went ashore, and climbing a considerable hill, I took a view of the coast and the islands that lie off it, with their bearings, having an azimuth compass with me for that purpose; but I observed that the needle differed very considerably in its position, even to thirty degrees, in some places more, in others less; and once I found it differ from itself no less than two points in the distance of fourteen feet. I took up some of the loose stones that lay upon the ground, and applied them to the needle, but they produced no effect; and I therefore concluded that there was iron ore in the hills, of which I had remarked other indications both here and in the neighbouring parts. After I had made my observations upon the hill, I proceeded with Dr. Solander up the inlet; I set out with the first of the flood, and long before high water I had advanced above eight leagues. Its breadth thus far was from two to five miles, upon a S. W. by S. direction; but here it opened every way, and formed a large lake, which to the N. W. communicated with the sea; and I not only saw the sea in this direction, but found the tide of flood coming strongly in from that point: I also observed an arm of this lake extending to the eastward, and it is not improbable that it may communicate with the sea in the bottom of the bay, which lies to the westward of Cape Townshend. On the south side of the lake is a ridge of high hills, which I was very desirous to climb; but it being high-water, and the day far spent, I was afraid of being bewildered among the shoals in the night, especially as the weather was dark and rainy; and therefore I made the best of my way to the ship. In this excursion I saw only two people, and they were at a distance; they followed the boat along the shore a good way, but the tide running strongly in my favour, I could not prudently wait for them; I saw, however, several fires in one direction, and smoke in another, but they also were at a distance. While I was tracing the inlet with Dr. Solander, Mr. Banks was endeavouring to penetrate into the country, where several of the people who had leave to go ashore were also rambling about. Mr. Banks and his party found their course obstructed by a swamp, covered with mangroves, which however they resolved to pass; the mud was almost knee-deep, yet they resolutely went on; but before they got half way, they repented of their undertaking: the bottom was covered with branches of trees interwoven with each other, sometimes they kept their footing upon them, sometimes their feet slipped through, and sometimes they were so entangled among them, that they were forced to free themselves by groping in the mud and slime with their hands. In about an hour, however, they crossed it, and judged it might be about a quarter of a mile over. After a short walk, they came up to a place where there had been four small fires, and near them some shells and bones of fish that had been roasted: they found also heaps of grass laid together, where four or five people appeared to have slept. The second lieutenant, Mr. Gore, who was at another place, saw a little water lying in the bottom of a gulley, and near it the track of a large animal: some bustards were also seen, but none of them shot, nor any other bird except a few of the beautiful loriquets which we had seen in Botany Bay. Mr. Gore, and one of the midshipmen, who were in different places, said that they had heard the voices of Indians near them, but had seen none: the country in general appeared sandy and barren, and being destitute of fresh water, it cannot be supposed to have any settled inhabitants. The deep gulleys, which were worn by torrents from the hills, prove, that at certain seasons the rains here are very copious and heavy.

The inlet in which the ship lay, I called Thirsty Sound, because it afforded us no fresh water. It lies in latitude 22° 10ʹ S., and longitude 210° 18ʹ W.; and may be known by a group of small islands lying under the shore, from two to five leagues distant, in the direction of N. W., and by another group of islands that lie right before it, between three and four leagues out at sea. Over each of the points that form the entrance is a high round hill, which, on the N. W., is a peninsula that at high water is surrounded by the sea: they are bold to both the shores, and the distance between them is about two miles. In this inlet is good anchorage in seven, six, five, and four fathom; and places very convenient for laying a ship down, where, at spring-tides, the water does not rise less than sixteen or eighteen feet. The tide flows at the full and change of the moon about eleven o’clock. I have already observed that here is no fresh water, nor could we procure refreshment of any other kind: we saw two turtles, but we were not able to take either of them: neither did we catch either fish or wild-fowl, except a few small land birds: we saw indeed the same sorts of water-fowl as in Botany Bay, but they were so shy that we could not get a shot at them.

As I had not therefore a single inducement to stay longer in this place, I weighed anchor at six o’clock in the morning of Thursday the 31st of May, and put to sea. We stood to the N. W. with a fresh breeze at S. S. E., and kept without the group of islands that lie in shore, and to the N. W. of Thirsty Sound, as there appeared to be no safe passage between them and the main; at the same time we had a number of islands without us, extending as far as we could see: during our run in this direction, our depth of water was ten, eight, and nine fathom. At noon, the west point of Thirsty Sound, which I have called Pier Head, bore S. 36 E., distant five leagues; the east point of the other inlet, which communicates with the Sound, bore S. by W., distant two leagues; the group of islands just mentioned lay between us and the point, and the farthest part of the main in sight, on the other side of the inlet, bore N. W. Our latitude by observation was 21° 53ʹ. At half an hour after twelve, the boat, which was sounding ahead, made the signal for shoal-water, and we immediately hauled our wind to the N. E. At this time we had seven fathom, at the next cast five, and at the next three, upon which we instantly dropped an anchor, that brought the ship up. Pier-head, the north-west point of Thirsty Sound, bore S. E. distant six leagues, being half-way between the islands which lie off the east point of the western inlet, and three small islands which lie directly without them. It was now the first of the flood, which we found to set N. W. by W. ½ W.; and having sounded about the shoal, upon which we had three fathom, and found deep water all round it, we got under sail, and having hauled round the three islands that have been just mentioned, came to an anchor under the lee of them, in fifteen fathom water; and the weather being dark, hazy, and rainy, we remained there till seven o’clock in the morning. At this time we got again under sail, and stood to the N. W. with a fresh breeze at S. S. E.; having the main land in sight, and a number of islands all round us, some of which lay out at sea as far as the eye could reach. The western inlet, which, in the chart, is distinguished by the name of Broad Sound, we had now all open; at the entrance, it is at least nine or ten leagues wide: in it, and before it, lie several islands, and probably shoals also; for our soundings were very irregular, varying suddenly from ten to four fathom. At noon, our latitude by observation was 21° 29ʹ S.; a point of land which forms the north-west entrance into Broad Sound, and which I have named Cape Palmerston, lying in latitude 21° 30ʹ, longitude 210° 54ʹ W. bore W. by N. distant three leagues. Our latitude was 21° 27ʹ, our longitude 210° 57ʹ. Between this Cape and Cape Townshend lies the bay which I have called the Bay of Inlets. We continued to stand to the N. W. and N. W. by N., as the land lay, under an easy sail, having a boat ahead to sound: at first the soundings were very irregular, from nine to four fathom; but afterwards they were regular, from nine to eleven. At eight in the evening, being about two leagues from the main land, we anchored in eleven fathom, with a sandy bottom; and soon after, we found the tide setting with a slow motion to the westward. At one o’clock, it was slack, or low water; and at half an hour after two, the ship tended to the eastward, and rode so till six in the morning, when the tide had risen eleven feet. We now got under sail, and stood away in the direction of the coast, N. N. W. From what we had observed of the tide during the night, it is plain, that the flood came from the N. W.; whereas, the preceding day, and several days before, it came from the S. E.; nor was this the first, or even second time that we had remarked the same thing. At sun-rise this morning, we found the variation to be 6° 45ʹ E.; and in steering along the shore, between the island and the main, at the distance of about two leagues from the main, and three or four from the island, our soundings were regular from twelve to nine fathom; but about eleven o’clock in the forenoon, we were again embarrassed with shoal water, having at one time not more than three fathom; yet we got clear, without casting anchor. At noon we were about two leagues from the main, and four from the islands without us. Our latitude by observation was 20° 56ʹ, and a high promontory, which I named Cape Hillsborough, bore W. ½ N., distant seven miles. The land here is diversified by mountains, hills, plains, and valleys, and seems to be well clothed with herbage and wood: the islands which lie parallel to the coast, and from five to eight or nine miles distant, are of various height and extent; scarcely any of them are more than five leagues in circumference, and many are not four miles: besides this chain of islands, which lies at a distance from the coast, there are others much less, which lie under the land, from which we saw smoke rising in different places. We continued to steer along the shore at the distance of about two leagues, with regular soundings from nine to ten fathom. At sun-set, the farthest point of the main bore N. 48 W., and to the northward of this lay some high land, which I took to be an island, and of which the north-west point bore 41 W.; but not being sure of a passage, I came to an anchor about eight o’clock in the evening, in ten fathom water, with a muddy bottom. About ten we had a tide setting to the northward, and at two it had fallen nine feet; after this it began to rise, and the flood came from the northward, in the direction of the islands which lay out to sea; a plain indication that there was no passage to the N. W. This, however, had not appeared at day-break, when we got under sail and stood to the N. W. At eight o’clock in the morning, we discovered low land quite across what we took for an opening, which proved to be a bay, about five or six leagues deep; upon this we hauled our wind to the eastward round the north point of the bay, which at this time bore from us N. E. by N., distant four leagues: from this point we found the land trend away N. by W. ½ W., and a straight or passage between it and a large island, or islands, lying parallel to it. Having the tide of ebb in our favour, we stood for this passage, and at noon were just within the entrance: our latitude by observation was 20° 26ʹ S.; Cape Hillsborough bore S. by E. distant ten leagues; and the north point of the bay S. 19 W., distant four miles. This point, which I named Cape Conway, lies in latitude 26° 36ʹ S., longitude 211° 28ʹ W.; and the bay which lies between this Cape and Cape Hillsborough, I called Repulse Bay. The greatest depth of water which we found in it was thirteen fathom, and the least eight. In all parts there was safe anchorage, and I believe that, upon proper examination, some good harbours would be found in it; especially at the north side within Cape Conway; for just within that Cape, there lie two or three small islands, which alone would shelter that side of the bay from the southerly and south-easterly winds, that seem to prevail here as a Trade. Among the many islands that lie upon this coast, there is one more remarkable than the rest; it is of a small circuit, very high and peaked, and lies E. by S. ten miles from Cape Conway, at the south end of the passage. In the afternoon, we steered through this passage, which we found to be from three to seven miles broad, and eight or nine leagues in length, N. by W. ½ W., S. by E. ½ E. It is formed by the main on the west, and by the islands on the east, one of which is at least five leagues in length: our depth of water in running through was from twenty to five and twenty fathom, with good anchorage every where, and the whole passage may be considered as one safe harbour, exclusive of the small bays and coves which abound on each side, where ships might lie as in a bason. The land, both upon the main and islands, is high, and diversified by hill and valley, wood and lawn, with a green and pleasant appearance. On one of the islands, we discovered with our glasses two men and a woman, and a canoe with an outrigger, which appeared to be larger, and of a construction very different from those of bark tied together at the ends, which we had seen upon other parts of the coast; we hoped therefore that the people here had made some farther advances beyond mere animal life than those that we had seen before. At six o’clock in the evening, we were nearly the length of the north end of the passage; the north westermost point of the main in sight bore N. 54 W., and the north end of the island N. N. E., with an open sea between the two points. As this passage was discovered on Whitsunday, I called it Whitsunday’s Passage; and I called the islands that form it Cumberland Islands, in honour of his Royal Highness the Duke. We kept under an easy sail, with the lead going all night, being at the distance of about three leagues from the shore, and having from twenty-one to twenty-three fathom water. At day-break, we were abreast of the point which had been the farthest in sight to the north-west the evening before, which I named Cape Gloucester. It is a lofty promontory, in latitude 19° 59ʹ S., longitude 211° 49ʹ W., and may be known by an island which lies out at sea N. by W. ½ W. at the distance of five or six leagues from it, and which I called Holborne Isle; there are also islands lying under the land between Holborne Isle and Whitsunday’s Passage. On the west side of Cape Gloucester the land trends away S. W. and S. S. W., and forms a deep bay, the bottom of which I could but just see from the mast-head: it is very low, and a continuation of the low land which we had seen at the bottom of Repulse Bay. This bay I called Edgecumbe Bay, but without staying to look into it, we continued our course to the westward, for the farthest land we could see in that direction, which bore W. by N. ½ N. and appeared very high. At noon, we were about three leagues from the shore, by observation in latitude 19° 47ʹ S., and Cape Gloucester bore S. 63 E., distant seven leagues and a half. At six in the evening, we were abreast of the westermost point just mentioned, at about three miles distance; and because it rises abruptly from the low lands which surround it, I called it Cape Upstart. It lies in latitude 19° 39ʹ S., longitude 212° 32ʹ W., fourteen leagues W. N. W. from Cape Gloucester, and is of a height sufficient to be seen at the distance of twelve leagues: inland there are some high hills or mountains, which, like the Cape, afford but a barren prospect. Having passed this Cape, we continued standing to the W. N. W. as the land lay, under an easy sail, having from sixteen to ten fathom, till two o’clock in the morning, when we fell into seven fathom; upon which we hauled our wind to the northward, judging ourselves to be very near land: at day-break, we found our conjecture to be true, being within little more than two leagues of it. In this part of the coast, the land being very low, is nearer than it appears to be, though it is diversified with here and there a hill. At noon, we were about four leagues from the land, in fifteen fathom water, and our latitude, by observation, was 19° 12ʹ S., Cape Upstart bearing S. 32° 30ʹ E., distant twelve leagues. About this time some very large columns of smoke were seen rising from the low lands. At sun-set, the preceding night, when we were close under Cape Upstart, the variation was nearly 9° E., and at sun-rise this day, it was no more than 5° 35ʹ; I judged therefore that it had been influenced by iron ore, or other magnetical matter, contained under the surface of the earth.

We continued to steer W. N. W. as the land lay, with twelve or fourteen fathom water, till noon on the 6th, when our latitude by observation was 19° 1ʹ S. and we had the mouth of a bay all open, extending from S. ½ E. to S. W. ½ S. distant two leagues. This bay, which I named Cleaveland Bay, appeared to be about five or six miles in extent every way: the east point I named Cape Cleaveland, and the west, which had the appearance of an island, Magnetical Isle, as we perceived that the compass did not traverse well when we were near it: they are both high, and so is the main land within them, the whole forming a surface the most rugged, rocky, and barren of any we had seen upon the coast; it was not however without inhabitants, for we saw smoke in several parts of the bottom of the bay. The northermost land that was in sight at this time, bore N. W., and it had the appearance of an island, for we could not trace the main land farther than W. by N. We steered W. N. W. keeping the main land on board, the outermost part of which, at sun-set, bore W. by N.; but without it lay high land, which we judged not to be part of it. At day-break, we were abreast of the eastern part of this land, which we found to be a group of islands, lying about five leagues from the main: at this time, being between the two shores, we advanced slowly to the N. W. till noon, when our latitude, by observation, was 18° 49ʹ S. and our distance from the main about five leagues: the north-west part of it bore from us N. by W. ½ W. the islands extending from N. to E., and the nearest being distant about two miles: Cape Cleaveland bore S. 50 E. distant eighteen leagues. Our soundings, in the course that we had sailed between this time and the preceding noon, were from fourteen to eleven fathom.

In the afternoon, we saw several large columns of smoke upon the main; we saw also some people and canoes, and upon one of the islands what had the appearance of cocoa-nut trees: as a few of these nuts would now have been very acceptable, I sent Lieutenant Hicks ashore, and with him went Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, to see what refreshment could be procured, while I kept standing in for the island with the ship. About seven o’clock in the evening, they returned, with an account that what we had taken for cocoa-nut trees, were a small kind of cabbage palm, and that, except about fourteen or fifteen plants, they had met with nothing worth bringing away. While they were ashore, they saw none of the people, but just as they had put off, one of them came very near the beach, and shouted with a loud voice; it was so dark that they could not see him, however they turned towards the shore, but when he heard the boat putting back, he ran away or hid himself, for they could not get a glimpse of him, and though they shouted he made no reply. After the return of the boats, we stood away N. by W. for the northermost land in sight, of which we were abreast at three o’clock in the morning, having passed all the islands three or four hours before. This land, on account of its figure, I named Point Hillock: it is of a considerable height, and may be known by a round hillock, or rock, which joins to the Point, but appears to be detached from it. Between this Cape and Magnetical Isle, the shore forms a large bay, which I called Halifax Bay: before it lay the group of islands which has been just mentioned, and some others, at a less distance from the shore. By these islands the bay is sheltered from all winds, and it affords good anchorage. The land near the beach, in the bottom of the bay, is low and woody, but farther back it is one continued ridge of high land, which appeared to be barren and rocky. Having passed Point Hillock, we continued standing to the N. N. W. as the land trended, having the advantage of a light moon. At six, we were abreast of a point of land which lies N. by W. ½ W., distant eleven miles from Point Hillock, which I named Cape Sandwich. Between these two points, the land is very high, and the surface is craggy and barren. Cape Sandwich may be known not only by the high craggy land over it, but by a small island which lies east of it, at the distance of a mile, and some others that lie about two leagues to the northward. From Cape Sandwich the land trends W. and afterwards N., forming a fine large bay, which I called Rockingham Bay, where there appears to be good shelter, and good anchorage, but I did not stay to examine it: I kept ranging along the shore to the northward, for a cluster of small islands, which lie off the northern point of the bay. Between the three outermost of these islands, and those near the shore, I found a channel of about a mile broad, through which I passed, and upon one of the nearest islands, we saw with our glasses about thirty of the natives, men, women, and children, all standing together, and looking with great attention at the ship; the first instance of curiosity that we had seen among them: they were all stark naked, with short hair, and of the same complexion with those that we had seen before. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 17° 59ʹ, and we were abreast of the north point of Rockingham Bay, which bore from us W., at the distance of about two miles. This boundary of the bay is formed by an island of considerable height, which in the chart is distinguished by the name of Dunk Isle, and which lies so near the shore as not to be easily distinguished from it. Our longitude was 213° 57ʹ W. Cape Sandwich bore S. by E. ½ E. distant nineteen miles, and the northermost land in sight N. ½ W.: our depth of water for the last ten hours had not been more than sixteen, nor less than seven fathom. At sun-set, the northern extremity of the land bore N. 25 W., and we kept our course N. by W. along the coast, at the distance of between three and four leagues, with an easy sail all night, having from twelve to fifteen fathom water.

At six o’clock in the morning, we were abreast of some small islands, which we called Frankland’s Isles, and which lie about two leagues distant from the main land. The most distant point in sight to the northward bore N. by W. ½ W., and we thought it was part of the main, but afterwards found it to be an island of considerable height, and about four miles in circuit. Between this island and a point on the main, from which it is distant about two miles, I passed with the ship. At noon, we were in the middle of the channel, and by observation in the latitude of 16° 57ʹ S. with twenty fathom water. The point on the main, of which we were now abreast, I called Cape Grafton: its latitude is 16° 57ʹ S., and longitude 214° 6ʹ W.; and the land here, as well as the whole coast for about twenty leagues to the southward, is high, has a rocky surface, and is thinly covered with wood: during the night we had seen several fires, and about noon some people. Having hauled round Cape Grafton, we found the land trend away N. W. by W.; and three miles to the westward of the cape, we found a bay, in which we anchored about two miles from the shore, in four fathom water, with an ouzey bottom. The east point of the bay bore S. 74 E., the west point S. 83 W., and a low, green, woody island, which lies in the offing, N. 35 E. This island, which lies N. by E. ½ E., distant three or four leagues from Cape Grafton, is called in the chart Green Island.

As soon as the ship was brought to an anchor, I went ashore, accompanied by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander. As my principal view was to procure some fresh water, and as the bottom of the bay was low land covered with mangroves, where it was not probable fresh water was to be found, I went out towards the cape, and found two small streams, which however were rendered very difficult of access by the surf and rocks upon the shore: I saw also, as I came round the cape, a small stream of water run over the beach in a sandy cove, but I did not go in with the boat, because I saw that it would not be easy to land. When we got ashore, we found the country every where rising into steep rocky hills; and as no fresh water could conveniently be procured, I was unwilling to lose time by going in search of lower land elsewhere: we therefore made the best of our way back to the ship, and about midnight we weighed and stood to the N. W., having but little wind, with some showers of rain. At four in the morning, the breeze freshened at S. by E., and the weather became fair: we continued steering N. N. W. ½ W. as the land lay, at about three leagues distance, with ten, twelve, and fourteen fathom water. At ten, we hauled off north, in order to get without a small low island, which lay at about two leagues distance from the main, and great part of which at this time, it being high-water, was overflowed: about three leagues to the north-west of this island, close under the main land, is another island, the land of which rises to a greater height, and which at noon bore from us N. 55 W. distant seven or eight miles. At this time our latitude was 16° 20ʹ S.; Cape Grafton bore S. 29 E. distant forty miles, and the northermost point of land in sight N. 20 W.; our depth of water was fifteen fathom. Between this point and Cape Grafton, the shore forms a large, but not a very deep bay, which being discovered on Trinity Sunday, I called Trinity Bay.

CHAP. III.
DANGEROUS SITUATION OF THE SHIP IN HER COURSE FROM TRINITY BAY TO ENDEAVOUR RIVER.

Hitherto we had safely navigated this dangerous coast, where the sea in all parts conceals shoals that suddenly project from the shore, and rocks that rise abruptly like a pyramid from the bottom, for an extent of two and twenty degrees of latitude, more than one thousand three hundred miles; and therefore hitherto none of the names which distinguish the several parts of the country that we saw, are memorials of distress; but here we became acquainted with misfortune, and we therefore called the point which we had just seen farthest to the northward, Cape Tribulation.

This cape lies in latitude 16° 6ʹ S., and longitude 214° 39ʹ W. We steered along the shore N. by W. at the distance of between three and four leagues, having from fourteen to twelve, and ten fathom water: in the offing we saw two islands, which lie in latitude 16° S., and about six or seven leagues from the main. At six in the evening, the northermost land in sight bore N. by W. ½ W., and two low woody islands, which some of us took to be rocks above water, bore N. ½ W. At this time we shortened sail, and hauled off shore E. N. E. and N. E. by E. close upon a wind, for it was my design to stretch off all night, as well to avoid the danger we saw ahead, as to see whether any islands lay in the offing, especially as we were now near the latitude assigned to the islands which were discovered by Quiros, and which some geographers, for what reason I know not, have thought fit to join to this land. We had the advantage of a fine breeze, and a clear moonlight night, and in standing off from six till near nine o’clock, we deepened our water from fourteen to twenty-one fathom; but while we were at supper, it suddenly shoaled, and we fell into twelve, ten, and eight fathom, within the space of a few minutes; I immediately ordered every body to their station, and all was ready to put about and come to an anchor, but meeting at the next cast of the lead with deep water again, we concluded that we had gone over the tail of the shoals which we had seen at sun-set, and that all danger was past: before ten, we had twenty and one-and-twenty fathom, and this depth continuing, the gentlemen left the deck in great tranquillity, and went to bed; but a few minutes before eleven, the water shallowed at once from twenty to seventeen fathom, and before the lead could be cast again, the ship struck, and remained immoveable, except by the heaving of the surge, that beat her against the craggs of the rock upon which she lay. In a few moments every body was upon the deck, with countenances which sufficiently expressed the horrors of our situation. We had stood off the shore three hours and a half, with a pleasant breeze, and therefore knew that we could not be very near it, and we had too much reason to conclude that we were upon a rock of coral, which is more fatal than any other, because the points of it are sharp, and every part of the surface so rough as to grind away whatever is rubbed against it, even with the gentlest motion. In this situation all the sails were immediately taken in, and the boats hoisted out to examine the depth of water round the ship: we soon discovered that our fears had not aggravated our misfortune, and that the vessel had been lifted over a ledge of the rock, and lay in a hollow within it: in some places there was from three to four fathom, and in others not so many feet. The ship lay with her head to the N. E.; and at the distance of about thirty yards on the starboard side, the water deepened to eight, ten, and twelve fathom. As soon as the long boat was out, we struck our yards and topmasts, and carried out the stream anchor on the starboard bow, got the coasting anchor and cable into the boat, and were going to carry it out the same way; but upon sounding a second time round the ship, the water was found to be deepest astern: the anchor therefore was carried out from the starboard quarter instead of the starboard bow, that is, from the stern instead of the head, and having taken ground, our utmost force was applied to the capstern, hoping that if the anchor did not come home, the ship would be got off, but to our great misfortune and disappointment we could not move her: during all this time she continued to beat with great violence against the rock, so that it was with the utmost difficulty that we kept upon our legs; and to complete the scene of distress, we saw by the light of the moon the sheathing boards from the bottom of the vessel floating away all round her, and at last her false keel, so that every moment was making way for the sea to rush in which was to swallow us up. We had now no chance but to lighten her, and we had lost the opportunity of doing that to the greatest advantage, for unhappily we went on shore just at high water, and by this time it had considerably fallen, so that after she should be lightened so as to draw as much less water as the water had sunk, we should be but in the same situation as at first; and the only alleviation of this circumstance was, that as the tide ebbed the ship settled to the rocks, and was not beaten against them with so much violence. We had indeed some hope from the next tide, but it was doubtful whether she would hold together so long, especially as the rock kept grating her bottom under the starboard bow with such force as to be heard in the fore store-room. This however was no time to indulge conjecture, nor was any effort remitted in despair of success: that no time might be lost, the water was immediately started in the hold, and pumped up; six of our guns, being all we had upon the deck, our iron and stone ballast, casks, hoop staves, oil jars, decayed stores, and many other things that lay in the way of heavier materials, were thrown overboard with the utmost expedition, every one exerting himself with an alacrity almost approaching to cheerfulness, without the least repining or discontent; yet the men were so far imprest with a sense of their situation, that not an oath was heard among them, the habit of profaneness, however strong, being instantly subdued by the dread of incurring guilt when death seemed to be so near.

While we were thus employed, day broke upon us, and we saw the land at about eight leagues distance, without any island in the intermediate space, upon which, if the ship should have gone to pieces, we might have been set ashore by the boats, and from which they might have taken us by different turns to the main: the wind however gradually died away, and early in the forenoon it was a dead calm; if it had blown hard, the ship must inevitably have been destroyed. At eleven in the forenoon we expected high water, and anchors were got out, and every thing made ready for another effort to heave her off if she should float, but to our inexpressible surprise and concern, she did not float by a foot and a half, though we had lightened her near fifty ton; so much did the day-tide fall short of that in the night. We now proceeded to lighten her still more, and threw overboard every thing that it was possible for us to spare: hitherto she had not admitted much water, but as the tide fell, it rushed in so fast, that two pumps, incessantly worked, could scarcely keep her free. At two o’clock, she lay heeling two or three streaks to starboard, and the pinnace, which lay under her bows, touched the ground: we had now no hope but from the tide at midnight, and to prepare for it we carried out our two bower anchors, one on the starboard quarter, and the other right a-stern, got the blocks and tackle which were to give us a purchase upon the cables in order, and brought the falls, or ends of them, in abaft, straining them tight, that the next effort might operate upon the ship, and by shortening the length of the cable between that and the anchors, draw her off the ledge upon which she rested, towards the deep water. About five o’clock in the afternoon, we observed the tide begin to rise, but we observed at the same time that the leak increased to a most alarming degree, so that two more pumps were manned, but unhappily only one of them would work: three of the pumps however were kept going, and at nine o’clock the ship righted; but the leak had gained upon us so considerably, that it was imagined she must go to the bottom as soon as she ceased to be supported by the rock: this was a dreadful circumstance, so that we anticipated the floating of the ship not as an earnest of deliverance, but as an event that would probably precipitate our destruction. We well knew that our boats were not capable of carrying us all on shore, and that when the dreadful crisis should arrive, as all command and subordination would be at an end, a contest for preference would probably ensue, that would increase even the horrors of shipwreck, and terminate in the destruction of us all by the hands of each other; yet we knew that if any should be left on board to perish in the waves, they would probably suffer less upon the whole than those who should get on shore, without any lasting or effectual defence against the natives, in a country, where even nets and fire-arms would scarcely furnish them with food; and where, if they should find the means of subsistence, they must be condemned to languish out the remainder of life in a desolate wilderness, without the possession, or even hope, of any domestic comfort, and cut off from all commerce with mankind, except the naked savages who prowled the desert, and who perhaps were some of the most rude and uncivilized upon the earth.

To those only who have waited in a state of such suspense, death has approached in all his terrors; and as the dreadful moment that was to determine our fate came on, every one saw his own sensations pictured in the countenances of his companions: however, the capstan and windlace were manned with as many hands as could be spared from the pumps, and the ship floating about twenty minutes after ten o’clock, the effort was made, and she was heaved into deep water. It was some comfort to find that she did not now admit more water than she had done upon the rock; and though, by the gaining of the leak upon the pumps, there was no less than three feet nine inches water in the hold, yet the men did not relinquish their labour, and we held the water as it were at bay; but having now endured excessive fatigue of body and agitation of mind for more than four-and-twenty hours, and having but little hope of succeeding at last, they began to flag: none of them could work at the pump more than five or six minutes together, and then, being totally exhausted, they threw themselves down upon the deck, though a stream of water was running over it from the pumps between three and four inches deep; when those who succeeded them had worked their spell, and were exhausted in their turn, they threw themselves down in the same manner, and the others started up again, and renewed their labour; thus relieving each other till an accident was very near putting an end to their efforts at once. The planking which lines the inside of the ship’s bottom is called the ceiling, and between this, and the outside planking, there is a space of about eighteen inches: the man who till this time had attended the well to take the depth of water, had taken it only to the ceiling, and gave the measure accordingly; but he being now relieved, the person who came in his stead, reckoned the depth to the outside planking, by which it appeared in a few minutes to have gained upon the pumps eighteen inches, the difference between the planking without and within. Upon this, even the bravest was upon the point of giving up his labour with his hope, and in a few minutes every thing would have been involved in all the confusion of despair. But this accident, however dreadful in its first consequences, was eventually the cause of our preservation: the mistake was soon detected, and the sudden joy which every man felt upon finding his situation better than his fears had suggested, operated like a charm, and seemed to possess him with a strong belief that scarcely any real danger remained. New confidence and new hope, however founded, inspired new vigour; and though our state was the same as when the men first began to slacken in their labour, through weariness and despondency, they now renewed their efforts with such alacrity and spirit, that before eight o’clock in the morning the leak was so far from having gained upon the pumps, that the pumps had gained considerably upon the leak. Every body now talked of getting the ship into some harbour, as a thing not to be doubted, and as hands could be spared from the pumps, they were employed in getting up the anchors: the stream anchor and best bower we had taken on board; but it was found impossible to save the little bower, and therefore it was cut away at a whole cable: we lost also the cable of the stream anchor among the rocks; but in our situation these were trifles which scarcely attracted our notice. Our next business was to get up the fore-top-mast and fore-yard, and warp the ship to the south-east, and at eleven, having now a breeze from the sea, we once more got under sail and stood for the land.

It was, however, impossible long to continue the labour by which the pumps had been made to gain upon the leak; and as the exact situation of it could not be discovered, we had no hope of stopping it within. In this situation, Mr. Monkhouse, one of my midshipmen, came to me, and proposed an expedient that he had once seen used on board a merchant-ship, which sprung a leak that admitted above four feet water an hour, and which, by this expedient, was brought safely from Virginia to London; the master having such confidence in it, that he took her out of harbour, knowing her condition, and did not think it worth while to wait till the leak could be otherwise stopped. To this man, therefore, the care of the expedient, which is called fothering the ship, was immediately committed, four or five of the people being appointed to assist him, and he performed it in this manner: he took a lower studding sail, and having mixed together a large quantity of oakum and wool, chopped pretty small, he stitched it down in handfuls upon the sail, as lightly as possible, and over this he spread the dung of our sheep and other filth; but horse-dung, if we had had it, would have been better. When the sail was thus prepared, it was hauled under the ship’s bottom by ropes, which kept it extended, and when it came under the leak, the suction which carried in the water, carried in with it the oakum and wool from the surface of the sail, which in other parts the water was not sufficiently agitated to wash off. By the success of this expedient our leak was so far reduced, that instead of gaining upon three pumps, it was easily kept under with one. This was a new source of confidence and comfort; the people could scarcely have expressed more joy if they had been already in port; and their views were so far from being limited to running the ship ashore in some harbour, either of an island or the main, and building a vessel out of her materials to carry us to the East Indies, which had so lately been the utmost object of our hope, that nothing was now thought of but ranging along the shore in search of a convenient place to repair the damage she had sustained, and then prosecuting the voyage upon the same plan as if nothing had happened. Upon this occasion I must observe, both in justice and gratitude to the ship’s company, and the gentlemen on board, that although in the midst of our distress every one seemed to have a just sense of his danger, yet no passionate exclamations or frantic gestures were to be heard or seen; every one appeared to have the perfect possession of his mind; and every one exerted himself to the uttermost, with a quiet and patient perseverance, equally distant from the tumultuous violence of terror, and the gloomy inactivity of despair.

In the mean time, having light airs at E. S. E., we got up the main-top-mast, and main-yard, and kept edging in for the land, till about six o’clock in the evening, when we came to an anchor in seventeen fathom water, at the distance of seven leagues from the shore, and one from the ledge of rocks upon which we had struck.

This ledge or shoal lies in latitude 15° 45ʹ S., and between six and seven leagues from the main. It is, not, however, the only shoal on this part of the coast, especially to the northward; and at this time we saw one to the southward, the tail of which we passed over, when we had uneven soundings about two hours before we struck. A part of this shoal is always above water, and has the appearance of white sand: a part also of that upon which we had lain is dry at low water, and in that place consists of sand stones; but all the rest of it is a coral rock.

While we lay at anchor for the night, we found that the ship made about fifteen inches water an hour, from which no immediate danger was to be apprehended; and at six o’clock in the morning, we weighed and stood to the N. W., still edging in for the land with a gentle breeze at S. S. E. At nine we passed close without two small islands that lie in latitude 15° 41ʹ S. and about four leagues from the main: to reach these islands had, in the height of our distress, been the object of our hope, or perhaps rather of our wishes, and therefore I called them Hope Islands. At noon we were about three leagues from the land, and in latitude 15° 37ʹ S.; the northernmost part of the main in sight bore N. 30 W.; and Hope Islands extended from S. 30 E. to S. 40 E. In this situation we had twelve fathom water, and several sand-banks without us. At this time the leak had not increased; but that we might be prepared for all events, we got the sail ready for another fothering. In the afternoon, having a gentle breeze at S. E. by E., I sent out the master with two boats, as well to sound a-head of the ship, as to look out for a harbour where we might repair our defects, and put the ship in a proper trim. At three o’clock, we saw an opening that had the appearance of a harbour, and stood off and on while the boats examined it; but they soon found that there was not depth of water in it sufficient for the ship. When it was near sunset, there being many shoals about us, we anchored in four fathom, at the distance of about two miles from the shore, the land extending from N. ½ E. to S. by E. ½ E. The pinnace was still out with one of the mates; but at nine o’clock she returned, and reported, that about two leagues to leeward she had discovered just such a harbour as we wanted, in which there was a sufficient rise of water, and every other convenience that could be desired, either for laying the ship ashore, or heaving her down.

In consequence of this information, I weighed at six o’clock in the morning, and having sent two boats a-head, to lie upon the shoals that we saw in our way, we ran down to the place; but notwithstanding our precaution, we were once in three fathom water. As soon as these shoals were passed, I sent the boats to lie in the channel that led to the harbour, and by this time it began to blow. It was happy for us that a place of refuge was at hand; for we soon found that the ship would not work, having twice missed stays: our situation, however, though it might have been much worse, was not without danger; we were entangled among shoals, and I had great reason to fear being driven to leeward, before the boats could place themselves so as to prescribe our course. I therefore anchored in four fathom, about a mile from the shore, and then made the signal for the boats to come on board. When this was done, I went myself and buoyed the channel, which I found very narrow; the harbour also I found smaller than I expected, but most excellently adapted to our purpose; and it is remarkable, that in the whole course of our voyage we had seen no place which, in our present circumstances, could have afforded us the same relief. At noon, our latitude was 15° 26ʹ S. During all the rest of this day, and the whole night, it blew too fresh for us to venture from our anchor and run into the harbour; and for our farther security, we got down the top-gallant yards, unbent the mainsail and some of the small sails; got down the fore-top-gallant mast, and the gib-boom, and sprit-sail, with a view to lighten the ship forwards as much as possible, in order to come at her leak, which we supposed to be somewhere in that part; for in all the joy of our unexpected deliverance, we had not forgot that at this time there was nothing but a lock of wool between us and destruction. The gale continuing, we kept our station all the 15th. On the 16th, it was somewhat more moderate; and about six o’clock in the morning, we hove the cable short, with a design to get under sail, but were obliged to desist, and veer it out again. It is remarkable that the sea-breeze, which blew fresh when we anchored, continued to do so almost every day while we stayed here; it was calm only while we were upon the rock, except once; and even the gale that afterwards wafted us to the shore, would then certainly have beaten us to pieces. In the evening of the preceding day, we had observed a fire near the beach over against us; and as it would be necessary for us to stay some time in this place, we were not without hope of making an acquaintance with the people. We saw more fires upon the hills to-day, and with our glasses discovered four Indians going along the shore, who stopped and made two fires; but for what purpose it was impossible we should guess.

The scurvy now began to make its appearance among us, with many formidable symptoms. Our poor Indian, Tupia, who had some time before complained that his gums were sore and swelled, and who had taken plentifully of our lemon juice by the surgeon’s direction, had now livid spots upon his legs, and other indubitable testimonies that the disease had made a rapid progress, notwithstanding all our remedies, among which the bark had been liberally administered. Mr. Green, our astronomer, was also declining; and these, among other circumstances, embittered the delay which prevented our going ashore.

In the morning of the 17th, though the wind was still fresh, we ventured to weigh, and push in for the harbour; but in doing this we twice run the ship aground: the first time she went off without any trouble, but the second time she stuck fast. We now got down the fore-yard, fore-top-masts, and booms, and taking them overboard, made a raft of them alongside of the ship. The tide was happily rising, and about one o’clock in the afternoon, she floated. We soon warped her into the harbour, and having moored her along side of a steep beach to the south, we got the anchors, cables, and all the hawsers on shore before night.

CHAP. IV.
TRANSACTIONS WHILE THE SHIP WAS REFITTING IN ENDEAVOUR RIVER; A DESCRIPTION OF THE ADJACENT COUNTRY, ITS INHABITANTS, AND PRODUCTIONS.

In the morning of Monday the 18th, a stage was made from the ship to the shore, which was so bold that she floated at twenty feet distance: two tents were also set up, one for the sick, and the other for stores and provisions, which were landed in the course of the day. We also landed all the empty water-casks, and part of the stores. As soon as the tent for the sick was got ready for their reception, they were sent ashore to the number of eight or nine, and the boat was dispatched to haul the seine, in hopes of procuring some fish for their refreshment; but she returned without success. In the mean time, I climbed one of the highest hills among those that overlooked the harbour, which afforded by no means a comfortable prospect: the low land near the river is wholly over-run with mangroves, among which the salt-water flows every tide; and the high land appeared to be every where stony and barren. In the mean time Mr. Banks had also taken a walk up the country, and met with the frames of several old Indian houses, and places where they had dressed shell-fish; but they seemed not to have been frequented for some months. Tupia, who had employed himself in angling, and lived entirely upon what he caught, recovered in a surprising degree; but Mr. Green still continued to be extremely ill.

The next morning I got the four remaining guns out of the hold, and mounted them upon the quarter-deck; I also got a spare anchor and anchor-stock ashore, and the remaining part of the stores and ballast that were in the hold: set up the smith’s forge, and employed the armourer and his mate to make nails and other necessaries for the repair of the ship. In the afternoon, all the officers’ stores and the ground tier of water were got out; so that nothing remained in the fore and main hold, but the coals, and a small quantity of stone ballast. This day Mr. Banks crossed the river to take a view of the country on the other side: he found it consist principally of sand hills, where he saw some Indian houses, which appeared to have been very lately inhabited. In this walk, he met with vast flocks of pigeons and crows: of the pigeons, which were exceedingly beautiful, he shot several; but the crows, which were exactly like those in England, were so shy that he could not get within reach of them.

On the 20th, we landed the powder, and got out the stone ballast and wood, which brought the ship’s draught of water to eight feet ten inches forward, and thirteen feet abaft; and this I thought, with the difference that would be made by trimming the coals aft, would be sufficient; for I found that the water rose and fell perpendicularly eight feet at the spring-tides: but as soon as the coals were trimmed from over the leak, we could hear the water rush in a little abaft the foremast, about three feet from the keel: this determined me to clear the hold entirely. This evening, Mr. Banks observed that in many parts of the inlet there were large quantities of pumice stones, which lay at a considerable distance above high-water mark; whither they might have been carried either by the freshes or extraordinary high tides, for there could be no doubt but that they came from the sea.

The next morning we went early to work, and by four o’clock in the afternoon had got out all the coals, cast the moorings loose, and warped the ship a little higher up the harbour, to a place which I thought most convenient for laying her ashore, in order to stop the leak. Her draught of water forward was now seven feet nine inches, and abaft thirteen feet six inches. At eight o’clock, it being high-water, I hauled her bow close ashore; but kept her stern afloat, because I was afraid of neiping her; it was however necessary to lay the whole of her as near the ground as possible.

At two o’clock in the morning of the 22d, the tide left her, and gave us an opportunity to examine the leak, which we found to be at her floor heads, a little before the starboard fore-chains. In this place the rocks had made their way through four planks, and even into the timbers; three more planks were much damaged, and the appearance of these breaches was very extraordinary: there was not a splinter to be seen, but all was as smooth, as if the whole had been cut away by an instrument: the timbers in this place were happily very close, and if they had not, it would have been absolutely impossible to have saved the ship. But after all, her preservation depended upon a circumstance still more remarkable: one of the holes, which was big enough to have sunk us, if we had had eight pumps instead of four, and been able to keep them incessantly going, was in great measure plugged up by a fragment of the rock, which, after having made the wound, was left sticking in it; so that the water which at first had gained upon our pumps, was what came in at the interstices, between the stone and the edges of the hole that received it. We found also several pieces of the fothering, which had made their way between the timbers, and in a great measure stopped those parts of the leak which the stone had left open. Upon further examination, we found that, besides the leak, considerable damage had been done to the bottom; great part of the sheathing was gone from under the larboard bow; a considerable part of the false keel was also wanting; and these indeed we had seen swim away in fragments from the vessel, while she lay beating against the rock: the remainder of it was in so shattered a condition that it had better have been gone; and the fore-foot and main keel were also damaged, but not so as to produce any immediate danger: what damage she might have received abaft could not yet be exactly known, but we had reason to think it was not much, as but little water made its way into her bottom, while the tide kept below the leak which has already been described. By nine o’clock in the morning the carpenters got to work upon her, while the smiths were busy in making bolts and nails. In the mean time, some of the people were sent on the other side of the water to shoot pigeons for the sick, who at their return reported that they had seen an animal as large as a grey-hound, of a slender make, a mouse colour, and extremely swift; they discovered also many Indian houses, and a fine stream of fresh water.

The next morning, I sent a boat to haul the seine; but at noon it returned with only three fish, and yet we saw them in plenty leaping about the harbour. This day the carpenter finished the repairs that were necessary on the starboard side; and at nine o’clock in the evening, we heeled the ship the other way, and hauled her off about two feet for fear of neiping. This day almost every body had seen the animal which the pigeon-shooters had brought an account of the day before; and one of the seamen, who had been rambling in the woods, told us at his return, that he verily believed he had seen the devil: we naturally inquired in what form he had appeared, and his answer was in so singular a style that I shall set down his own words: “He was,” says John, “as large as a one gallon keg, and very like it; he had horns and wings, yet he crept so slowly through the grass, that if I had not been afeard I might have touched him.” This formidable apparition we afterwards discovered to have been a batt; and the batts here must be acknowledged to have a frightful appearance, for they are nearly black, and full as large as a partridge; they have indeed no horns, but the fancy of a man who thought he saw the devil, might easily supply that defect.

Early on the 24th, the carpenters began to repair the sheathing under the larboard bow, where we found two planks cut about half through; and in the mean time I sent a party of men, under the direction of Mr. Gore, in search of refreshments for the sick: this party returned about noon, with a few palm cabbages, and a bunch or two of wild plantain; the plantains were the smallest I had ever seen, and the pulp, though it was well tasted, was full of small stones. As I was walking this morning at a little distance from the ship, I saw, myself, one of the animals which had been so often described: it was of a light mouse colour, and in size and shape very much resembling a greyhound; it had a long tail also, which it carried like a greyhound; and I should have taken it for a wild dog, if, instead of running, it had not leapt like a hare or deer: its legs were said to be very slender, and the print of its foot to be like that of a goat; but where I saw it, the grass was so high that the legs were concealed, and the ground was too hard to receive the track. Mr. Banks also had an imperfect view of this animal, and was of opinion that its species was hitherto unknown.

After the ship was hauled ashore, all the water that came into her of course went backwards; so that although she was dry forwards, she had nine feet water abaft: as in this part therefore her bottom could not be examined on the inside, I took the advantage of the tide being out this evening to get the master and two of the men to go under her, and examine her whole larboard side without. They found the sheathing gone about the floor-heads abreast of the main-mast, and part of a plank a little damaged; but all agreed that she had received no other material injury. The loss of her sheathing alone was a great misfortune, as the worm would now be let into her bottom, which might expose us to great inconvenience and danger; but as I knew no remedy for the mischief but heaving her down, which would be a work of immense labour and long time, if practicable at all in our present situation, I was obliged to be content. The carpenters however continued to work under her bottom in the evening till they were prevented by the tide; the morning tide did not ebb out far enough to permit them to work at all, for we had only one tolerable high and low tide in four-and-twenty hours, as indeed we had experienced when we lay upon the rock. The position of the ship, which threw the water in her abaft, was very near depriving the world of all the knowledge which Mr. Banks had endured so much labour, and so many risks, to procure; for he had removed the curious collection of plants which he had made during the whole voyage, into the bread-room, which lies in the after-part of the ship, as a place of the greatest security; and nobody having thought of the danger to which laying her head so much higher than the stern would expose them, they were this day found under water. Most of them however were, by indefatigable care and attention, restored to a state of preservation, but some were entirely spoilt and destroyed.

The 25th was employed in filling water and overhauling the rigging; and at low water the carpenters finished the repairs under the larboard bow, and every other place which the tide would permit them to come at: some casks were then lashed under her bows to facilitate her floating; and at night, when it was high water, we endeavoured to heave her off, but without success, for some of the casks that were lashed to her gave way.

The morning of the 26th was employed in getting more casks ready for the same purpose, and in the afternoon we lashed no less than eight and thirty under the ship’s bottom, but to our great mortification these also proved ineffectual, and we found ourselves reduced to the necessity of waiting till the next spring-tide.

This day, some of our gentlemen who had made an excursion into the woods, brought home the leaves of a plant, which was thought to be the same that in the West Indies is called coccos; but upon trial, the roots proved too acrid to be eaten; the leaves however were little inferior to spinnage. In the place where these plants were gathered, grew plenty of the cabbage trees which have occasionally been mentioned before, a kind of wild plantain, the fruit of which was so full of stones as scarcely to be eatable; another fruit was also found about the size of a small golden pippin, but flatter, and of a deep purple colour: when first gathered from the tree, it was very hard and disagreeable, but after being kept a few days became soft, and tasted very much like an indifferent damascene.

The next morning we began to move some of the weight from the after-part of the ship forward, to ease her; in the mean time the armourer continued to work at the forge, the carpenter was busy in calking the ship, and the men employed in filling water and overhauling the rigging: in the forenoon, I went myself in the pinnace up the harbour, and made several hauls with the seine, but caught only between twenty and thirty fish, which were given to the sick and convalescent.

On the 28th, Mr. Banks went with some of the seamen up the country, to show them the plant which in the West Indies is called Indian kale, and which served us for greens. Tupia had much meliorated the root of the coccos, by giving them a long dressing in his country oven, but they were so small that we did not think them an object for the ship. In their walk they found one tree which had been notched for the convenience of climbing it, in the same manner with those we had seen in Botany Bay: they saw also many nests of white ants, which resemble those of the East Indies, the most pernicious insects in the world. The nests were of a pyramidical figure, from a few inches to six feet high, and very much resembled the stones in England, which are said to be monuments of the Druids. Mr. Gore, who was also this day four or five miles up the country, reported that he had seen the footsteps of men, and tracked animals of three or four different sorts, but had not been fortunate enough to see either man or beast.

At two o’clock in the morning of the 29th, I observed, in conjunction with Mr. Green, an emersion of Jupiter’s first satellite; the time here was 2^h 18ʹ 53ʺ, which gave the longitude of this place 214° 42ʹ 30ʺ W.: its latitude is 15° 26ʹ S. At break of day, I sent the boat out again with the seine, and, in the afternoon, it returned with as much fish as enabled me to give every man a pound and an half. One of my midshipmen, an American, who was this day abroad with his gun, reported that he had seen a wolf, exactly like those which he had been used to see in his own country, and that he had shot at it, but did not kill it.

The next morning, encouraged by the success of the day before, I sent the boat again to haul the seine, and another party to gather greens: I sent also some of the young gentlemen to take a plan of the harbour, and went myself upon a hill, which lies over the south point, to take a view of the sea. At this time it was low water, and I saw with great concern, innumerable sand banks and shoals lying all along the coast in every direction. The innermost lay about three or four miles from the shore, the outermost extended as far as I could see with my glass, and many of them did but just rise above water. There was some appearance of a passage to the northward, and I had no hope of getting clear but in that direction, for, as the wind blows constantly from the S. E., it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to return back to the southward.

Mr. Gore reported, that he had this day seen two animals like dogs, of a straw colour, that they ran like a hare, and were about the same size. In the afternoon, the people returned from hauling the seine, with still better success than before, for I was now able to distribute two pounds and an half to each man: the greens that had been gathered I ordered to be boiled among the pease, and they made an excellent mess, which, with two copious supplies of fish, afforded us unspeakable refreshment.

The next day, July the 1st, being Sunday, every body had liberty to go ashore, except one from each mess, who were again sent out with the seine. The seine was again equally successful, and the people who went up the country gave an account of having seen several animals, though none of them were to be caught. They saw a fire also about a mile up the river, and Mr. Gore, the second lieutenant, picked up the husk of a cocoa nut, which had been cast upon the beach, and was full of barnacles: this probably might come from some island to windward, perhaps from the Terra del Espirito Santo of Quiros, as we were now in the latitude where it is said to lie. This day the thermometer in the shade rose to 87, which was higher than it had been on any day since we came upon this coast.

Early the next morning, I sent the master in the pinnace out of the harbour, to sound about the shoals in the offing, and look for channel to the northward: at this time we had a breeze from the land, which continued till about nine o’clock, and was the first we had since our coming into the river. At low water we lashed some empty casks under the ship’s bows, having some hope that, as the tides were rising, she would float the next high water. We still continued to fish with great success, and at high water we again attempted to heave the ship off, but our utmost efforts were still ineffectual.

The next day at noon, the master returned, and reported, that he had found a passage out to sea between the shoals, and described its situation. The shoals, he said, consisted of coral rocks, many of which were dry at low water, and upon one of which he had been ashore. He found here some cockles of so enormous a size, that one of them was more than two men could eat, and a great variety of other shell-fish, of which he brought us a plentiful supply: in the evening, he had also landed in a bay about three leagues to the northward of our station, where he disturbed some of the natives who were at supper: they all fled with the greatest precipitation at his approach, leaving some fresh sea eggs, and a fire ready kindled behind them, but there was neither house nor hovel near the place. We observed, that although the shoals that lie just within sight of the coast, abound with shell-fish, which may be easily caught at low water; yet we saw no such shells about the fire places on shore. This day an alligator was seen to swim about the ship for some time, and at high water we made another effort to float her, which happily succeeded: we found however that by lying so long with her head a-ground, and her stern a-float, she had sprung a plank between decks, a-breast of the main chains, so that it was become necessary to lay her ashore again.

The next morning was employed in trimming her upon an even keel, and in the afternoon, having warped her over, and waited for high water, we laid her ashore on the sand bank on the south side of the river, for the damage she had received already from the great descent of the ground, made me afraid to lay her broadside to the shore in the same place from which we had just floated her. I was now very desirous to make another trial to come at her bottom, where the sheathing had been rubbed off, but though she had scarcely four feet water under her, when the tide was out, yet that part was not dry.

On the 5th, I got one of the carpenter’s crew, a man in whom I could confide, to go down again to the ship’s bottom, and examine the place. He reported, that three streaks of the sheathing, about eight feet long, were wanting, and that the main plank had been a little rubbed; this account perfectly agreed with the report of the master, and others, who had been under her bottom before: I had the comfort however to find the carpenter of opinion that this would be of little consequence, and therefore the other damage being repaired, she was again floated at high water, and moored along-side the beach, where the stores had been deposited; we then went to work to take the stores on board, and put her in a condition for the sea. This day, Mr. Banks crossed to the other side of the harbour, where, as he walked along a sandy beach, he found innumerable fruits, and many of them, such as no plants which he had discovered in this country produced: among others were some cocoa nuts, which Tupia said had been opened by a kind of crab, which from his description we judged to be the same that the Dutch call Bears Krabbe, and which we had not seen in these seas. All the vegetable substances which he found in this place, were encrusted with marine productions, and covered with barnacles; a sure sign that they must have come far by sea, and, as the trade-wind blows right upon the shore, probably from Terra del Espirito Santo, which has been mentioned already.

The next morning, Mr. Banks, with lieutenant Gore, and three men, set out in a small boat up the river, with a view to spend two or three days in an excursion, to examine the country, and kill some of the animals which had been so often seen at a distance.

On the 7th, I sent the master again out to sound about the shoals, the account which he had brought me of the channel being by no means satisfactory; and we spent the remainder of this day, and the morning of the next, in fishing, and other necessary occupations.

About four o’clock in the afternoon, Mr. Banks and his party returned, and gave us an account of their expedition. Having proceeded about three leagues among swamps and mangroves, they went up into the country, which they found to differ but little from what they had seen before: they pursued their course therefore up the river, which at length was contracted into a narrow channel, and was bounded, not by swamps and mangroves, but by steep banks, that were covered with trees of a most beautiful verdure, among which was that which in the West Indies is called Mohoe, or the bark-tree, the hibiscus tiliaceus; the land within was in general low, and had a thick covering of long grass: the soil seemed to be such as promised great fertility, to any who should plant and improve it. In the course of the day, Tupia saw an animal, which, by his description, Mr. Banks judged to be a wolf: they also saw three other animals, but could neither catch nor kill one of them, and a kind of bat, as large as a partridge, but this also eluded all their diligence and skill. At night, they took up their lodging close to the banks of the river, and made a fire, but the musquitos swarmed about them in such numbers, that their quarters were almost untenable; they followed them into the smoke, and almost into the fire, which, hot as the climate was, they could better endure than the stings of these insects, which were an intolerable torment. The fire, the flies, and the want of a better bed than the ground, rendered the night extremely uncomfortable, so that they passed it, not in sleep, but in restless wishes for the return of day. With the first dawn they set out in search of game, and in a walk of many miles, they saw four animals of the same kind, two of which Mr. Banks’s greyhound fairly chased, but they threw him out at a great distance, by leaping over the long thick grass, which prevented his running: this animal was observed not to run upon four legs, but to bound or hop forward upon two, like the Jerbua, or Mus Jaculus. About noon, they returned to the boat, and again proceeded up the river, which was soon contracted into a fresh-water brook, where, however, the tide rose to a considerable height: as evening approached, it became low water, and it was then so shallow that they were obliged to get out of the boat and drag her along, till they could find a place in which they might, with some hope of rest, pass the night. Such a place at length offered, and while they were getting the things out of the boat, they observed a smoke at the distance of about a furlong: as they did not doubt but that some of the natives, with whom they had so long and earnestly desired to become personally acquainted, were about the fire, three of the party went immediately towards it, hoping that so small a number would not put them to flight: when they came up to the place, however, they found it deserted, and therefore they conjectured, that before they had discovered the Indians, the Indians had discovered them. They found the fire still burning, in the hollow of an old tree that was become touch-wood, and several branches of trees newly broken down, with which children appeared to have been playing: they observed also many footsteps upon the sand, below high-water mark, which were certain indications that the Indians had been recently upon the spot. Several houses were found at a little distance, and some ovens dug in the ground, in the same manner as those of Otaheite, in which victuals appeared to have been dressed since the morning, and scattered about them lay some shells of a kind of clamm, and some fragments of roots, the refuse of the meal. After regretting their disappointment, they repaired to their quarters, which was a broad sand-bank, under the shelter of a bush. Their beds were plantain leaves, which they spread upon the sand, and which were as soft as a mattress; their cloaks served them for bed-clothes, and some bunches of grass for pillows: with these accommodations they hoped to pass a better night than the last, especially as, to their great comfort, not a musquito was to be seen. Here then they lay down, and, such is the force of habit, they resigned themselves to sleep, without once reflecting upon the probability and danger of being found by the Indians in that situation. If this appears strange, let us for a moment reflect, that every danger, and every calamity, after a time, becomes familiar, and loses its effect upon the mind. If it were possible that a man should first be made acquainted with his mortality, or even with the inevitable debility and infirmities of old age, when his understanding had arrived at its full strength, and life was endeared by the enjoyments of youth, and vigour, and health, with what an agony of terror and distress would the intelligence be received? yet, being gradually acquainted with these mournful truths, by insensible degrees, we scarce know when, they lose all their force, and we think no more of the approach of old age and death, than these wanderers of an unknown desert did of a less obvious and certain evil, the approach of the native savages, at a time when they must have fallen an easy prey to their malice or their fears. And it is remarkable, that the greater part of those who have been condemned to suffer a violent death, have slept the night immediately preceding their execution, though there is perhaps no instance of a person accused of a capital crime having slept the first night of his confinement. Thus is the evil of life in some degree a remedy for itself, and though every man at twenty deprecates fourscore, almost every man is as tenacious of life at fourscore as at twenty; and if he does not suffer under any painful disorder, loses as little of the comforts that remain by reflecting that he is upon the brink of the grave, where the earth already crumbles under his feet, as he did of the pleasures of his better days, when his dissolution, though certain, was supposed to be at a distance.

Our travellers having slept, without once awaking, till the morning, examined the river, and finding the tide favoured their return, and the country promised nothing worthy of a farther search, they reimbarked in their boat, and made the best of their way to the ship.

Soon after the arrival of this party, the master also returned, having been seven leagues out to sea, and he was now of opinion that there was no getting out where before he thought there had been a passage; his expedition, however, was by no means without its advantage, for having been a second time upon the rock where he had seen the large cockles, he met with a great number of turtle, three of which he caught, that together weighed seven hundred and ninety-one pounds, though he had no better instrument than a boat-hook.

The next morning, therefore, I sent him out again, with proper instruments for taking them, and Mr. Banks went with him, but the success did not at all answer our expectations, for, by the unaccountable conduct of the officer, not a single turtle was taken, nor could he be persuaded to return: Mr. Banks, however, went ashore upon the reef, where he saw several of the large cockles, and having collected many shells, and marine productions, he returned at eleven o’clock at night, in his own small boat, the master still continuing with the large one upon the rock. In the afternoon, seven or eight of the natives had appeared on the south side of the river, and two of them came down to the sandy point, opposite to the ship; but upon seeing me put off in a boat to speak with them, they all ran away with the greatest precipitation.

As the master continued absent with the boat all night, I was forced to send the second lieutenant for him, early the next morning in the yawl; and soon after four of the natives appeared upon the sandy point, on the north side of the river, having with them a small wooden canoe, with out-riggers: they seemed for some time to be busily employed in striking fish: some of our people were for going over to them in a boat, but this I would by no means permit, repeated experience having convinced me that it was more likely to prevent, than procure an interview. I was determined to try what could be done by a contrary method, and accordingly let them alone, without appearing to take the least notice of them: this succeeded so well, that at length two of them came in the canoe within a musket shot of the ship, and there talked a great deal in a very loud tone: we understood nothing that they said, and therefore could answer their harangue only by shouting, and making all the signs of invitation and kindness that we could devise. During this conference, they came insensibly nearer and nearer, holding up their lances, not in a threatening manner, but as if to intimate that if we offered them any injury, they had weapons to revenge it. When they were almost along-side of us, we threw them some cloth, nails, beads, paper, and other trifles, which they received without the least appearance of satisfaction: at last, one of the people happened to throw them a small fish, at this they expressed the greatest joy imaginable, and, intimating by signs, that they would fetch their companions, immediately paddled away towards the shore. In the mean time some of our people, and among them Tupia, landed on the opposite side of the river: the canoe, with all the four Indians, very soon returned to the ship, and came quite alongside, without expressing any fear or distrust. We distributed some more presents among them, and soon after they left us, and landed on the same side of the river where our people had gone ashore: every man carried in his hand two lances, and a stick, which is used in throwing them, and advanced to the place where Tupia and the rest of our people were sitting. Tupia soon prevailed upon them to lay down their arms, and come forward without them: he then made signs that they should sit down by him, with which they complied, and seemed to be under no apprehension or constraint: several more of us then going ashore, they expressed some jealousy lest we should get between them and their arms; we took care however to show them that we had no such intention, and having joined them, we made them some more presents, as a farther testimony of our good-will, and our desire to obtain theirs. We continued together, with the utmost cordiality, till dinner-time, and then giving them to understand that we were going to eat, we invited them, by signs, to go with us: this however they declined, and as soon as we left them, they went away in their canoe. One of these men was somewhat above the middle age, the other three were young; they were in general of the common stature, but their limbs were remarkably small; their skin was of the colour of wood-soot, or what would be called a dark chocolate colour; their hair was black, but not woolly; it was short cropped, in some lank, and in others curled. Dampier says, that the people whom he saw on the western coast of this country, wanted two of their fore-teeth, but these had no such defect: some part of their bodies had been painted red, and the upper lip and breast of one of them was painted with streaks of white, which he called Carbanda; their features were far from disagreeable, their eyes were lively, and their teeth even and white, their voices were soft and tunable, and they repeated many words after us with great facility. In the night, Mr. Gore and the master returned with the long-boat, and brought one turtle and a few shell-fish. The yawl had been left upon the shoal with six men, to make a farther trial for turtle.

The next morning, we had another visit from four of the natives; three of them had been with us before, but the fourth was a stranger, whose name, as we learnt from his companions who introduced him, was Yaparico. This gentleman was distinguished by an ornament of a very striking appearance: it was the bone of a bird, nearly as thick as a man’s finger, and five or six inches long, which he had thrust into a hole, made in the gristle that divides the nostrils; of this we had seen one instance, and only one, in New Zealand; but, upon examination, we found that among all these people this part of the nose was perforated, to receive an ornament of the same kind: they had also holes in their ears, though nothing was then hanging to them, and had bracelets upon the upper part of their arms, made of platted hair, so that, like the inhabitants of Terra del Fuego, they seem to be fond of ornament, though they are absolutely without apparel; and one of them, to whom I had given part of an old shirt, instead of throwing it over any part of his body, tied it as a fillet round his head. They brought with them a fish, which they gave us, as we supposed, in return for the fish that we had given them the day before. They seemed to be much pleased, and in no haste to leave us, but seeing some of our gentlemen examine their canoe with great curiosity and attention, they were alarmed, and jumping immediately into it, paddled away without speaking a word.

About two the next morning, the yawl, which had been left upon the shoal, returned with three turtles and a large skeat. As it seemed now probable that this fishery might be prosecuted with advantage, I sent her out again after breakfast, for a further supply. Soon after, three Indians ventured down to Tupia’s tent, and were so well pleased with their reception, that one of them went with the canoe to fetch two others whom we had never seen: when he returned, he introduced the strangers by name, a ceremony which, upon such occasions, was never omitted. As they had received the fish that was thrown into their canoe, when they first approached the ship, with so much pleasure, some fish was offered to them now, and we were greatly surprised to see that it was received with the greatest indifference: they made signs, however, to some of the people, that they should dress it for them, which was immediately done, but after eating a little of it, they threw the rest to Mr. Banks’s dog. They staid with us all the forenoon, but would never venture above twenty yards from their canoe. We now perceived that the colour of their skin was not so dark as it appeared, what we had taken for their complexion, being the effects of dirt and smoke, in which we imagined, they contrived to sleep, notwithstanding the heat of the climate, as the only means in their power to keep off the musquitos. Among other things that we had given them when we first saw them, were some medals, which we had hung round their necks by a ribband; and these ribbands were so changed by smoke, that we could not easily distinguish of what colour they had been: this incident led us more narrowly to examine the colour of their skin. While these people were with us, we saw two others on the point of land that lay on the opposite side of the river, at the distance of about two hundred yards, and by our glasses discovered them to be a woman and a boy; the woman, like the rest, being stark naked. We observed, that all of them were remarkably clean-limbed, and exceedingly active and nimble. One of these strangers had a necklace of shells, very prettily made, and a bracelet upon his arm, formed of several strings, so as to resemble what in England is called gymp: both of them had a piece of bark tied over the forehead, and were disfigured by the bone in the nose. We thought their language more harsh than that of the Islanders in the South Sea, and they were continually repeating the word chercau, which we imagined to be a term expressing admiration, by the manner in which it was uttered: they also cried out, when they saw any thing new, cher, tut, tut, tut, tut! which probably had a similar signification. Their canoe was not above ten feet long, and very narrow, but it was fitted with an outrigger, much like those of the islands, though in every respect very much inferior: when it was in shallow water, they set it on with poles, and when in deep, they worked it with paddles about four feet long: it contained just four people, so that the people who visited us to-day went away at two turns. Their lances were, like those that we had seen in Botany Bay, except that they had but a single point, which in some of them was the sting of the ray, and barbed with two or three sharp bones of the same fish: it was indeed a most terrible weapon, and the instrument which they used in throwing it, seemed to be formed with more art than any we had seen before. About twelve o’clock next day, the yawl returned, with another turtle, and a large sting-ray, and in the evening, was sent out again.

The next morning, two of the Indians came on board, but after a short stay, went along the shore, and applied themselves with great diligence to the striking of fish. Mr. Gore, who went out this day with his gun, had the good fortune to kill one of the animals which had been so much the subject of our speculation: an idea of it will best be conceived by the cut, plate XX, without which, the most accurate verbal description would answer very little purpose, as it has not similitude enough to any animal already known, to admit of illustration by reference. In form, it is most like the gerbua, which it also resembles in its motion, as has been observed already, but it greatly differs in size, the gerbua not being larger than a common rat, and this animal, when full grown, being as big as a sheep: this individual was a young one, much under its full growth, weighing only thirty-eight pounds. The head, neck, and shoulders, are very small in proportion to the other parts of the body; the tail is nearly as long as the body, thick near the rump, and tapering towards the end: the fore-legs of this individual were only eight inches long, and the hind-legs two and twenty: its progress is by successive leaps or hops, of a great length, in an erect posture; the fore-legs are kept bent close to the breast, and seemed to be of use only for digging: the skin is covered with a short fur, of a dark mouse or grey colour, excepting the head and ears, which bear a slight resemblance to those of a hare. This animal is called by the natives Kanguroo.

The next day, our kanguroo was dressed for dinner, and proved most excellent meat; we might now indeed be said to fare sumptuously every day, for we had turtle in great plenty, and we all agreed that they were much better than any we had tasted in England, which we imputed to their being eaten fresh from the sea, before their natural fat had been wasted, or their juices changed by a diet and situation so different from what the sea affords them, as garbage and a tub. Most of those that we caught here, were of the kind called green turtle, and weighed from two to three hundred weight, and when these were killed, they were always found to be full of turtle grass, which our naturalists took to be a kind of conferva: two of them were logger-heads, the flesh of which was much less delicious, and in their stomachs nothing was to be found but shells.

In the morning of the 16th, while the people were employed as usual in getting the ship ready for the sea, I climbed one of the hills on the north side of the river, from which I had an extensive view of the inland country, and found it agreeably diversified by hills, vallies, and large plains, which in many places were richly covered with wood. This evening, we observed an emersion of Jupiter’s first satellite, which gave 214° 53ʹ 45ʺ of longitude. The observation which was made on the 29th of June gave 214° 42ʹ 30ʺ, the mean is 214° 48ʹ 7-½ʺ, the longitude of this place west of Greenwich.

On the 17th, I sent the master and one of the mates in the pinnace to look for a channel to the northward; and I went myself with Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander into the woods on the other side of the water. Tupia, who had been thither by himself, reported, that he had seen three Indians who had given him some roots about as thick as a man’s finger, in shape not much unlike a radish, and of a very agreeable taste. This induced us to go over, hoping that we should be able to improve our acquaintance with the natives; in a very little time we discovered four of them in a canoe, who as soon as they saw us come ashore, and, though they were all strangers, walked up to us, without any signs of suspicion or fear. Two of these had necklaces of shells, which we could not persuade them to part with for any thing we could give them: we presented them, however, with some beads, and after a short stay they departed. We attempted to follow them, hoping that they would conduct us to some place where we should find more of them, and have an opportunity of seeing their women; but they made us understand, by signs, that they did not desire our company.

At eight o’clock the next morning, we were visited by several of the natives, who were now become quite familiar. One of them, at our desire, threw his lance, which was about eight feet long; it flew with a swiftness and steadiness that surprised us, and though it was never more than four feet from the ground, it entered deeply into a tree at fifty paces’ distance. After this they ventured on board, where I left them, to all appearance, much entertained, and went again with Mr. Banks to take a view of the country; but chiefly to indulge an anxious curiosity, by looking round us upon the sea, of which our wishes almost persuaded us we had formed an idea more disadvantageous than the truth. After having walked about seven or eight miles along the shore to the northward, we ascended a very high hill, and were soon convinced that the danger of our situation was at least equal to our apprehensions; for in whatever direction we turned our eyes, we saw rocks and shoals without number, and no passage out to sea but through the winding channels between them, which could not be navigated without the last degree of difficulty and danger. We returned therefore to the ship, not in better spirits than when we left it: we found several natives still on board, and we were told that the turtles, of which we had no less than twelve upon the deck, had fixed their attention more than any thing else in the ship.

On the 19th, in the morning, we were visited by ten of the natives, the greater part from the other side of the river, where we saw six or seven more, most of them women, and, like all the rest of the people we had seen in this country, they were stark naked. Our guests brought with them a greater number of lances than they had ever done before, and having laid them up in a tree, they set a man and a boy to watch them: the rest then came on board, and we soon perceived that they had determined to get one of our turtle, which was probably as great a dainty to them as to us. They first asked us by signs to give them one; and being refused, they expressed, both by looks and gestures, great disappointment and anger. At this time we happened to have no victuals dressed, but I offered one of them some biscuit, which he snatched and threw overboard with great disdain. One of them renewed his request to Mr. Banks, and upon a refusal stamped with his foot, and pushed him from him in a transport of resentment and indignation. Having applied by turns to almost every person who appeared to have any command in the ship, without success, they suddenly seized two of the turtles, and dragged them towards the side of the ship where their canoe lay: our people soon forced them out of their hands, and replaced them with the rest. They would not however relinquish their enterprise, but made several other attempts of the same kind, in all which being equally disappointed, they suddenly leaped into their canoe in a rage, and began to paddle towards the shore. At the same time, I went into the boat with Mr. Banks and five or six of the ship’s crew, and we got ashore before them, where many more of our people were already engaged in various employments. As soon as they landed, they seized their arms, and before we were aware of their design, they snatched a brand from under a pitch-kettle which was boiling, and making a circuit to the windward of the few things we had on shore, they set fire to the grass in their way, with surprising quickness and dexterity: the grass, which was five or six feet high, and as dry as stubble, burnt with amazing fury; and the fire made a rapid progress towards a tent of Mr. Banks’s, which had been set up for Tupia when he was sick, taking in its course a sow and pigs, one of which it scorched to death. Mr. Banks leaped into a boat, and fetched some people from on board, just time enough to save his tent, by hauling it down upon the beach; but the smith’s forge, at least such part of it as would burn, was consumed. While this was doing, the Indians went to a place at some distance, where several of our people were washing, and where our nets, among which was the seine, and a great quantity of linen, were laid out to dry; here they again set fire to the grass, entirely disregarding both threats and entreaties. We were therefore obliged to discharge a musket, loaded with small shot, at one of them, which drew blood at the distance of about forty yards, and thus putting them to flight, we extinguished the fire at this place before it had made much progress; but where the grass had been first kindled, it spread into the woods to a great distance. As the Indians were still in sight, I fired a musket, charged with ball, abreast of them among the mangroves, to convince them that they were not yet out of our reach: upon hearing the ball they quickened their pace, and we soon lost sight of them. We thought they would now give us no more trouble; but soon after we heard their voices in the woods, and perceived that they came nearer and nearer. I set out, therefore, with Mr. Banks and three or four more to meet them. When our parties came in sight of each other, they halted; except one old man, who came forward to meet us: at length he stopped, and having uttered some words, which we were very sorry we could not understand, he went back to his companions, and the whole body slowly retreated. We found means, however, to seize some of their darts, and continued to follow them about a mile: we then sat down upon some rocks, from which we could observe their motions, and they also sat down at about an hundred yards’ distance. After a short time, the old man again advanced towards us, carrying in his hand a lance without a point: he stopped several times, at different distances, and spoke; we answered by beckoning, and making such signs of amity as we could devise; upon which the messenger of peace, as we supposed him to be, turned and spoke aloud to his companions, who then set up their lances against a tree, and advanced towards us in a friendly manner: when they came up, we returned the darts or lances that we had taken from them, and we perceived with great satisfaction that this rendered the reconciliation complete. We found in this party four persons whom we had never seen before, who as usual were introduced to us by name; but the man who had been wounded in the attempt to burn our nets and linen, was not among them; we knew, however, that he could not be dangerously hurt, by the distance at which the shot reached him. We made all of them presents of such trinkets as we had about us, and they walked back with us towards the ship. As we went along, they told us, by signs, that they would not set fire to the grass any more; and we distributed among them some musket-balls, and endeavoured to make them understand their use and effect. When they came abreast of the ship, they sat down, but could not be prevailed upon to come on board; we therefore left them, and in about two hours they went away, soon after which we perceived the woods on fire at about two miles’ distance. If this accident had happened a very little while sooner, the consequence might have been dreadful; for our powder had been aboard but a few days, and the store-tent, with many valuable things which it contained, had not been removed many hours. We had no idea of the fury with which grass would burn in this hot climate, nor consequently of the difficulty of extinguishing it; but we determined, that if it should ever again be necessary for us to pitch our tents in such a situation, our first measure should be to clear the ground round us.

In the afternoon, we got every thing on board the ship, new birthed her, and let her swing with the tide; and at night the master returned, with the discouraging account that there was no passage for the ship to the northward.

The next morning, at low water, I went and sounded and buoyed the bar, the ship being now ready for sea. We saw no Indians this day, but all the hills round us for many miles were on fire, which at night made a most striking and beautiful appearance.

The 21st passed without our getting sight of any of the inhabitants, and indeed without a single incident worth notice. On the 22d we killed a turtle for the day’s provision, upon opening which we found a wooden harpoon or turtle-peg, about as thick as a man’s finger, near fifteen inches long, and bearded at the end, such as we had seen among the natives, sticking through both shoulders: it appeared to have been struck a considerable time, for the wound had perfectly healed up over the weapon.

Early in the morning of the 23d I sent some people into the country to gather a supply of the greens which have been before mentioned by the name of Indian kale; one of them having straggled from the rest, suddenly fell in with four Indians, three men and a boy, whom he did not see till, by turning short in the wood, he found himself among them. They had kindled a fire, and were broiling a bird of some kind, and part of a kanguroo, the remainder of which, and a cockatoo, hung at a little distance upon a tree. The man, being unarmed, was at first greatly terrified; but he had the presence of mind not to run away, judging, very rightly, that he was most likely to incur danger by appearing to apprehend it; on the contrary, he went and sat down by them, and, with an air of cheerfulness and good-humour, offered them his knife, the only thing he had about him which he thought would be acceptable to them; they received it, and having handed it from one to the other, they gave it him again: he then made an offer to leave them, but this they seemed not disposed to permit; still, however, he dissembled his fears, and sat down again; they considered him with great attention and curiosity, particularly his clothes, and then felt his hands and face, and satisfied themselves that his body was of the same texture with their own. They treated him with the greatest civility, and having kept him about half an hour, they made signs that he might depart: he did not wait for a second dismission, but when he left them, not taking the direct way to the ship, they came from their fire and directed him, so that they well knew whence he came.

In the mean time, Mr. Banks, having made an excursion on the other side of the river to gather plants, found the greatest part of the cloth that had been given to the Indians lying in a heap together, probably as useless lumber, not worth carrying away; and perhaps, if he had sought further, he might have found the other trinkets; for they seemed to set very little very value upon any thing we had, except our turtle, which was a commodity that we were least able to spare.

The blowing weather, which prevented our attempt to get out to sea, still continuing, Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander went out again on the 24th to see whether any new plant could be picked up: they traversed the woods all day without success; but as they were returning through a deep valley, the sides of which, though almost as perpendicular as a wall, were covered with trees and bushes, they found lying upon the ground several marking nuts, the anacardium orientale; these put them upon a new scent, and they made a most diligent search after the tree that bore them, which perhaps no European botanist ever saw; but to their great mortification they could not find it: so that, after spending much time, and cutting down four or five trees, they returned quite exhausted with fatigue to the ship.

On the 25th, having made an excursion up the river, I found a canoe belonging to our friends the Indians, whom we had not seen since the affair of the turtle; they had left it tied to some mangroves, about a mile distant from the ship, and I could see by their fires that they were retired at least six miles directly inland.

As Mr. Banks was again gleaning the country for his Natural History, on the 26th he had the good fortune to take an animal of the Opossum tribe: it was a female, and with it he took two young ones: it was found much to resemble the remarkable animal of the kind, which Mons. de Buffon has described in his Natural History by the name of Phalanger, but it was not the same. Mons. Buffon supposes this tribe to be peculiar to America, but in this he is certainly mistaken; and, probably, as Pallas has observed in his Zoology, the Phalanger itself is a native of the East Indies, as the animal which was caught by Mr. Banks resembled it in the extraordinary conformation of the feet, in which it differs from animals of every other tribe.

On the 27th Mr. Gore shot a kanguroo, which, with the skin, entrails, and head, weighed eighty-four pounds. Upon examination, however, we found that this animal was not at its full growth, the innermost grinders not being yet formed. We dressed it for dinner the next day, but to our great disappointment, we found it had a much worse flavour than that we had eaten before.

The wind continued in the same quarter, and with the same violence, till five o’clock in the morning of the 29th, when it fell calm; soon after a light breeze sprung up from the land, and it being about two hours’ ebb, I sent a boat to see what water was upon the bar; in the mean time we got the anchor up, and made all ready to put to sea. But when the boat came back, the officer reported that there was only thirteen feet water upon the bar, which was six inches less than the ship drew. We were therefore obliged to come to, and the sea-breeze setting in again about eight o’clock, we gave up all hope of sailing that day.

We had fresh gales at S. E., with hazy weather and rain, till two in the morning of the 31st, when the weather being something more moderate, I had thoughts of trying to warp the ship out of the harbour; but upon going out myself first in the boat, I found it still blow too fresh for the attempt. During all this time the pinnace and yawl continued to ply the net and hook with tolerable success; sometimes taking a turtle, and frequently bringing in from two to three hundred weight of fish.

On the 1st of August the carpenter examined the pumps, and, to our great mortification, found them all in a state of decay, owing, as he said, to the sap having been left in the wood; one of them was so rotten, as, when hoisted up, to drop to pieces, and the rest were little better; so that our chief trust was now in the soundness of our vessel, which happily did not admit more than one inch of water in an hour.

At six o’clock in the morning of Friday, the 3d, we made another unsuccessful attempt to warp the ship out of the harbour; but at five o’clock in the morning of the 4th, our efforts had a better effect, and about seven we got once more under sail, with a light air from the land, which soon died away, and was followed by the sea-breezes from S. E. by S., with which we stood off to sea E. by N., having the pinnace ahead, which was ordered to keep sounding continually. The yawl had been sent to the turtle bank, to take up the net which had been left there; but as the wind freshened, we got out before her. A little before noon we anchored in fifteen fathom water, with a sandy bottom; for I did not think it safe to run in among the shoals till I had well viewed them at low water from the mast-head, which might determine me which way to steer; for, as yet, I was in doubt whether I should beat back to the southward, round all the shoals, or seek a passage to the eastward or the northward, all which at present appeared to be equally difficult and dangerous. When we were at anchor, the harbour from which we sailed bore S. 70 W., distant about five leagues; the northernmost point of the main in sight, which I named Cape Bedford, and which lies in latitude 15° 16ʹ S., longitude 214° 45ʹ W., bore N. 20 W., distant three leagues and a half; but to the N. E. of this cape we could see land which had the appearance of two high islands: the turtle banks bore east, distant one mile: our latitude, by observation, was 15° 32ʹ S., and our depth of water in standing off from the land was from three and a half to fifteen fathom.

CHAP. V.
DEPARTURE FROM ENDEAVOUR RIVER; A PARTICULAR DESCRIPTION OF THE HARBOUR THERE, IN WHICH THE SHIP WAS REFITTED, THE ADJACENT COUNTRY, AND SEVERAL ISLANDS NEAR THE COAST: THE RANGE FROM ENDEAVOUR RIVER TO THE NORTHERN EXTREMITY OF THE COUNTRY, AND THE DANGERS OF THAT NAVIGATION.

To the harbour which we had now left, I gave the name of Endeavour River. It is only a small bar harbour, or creek, which runs in a winding channel three or four leagues inland, and at the head of which there is a small brook of fresh water. There is not depth of water for shipping above a mile within the bar, and at this distance only on the north side, where the bank is so steep for near a quarter of a mile, that a ship may lie afloat at low water, so near the shore as to reach it with a stage, and the situation is extremely convenient for heaving down; but at low water, the depth upon the bar is not more than nine or ten feet, nor more than seventeen or eighteen at the height of the tide; the difference between high and low water, at spring tides, being about nine feet. At the new and full of the moon it is high water between nine and ten o’clock. It must also be remembered, that this part of the coast is so barricaded with shoals, as to make the harbour still more difficult of access; the safest approach is from the southward, keeping the main land close upon the board all the way. Its situation may always be found by the latitude, which has been very accurately laid down. Over the south point is some high land, but the north point is formed by a low sandy beach, which extends about three miles to the northward, where the land begins again to be high.

The chief refreshment that we procured here was turtle, but as they were not to be had without going five leagues out to sea, and the weather was frequently tempestuous, we did not abound with this dainty: what we caught, as well as the fish, was always equally divided among us all by weight, the meanest person on board having the same share as myself; and I think every commander, in such a voyage as this, will find it his interest to follow the same rule. In several parts of the sandy beaches, and sand hills near the sea, we found purslain, and a kind of bean that grows upon a stalk, which creeps along the ground: the purslain we found very good when it was boiled, and the beans are not to be despised, for we found them of great service to our sick: the best greens, however, that could be procured here were the tops of the coccos, which have been mentioned already, as known in the West Indies by the name of Indian kale: these were, in our opinion, not much inferior to spinnage, which in taste they somewhat resemble; the roots indeed are not good, but they might probably be meliorated by proper cultivation. They are found here chiefly in boggy ground. The few cabbage palms that we met with, were in general small, and yielded so little cabbage, that they were not worth seeking.

Besides the kanguroo, and the opossum, that have been already mentioned, and a kind of polecat, there are wolves upon this part of the coast, if we were not deceived by the tracks upon the ground, and several species of serpents: some of the serpents are venemous, and some harmless. There are no tame animals here except dogs, and of these we saw but two or three, which frequently came about the tents, to pick up the scraps and bones that happened to lie scattered near them. There does not indeed seem to be many of any animal, except the kanguroo; we scarcely saw any other above once, but this we met with almost every time we went into the woods. Of land fowls we saw crows, kites, hawks, cockatoos of two sorts, one white and the other black, a very beautiful kind of loriquets, some parrots, pigeons of two or three sorts, and several small birds not known in Europe. The water-fowls are herns, whistling ducks, which perch, and, I believe, roost upon trees, wild geese, curlieus, and a few others; but these do not abound. The face of the country, which has been occasionally mentioned before, is agreeably diversified by hill and valley, lawn and wood. The soil of the hills is hard, dry, and stony, yet it produces coarse grass besides wood: the soil of the plains and valleys is in some places sand, and in some clay; in some also it is rocky and stony, like the hills; in general, however, it is well clothed, and has at least the appearance of fertility. The whole country, both hill and valley, wood and plain, abounds with ant-hills, some of which are six or eight feet high, and twice as much in circumference. The trees here are not of many sorts; the gum-tree, which we found on the southern part of the coast, is the most common, but here it is not so large: on each side of the river, through its whole course, there are mangroves in great numbers, which in some places extend a mile within the coast. The country is in all parts well watered, there being several fine rivulets at a small distance from each other, but none in the place where we lay, at least not during the time we were there, which was the dry season; we were, however, well supplied with water by springs, which were not far off.

In the afternoon of the 4th we had a gentle breeze at S. E. and clear weather, but as I did not intend to sail till the morning, I sent all the boats to the reef, to get what turtle and shell-fish they could. At low water I went up to the mast-head, and took a view of the shoals, which made a very threatening appearance: I could see several at a remote distance, and part of many of them was above water. The sea appeared most open to the north-east of the turtle reef, and I came to a resolution to stretch out that way close upon a wind, because if we should find no passage, we could always return the way we went. In the evening the boats brought in a turtle, a sting-ray, and as many large cockles as came to about a pound and a half a man, for in each of them there was not less than two pounds of meat: in the night also we caught several sharks, which, though not a dainty, were an acceptable increase of our fresh provision.

In the morning I waited till half ebb before I weighed, because at that time the shoals begin to appear, but the wind then blew so hard that I was obliged to remain at anchor: in the afternoon, however, the gale becoming more moderate, we got under sail, and stood out upon a wind N. E. by E., leaving the turtle reef to windward, and having the pinnace sounding a-head. We had not kept this course long, before we discovered shoals before us, and upon both the bows; and at half an hour after four, having run about eight miles, the pinnace made the signal for shoal water, where we little expected it: upon this we tacked, and stood on and off, while the pinnace stretched farther to the eastward, and night approaching, I came to an anchor in twenty fathom water, with a muddy bottom. Endeavour River then bore S. 52 W.; Cape Bedford W. by N. ½ N., distant five leagues; the northernmost land in sight, which had the appearance of an island N.; and a shoal, a small sandy part of which appeared above water, bore N. E., distant between two and three miles: in standing off from turtle reef to this place, we had from fourteen to twenty fathom water, but when the pinnace was about a mile farther to the E. N. E. there was no more than four or five feet water, with rocky ground; and yet this did not appear to us in the ship. In the morning of the 6th we had a strong gale, so that instead of weighing, we were obliged to veer away more cable, and strike our top-gallant yards. At low water, myself, with several of the officers, kept a look-out at the mast-head, to see if any passage could be discovered between the shoals, but nothing was in view except breakers, extending from the S. round by the E. as far as N. W., and out to sea beyond the reach of our sight; these breakers, however, did not appear to be caused by one continued shoal, but by several which lay detached from each other: on that which lay farthest to the eastward the sea broke very high, which made me think it was the outermost, for upon many of these within, the breakers were inconsiderable, and from about half ebb to half flood, they were not to be seen at all, which makes sailing among them still more dangerous, especially as the shoals here consist principally of coral rocks, which are as steep as a wall; upon some of them, however, and generally at the north end, there are patches of sand, which are covered only at high water, and which are to be discerned at some distance. Being now convinced that there was no passage to sea, but through the labyrinth formed by these shoals, I was altogether at a loss which way to steer, when the weather should permit us to get under sail. It was the master’s opinion, that we should beat back the way we came, but this would have been an endless labour, as the wind blew strongly from that quarter, almost without intermission; on the other hand, if no passage could be found to the northward, we should be compelled to take that measure at last. These anxious deliberations engaged us till eleven o’clock at night, when the ship drove, and obliged us to veer away to a cable and one-third, which brought her up; but in the morning, the gale increasing, she drove again, and we therefore let go the small bower, and veered away to a whole cable upon it, and two cables on the other anchors, yet she still drove, though not so fast; we then got down top-gallant masts, and struck the yards and top-masts close down, and at last had the satisfaction to find that she rode. Cape Bedford now bore W. S. W. distant three leagues and a half, and in this situation we had shoals to the eastward, extending from the S. E. by S. to the N. N. W., the nearest of which was about two miles distant. As the gale continued, with little remission, we rode till seven o’clock in the morning of the 10th, when, it being more moderate, we weighed, and stood in for the land, having at length determined to seek a passage along the shore to the northward, still keeping the boat ahead: during our run in we had from nineteen to twelve fathom: after standing in about an hour, we edged away for three small islands that lay N. N. E. ½ E., three leagues from Cape Bedford, which the master had visited while we were in port. At nine o’clock we were abreast of them, and between them and the main: between us and the main there was another low island, which lies N. N. W. four miles from the three islands; and in this channel we had fourteen fathom water. The northernmost point of land in sight now bore N. N. W. ½ W., distant about two leagues. Four or five leagues to the north of this head-land we saw three islands, near which lay some that were still smaller, and we could see the shoals and reefs without us, extending to the northward, as far as these islands: between these reefs and the head-land we directed our course, leaving to the eastward a small island, which lies N. by E., distant four miles from the three islands. At noon we were got between the head-land and the three islands: from the head-land we were distant two leagues, and from the islands four; our latitude, by observation, was 14° 51ʹ. We now thought we saw a clear opening before us, and hoped that we were once more out of danger; in this hope, however, we soon found ourselves disappointed, and for that reason I called the head-land Cape Flattery. It lies in latitude 14° 56ʹ S., longitude 214° 43ʹ W., and is a lofty promontory, making next the sea in two hills, which have a third behind them, with low sandy ground on each side: it may however be still better known by the three islands out at sea: the northernmost and largest lies about five leagues from the cape, in the direction of N. N. E. From Cape Flattery the land trends away N. W., and N. W. by W. We steered along the shore N. W. by W. till one o’clock, for what we thought the open channel, when the petty officer at the mast-head cried out that he saw land ahead, extending quite round to the islands that lay without us, and a large reef between us and them: upon this I ran up to the mast-head myself, from whence I very plainly saw the reef, which was now so far to windward, that we could not weather it, but the land ahead, which he had supposed to be the main, appeared to me to be only a cluster of small islands. As soon as I got down from the mast-head, the master, and some others went up, who all insisted that the land ahead was not islands, but the main, and to make their report still more alarming, they said that they saw breakers all round us. In this dilemma we hauled upon a wind in for the land, and made the signal for the boat that was sounding ahead to come on board, but as she was far to leeward, we were obliged to edge away to take her up, and soon after we came to an anchor, under a point of the main, in somewhat less than five fathom, and at about the distance of a mile from the shore. Cape Flattery now bore S. E., distant three leagues and a half. As soon as the ship was at anchor, I went ashore upon the point, which is high, and afforded me a good view of the sea coast, trending away N. W. by W. eight or ten leagues, which, the weather not being very clear, was as far as I could see. Nine or ten small low islands, and some shoals, appeared off the coast; I saw also some large shoals between the main and the three high islands, without which I was clearly of opinion there were more islands, and not any part of the main. Except the point I was now upon, which I called Point Look-out, and Cape Flattery, the main land, to the northward of Cape Bedford, is low, and chequered with white sand and green bushes, for ten or twelve miles inland, beyond which it rises to a considerable height. To the northward of Point Look-out the coast appeared to be shoal and flat for a considerable distance, which did not encourage the hope that the channel we had hitherto found in with the land would continue. Upon this point, which was narrow, and consisted of the finest white sand we had ever seen, we discovered the footsteps of people, and we saw also smoke and fire at a distance up the country.

In the evening I returned to the ship, and resolved the next morning to visit one of the high islands in the offing, from the top of which, as they lay five leagues out to sea, I hoped to discover more distinctly the situation of the shoals, and the channel between them.

In the morning therefore of the 11th I set out in the pinnace, accompanied by Mr. Banks, whose fortitude and curiosity made him a party in every expedition, for the northernmost and largest of the three islands, and at the same time I sent the master in the yawl to leeward, to sound between the low islands and the main. In my way I passed over a reef of coral rock and sand, which lies about two leagues from the island, and I left another to leeward, which lies about three miles from it: on the north part of the reef, to the leeward, there is a low sandy island, with trees upon it; and upon the reef which we passed over, we saw several turtle: we chased one or two, but having little time to spare, and the wind blowing fresh, we did not take any.

About one o’clock we reached the island, and immediately ascended the highest hill, with a mixture of hope and fear, proportioned to the importance of our business, and the uncertainty of the event. When I looked round, I discovered a reef of rocks lying between two and three leagues without the islands, and extending in a line N. W. and S. E. farther than I could see, upon which the sea broke in a dreadful surf; this, however, made me think that there were no shoals beyond them, and I conceived hopes of getting without these, as I perceived several breaks or openings in the reef, and deep water between that and the islands. I continued upon this hill till sunset, but the weather was so hazy during the whole time, that I came down much disappointed. After reflecting upon what I had seen, and comparing the intelligence I had gained with what I expected, I determined to stay upon the island all night, hoping that the morning might be clearer, and afford me a more distinct and comprehensive view. We therefore took up our lodging under the shelter of a bush which grew upon the beach, and at three in the morning, having sent the pinnace with one of the mates whom I had brought out with me, to sound between the island and the reefs, and examine what appeared to be a channel through them, I climbed the hill a second time, but to my great disappointment found the weather much more hazy than it had been the day before. About noon the pinnace returned, having been as far as the reef, and found between fifteen and twenty-eight fathom of water; but it blew so hard, that the mate did not dare to venture into one of the channels, which he said appeared to him to be very narrow: this, however, did not discourage me, for I judged from his description of the place he had been at, that he had seen it to disadvantage. While I was busy in my survey, Mr. Banks was attentive to his favourite pursuit, and picked up several plants which he had not before seen. We found the island, which is visible at twelve leagues’ distance, to be about eight leagues in circumference, and in general very rocky and barren. On the north-west side, however, there are some sandy bays, and some low land, which is covered with long thin grass, and trees of the same kind with those upon the main: this part also abounded with lizards of a very large size, some of which we took. We found also fresh water in two places: one was a running stream, but that was a little brackish where I tasted it, which was close to the sea; the other was a standing pool, close behind the sandy beach, and this was perfectly sweet and good. Notwithstanding the distance of this island from the main, we saw, to our great surprise, that it was sometimes visited by the natives; for we found seven or eight frames of their huts, and vast heaps of shells, the fish of which we supposed had been their food. We observed that all these huts were built upon eminences, and entirely exposed to the S. E., contrary to those which we had seen upon the main; for they were all built either upon the side of a hill, or under some bushes, which afforded them shelter from the wind. From these huts, and their situation, we concluded that at some seasons of the year the weather here is invariably calm and fine; for the inhabitants have no boat which can navigate the sea to so great a distance, in such weather as we had from the time of our first coming upon the coast. As we saw no animals upon this place but lizards, I called it Lizard Island. The other two high islands, which lie at the distance of four or five miles from it, are comparatively small; and near them lie three others smaller still, and low, with several shoals or reefs, especially to the S. E.: there is, however, a clear passage from Cape Flattery to these islands, and even quite to the outward reefs, leaving Lizard Island to the north-west, and the others to the south-east.

At two in the afternoon, there being no hope of clear weather, we set out from Lizard Island to return to the ship, and in our way landed upon the low sandy island with trees upon it, which we had remarked in our going out. Upon this island we saw an incredible number of birds, chiefly sea-fowl: we found also the nest of an eagle, with young ones, which we killed; and the nest of some other bird, we knew not what, of a most enormous size: it was built with sticks upon the ground, and was no less than six-and-twenty feet in circumference, and two feet eight inches high. We found, also, that this place had been visited by the Indians, probably to eat turtle, many of which we saw upon the island, and a great number of their shells, piled one upon another in different places.

To this spot we gave the name of Eagle Island; and after leaving it, we steered S. W. directly for the ship, sounding all the way, and we had never less than eight fathom, nor more than fourteen, the same depth of water that I had found between this and Lizard Island.

When I got on board, the master informed me that he had been down to the low islands, between which and the main I had directed him to sound; that he judged them to lie about three leagues from the main; that without them he found from ten to fourteen fathom, and between them and the main, seven; but that a flat, which ran two leagues out from the main, made this channel narrow. Upon one of these low islands he slept, and was ashore upon others; and he reported, that he saw every where piles of turtle-shells, and fins hanging upon the trees in many places, with the flesh upon them, so recent, that the boat’s crew ate of them: he saw also two spots, clear of grass, which appeared to have been lately dug up, and from the shape and size of them, he conjectured they were graves.

After considering what I had seen myself; and the report of the master, I was of opinion that the passage to leeward would be dangerous, and that, by keeping in with the main, we should run the risk of being locked in by the great reef, and at last be compelled to return back in search of another passage, by which, or any other accident that should cause the same delay, we should infallibly lose our passage to the East Indies, and endanger the ruin of the voyage, as we had now but little more than three months’ provisions on board at short allowance.

Having stated this opinion, and the facts and appearances upon which it was founded, to the officers, it was unanimously agreed, that the best thing we could do would be to quit the coast altogether, till we could approach it with less danger.

In the morning, therefore, at break of day, we got under sail, and stood out N. E. for the north-west end of Lizard Island, leaving Eagle Island to windward, and some other islands and shoals to the leeward, and having the pinnace a-head to ascertain the depth of water in every part of our course. In this channel we had from nine to fourteen fathom. At noon, the north-west end of Lizard Island bore E. S. E., distant one mile; our latitude by observation was 14° 38ʹ, and our depth of water fourteen fathom. We had a steady gale at S. E., and by two o’clock we just fetched to windward of one of the channels or openings in the outer reef, which I had seen from the island. We now tacked, and made a short trip to the S. W., while the master in the pinnace examined the channel: he soon made the signal for the ship to follow, and in a short time she got safe out. As soon as we had got without the breakers, we had no ground with one hundred and fifty fathom, and found a large sea rolling in from the S. E., a certain sign that neither land nor shoals were near us in that direction.

Our change of situation was now visible in every countenance, for it was most sensibly felt in every breast: we had been little less than three months entangled among shoals and rocks, that every moment threatened us with destruction; frequently passing our nights at anchor within hearing of the surge that broke over them; sometimes driving towards them even while our anchors were out, and knowing that if by any accident, to which an almost continual tempest exposed us, they should not hold, we must in a few minutes inevitably perish. But now, after having sailed no less than three hundred and sixty leagues, without once having a man out of the chains heaving the lead, even for a minute, which perhaps never happened to any other vessel, we found ourselves in an open sea, with deep water; and enjoyed a flow of spirits, which was equally owing to our late dangers and our present security: yet the very waves, which by their swell convinced us that we had no rocks or shoals to fear, convinced us also that we could not safely put the same confidence in our vessel as before she had struck; for the blows she received from them so widened her leaks, that she admitted no less than nine inches’ water an hour, which, considering the state of our pumps, and the navigation that was still before us, would have been a subject of more serious consideration to people whose danger had not so lately been so much more imminent.

The passage or channel, through which we passed into the open sea beyond the reef, lies in latitude 14° 32ʹ S., and may always be known by the three high islands within it, which I have called the Islands of Direction, because by these a stranger may find a safe passage through the reef quite to the main. The channel lies from Lizard Island N. E. ½ N., distant three leagues, and is about one third of a mile broad, and not more in length. Lizard island, which is, as I have before observed, the largest and the northernmost of the three, affords safe anchorage under the north-west side, fresh water, and wood for fuel. The low islands and shoals also which lie between it and the main abound with turtle and fish, which may probably be caught in all seasons of the year, except when the weather is very tempestuous; so that, all things considered, there is not perhaps a better place for ships to refresh at upon the whole coast than this island. And, before I dismiss it, I must observe, that we found upon it, as well as upon the beach in and about Endeavour River, bamboos, cocoa-nuts, pumice-stone, and the seeds of plants which are not the produce of this country, and which it is reasonable to suppose are brought from the eastward by the trade winds. The islands which were discovered by Quiros, and called Australia del Espiritu Santa, lie in this parallel; but how far to the eastward cannot now be ascertained: in most charts they are placed in the same longitude with this country, which, as appears by the account of his voyage that has been published, he never saw; for that places his discoveries no less than two-and-twenty degrees to the eastward of it.

As soon as we were without the reef, we brought to, and having hoisted in the boats, we stood off and on upon a wind all night; for I was not willing to run to leeward till I had a whole day before me. In the morning, at daybreak, Lizard Island bore S. 15 E., distant ten leagues; and we then made sail, and stood away N. N. W. ½ W. till nine o’clock, when we stood N. W. ½ N., having the advantage of a fresh gale at S. E. At noon, our latitude by observation was 13° 46ʹ S., and at this time we had no land in sight. At six in the evening we shortened sail, and brought the ship to, with her head to the N. E.; and at six in the morning made sail, and steered west, in order to get within sight of the land, that I might be sure not to overshoot the passage, if a passage there was, between this land and New Guinea. At noon, our latitude by observation was 13° 2ʹ S., longitude 216° W.; which was 1° 23ʹ W. of Lizard Island: at this time we had no land in sight; but a little before one o’clock we saw high land from the mast-head, bearing W. S. W. At two, we saw more land to the N. W. of that we had seen before: it appeared in hills, like islands; but we judged it to be a continuation of the main land. About three, we discovered breakers between the land and the ship, extending to the southward farther than we could see; but to the north we thought we saw them terminate abreast of us. What we took for the end of them in this direction, however, soon appeared to be only an opening in the reef; for we presently saw them again, extending northward beyond the reach of our sight. Upon this we hauled close upon a wind, which was now at E. S. E., and we had scarcely trimmed our sails before it came to E. by N., which was right upon the reef, and consequently made our clearing it doubtful. At sunset the northernmost part of it that was in sight bore from us N. by E., and was two or three leagues distant; this however being the best tack to clear it, we kept standing to the northward with all the sail we could set till midnight; when, being afraid of standing too far in this direction, we tacked and stood to the southward, our run from sunset to this time being six leagues N. and N. by E. When we had stood about two miles S. S. E. it fell calm; we had sounded several times during the night, but had no bottom with one hundred and forty fathom, neither had we any ground now with the same length of line; yet, about four in the morning, we plainly heard the roaring of the surf, and at break of day saw it foaming to a vast height, at not more than a mile’s distance. Our distress now returned upon us with double force; the waves, which rolled in upon the reef, carried us towards it very fast; we could reach no ground with an anchor, and had not a breath of wind for the sail. In this dreadful situation, no resource was left us but the boats; and to aggravate our misfortune the pinnace was under repair: the long-boat and yawl, however, were put into the water, and sent a-head to tow, which, by the help of our sweeps abaft, got the ship’s head round to the northward; which, if it could not prevent our destruction, might at least delay it. But it was six o’clock before this was effected, and we were not then a hundred yards from the rock upon which the same billow which washed the side of the ship, broke to a tremendous height the very next time it rose; so that between us and destruction there was only a dreary valley, no wider than the base of one wave, and even now the sea under us was unfathomable, at least no bottom was to be found with a hundred and twenty fathom. During this scene of distress the carpenter had found means to patch up the pinnace; so that she was hoisted out, and sent a-head, in aid of the other boats, to tow; but all our efforts would have been ineffectual, if, just at this crisis of our fate, a light air of wind had not sprung up, so light, that at any other time we should not have observed it, but which was enough to turn the scale in our favour, and, in conjunction with the assistance, which was afforded us by the boats, to give the ship a perceptible motion obliquely from the reef. Our hopes now revived; but in less than ten minutes it was again a dead calm, and the ship was again driven towards the breakers, which were not now two hundred yards distant. The same light breeze, however, returned before we had lost all the ground it had enabled us to gain, and lasted about ten minutes more. During this time we discovered a small opening in the reef, at about the distance of a quarter of a mile: I immediately sent one of the mates to examine it, who reported that its breadth was not more than the length of the ship, but that within it there was smooth water: this discovery seemed to render our escape possible, and that was all, by pushing the ship through the opening, which was immediately attempted. It was uncertain, indeed, whether we could reach it; but if we should succeed thus far, we made no doubt of being able to get through: in this however we were disappointed, for having reached it by the joint assistance of our boats and the breeze, we found that in the mean time it had become high water, and to our great surprise we met the tide of ebb rushing out of it like a mill-stream. We gained, however, some advantage, though in a manner directly contrary to our expectations; we found it impossible to go through the opening, but the stream that prevented us, carried us out about a quarter of a mile; it was too narrow for us to keep in it longer; yet this tide of ebb so much assisted the boats, that by noon we had got an offing of near two miles. We had, however, reason to despair of deliverance, even if the breeze, which had now died away, should revive, for we were still embayed in the reef; and the tide of ebb being spent, the tide of flood, notwithstanding our utmost efforts, again drove the ship into the bight. About this time, however, we saw another opening, near a mile to the westward, which I immediately sent the first lieutenant, Mr. Hicks, in the small boat to examine: in the mean time we struggled hard with the flood, sometimes gaining a little, and sometimes losing; but every man still did his duty, with as much calmness and regularity as if no danger had been near. About two o’clock Mr. Hicks returned, with an account that the opening was narrow and dangerous, but that it might be passed: the possibility of passing it was sufficient encouragement to make the attempt, for all danger was less imminent than that of our present situation. A light breeze now sprung up at E. N. E., with which, by the help of our boats, and the very tide of flood that, without an opening, would have been our destruction, we entered it, and were hurried through with amazing rapidity, by a torrent that kept us from driving against either side of the channel, which was not more than a quarter of a mile in breadth. While we were shooting this gulf, our soundings were from thirty to seven fathom, very irregular, and the ground at bottom very foul.

As soon as we had got within the reef we anchored in nineteen fathom, over a bottom of coral and shells. And now, such is the vicissitude of life, we thought ourselves happy in having regained a situation, which but two days before it was the utmost object of our hope to quit. Rocks and shoals are always dangerous to the mariner, even where their situation has been ascertained; they are more dangerous in seas which have never before been navigated, and in this part of the globe they are more dangerous than in any other; for here they are reefs of coral rock, rising like a wall almost perpendicularly out of the unfathomable deep, always overflowed at highwater, and at low water dry in many places; and here the enormous waves of the vast Southern Ocean meeting with so abrupt a resistance, break, with inconceivable violence, in a surf which no rocks or storms in the northern hemisphere can produce. The danger of navigating unknown parts of this ocean was now greatly increased by our having a crazy ship, and being short of provisions and every other necessary; yet the distinction of a first discoverer made us cheerfully encounter every danger, and submit to every inconvenience; and we chose rather to incur the censure of imprudence and temerity, which the idle and voluptuous so liberally bestow upon unsuccessful fortitude and perseverance, than leave a country which we had discovered unexplored, and give colour to a charge of timidity and irresolution.

Having now congratulated ourselves upon getting within the reef, notwithstanding we had so lately congratulated ourselves upon getting without it, I resolved to keep the main land on board in my future route to the northward, whatever the consequence might be; for if we had now gone without the reef again, it might have carried us so far from the coast as to prevent my being able to determine, whether this country did, or did not join to New Guinea; a question which I was determined to resolve from my first coming within sight of land. However, as I had experienced the disadvantage of having a boat under repair, at a time when it was possible I might want to use her, I determined to remain fast at anchor, till the pinnace was perfectly refitted. As I had no employment for the other boats, I sent them out in the morning to the reef, to see what refreshments could be procured, and Mr. Banks, in his little boat, accompanied by Dr. Solander, went with them. In this situation I found the variation by amplitude and azimuth to be 4° 9ʹ E.; and at noon, our latitude, by observation, was 12° 38ʹ S., and our longitude 216° 45ʹ W. The main land extended from N. 66 W. to S. W. by S., and the nearest part of it was distant about nine leagues. The opening through which we had passed, I called Providential Channel; and this bore E. N. E., distant ten or twelve miles: on the main land within us was a lofty promontory, which I called Cape Weymouth; on the north side of which is a bay, which I called Weymouth Bay: they lie in latitude 12° 42ʹ S., longitude 217° 15ʹ W. At four o’clock in the afternoon the boats returned with two hundred and forty pounds of the meat of shell-fish, chiefly of cockles, some of which were as much as two men could move, and contained twenty pounds of good meat. Mr. Banks also brought back many curious shells, and Mollusca; besides many species of coral, among which was that called the Tubipora musica.

At six o’clock in the morning we got under sail, and stood away to the N. W., having two boats a-head to direct us; our soundings were very irregular, varying five or six fathom every cast, between ten and twenty-seven. A little before noon, we passed a low sandy island, which we left on our starboard side, at the distance of two miles. At noon our latitude was 12° 28ʹ, and our distance from the main about four leagues: it extended from S. by W. to N. 71 W., and some small islands from N. 40 W. to 54 W. Between us and the main were several shoals, and some without us, besides the main or outermost reef, which we could see from the mast head, stretching away to the N. E. At two in the afternoon, as we were steering N. W. by N. we saw a large shoal right a-head, extending three or four points upon each bow; upon this we hauled up N. N. E. and N. E. by N. to get round the north point of it, which we reached by four, and then edged away to the westward, and ran between the north end of this shoal and another which lies two miles to the northward of it, having a boat all the way a-head sounding; our depth of water was still very irregular, from twenty-two to eight fathom. At half an hour after six, we anchored in thirteen fathom: the northernmost of the small islands seen at noon bore W. ½ S., distant three miles: these islands are distinguished in the chart by the name of Forbes’s Islands, and lie about five leagues from the main, which here forms a high point that we called Bolt Head, from which the land trends more westerly, and is in that direction all low and sandy; to the southward it is high and hilly, even near the sea.

At six in the morning we got again under sail, and steered for an island which lay at a small distance from the main, and at this time bore from us N. 40 W., distant about five leagues: our course was soon interrupted by shoals; however, by the help of the boats, and a good look-out from the top of the mast, we got into a fair channel that led us down to the island, between a very large shoal on our starboard side, and several small ones towards the main: in this channel we had from twenty to thirty fathom water. Between eleven and twelve o’clock we hauled round the north-east side of the island, leaving it between us and the main, from which it is distant about seven or eight miles. This island is about a league in circuit, and we saw upon it five of the natives, two of whom had lances in their hands; they came down upon a point, and having looked a little while at the ship, retired. To the N. W. of it are several low islands and quays, which lie not far from the main; and to the northward and eastward are several other islands and shoals; so that we were now encompassed on every side: but having lately been exposed to much greater danger, and rocks and shoals being grown familiar, we looked at them comparatively with little concern. The main land appeared to be low and barren, interspersed with large patches of the very fine white sand which we had found upon Lizard Island and different parts of the main. The boats had seen many turtle upon the shoals which they passed, but it blew too hard for them to take any. At noon our latitude, by observation was 12°, and our longitude 217° 25ʹ: our depth of water was fourteen fathom; and our course and distance, reduced to a straight line, was, between this time and the preceding noon, N. 29 W. thirty-two miles.