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for Rio de Janeiro, and at nine the next morning made fail for the harbour. I then fent Mr. Hicks, my Firft Lieutenant, before us in the Sunday 13. pinnace, up to the city, to acquaint the Governor, that we put in there to procure water and refreshments; and to defire the affiftance of a pilot to bring us into proper anchoring-ground. I continued to ftand up the river, trusting to Mr. Bellifle's draught, published in the Petit Atlas maritime, Vol. II. N° 54, which we found very good, till five o'clock in the evening, expecting the return of my Lieutenant; and juft as I was about to anchor, above the island of Cobras, which lies before the city, the pinnace, came back without him, having on board a Portuguese officer, but no pilot. The people in the boat told me, that my Lieutenant was detained by the Viceroy till I should go on shore. We came immediately to an anchor; and, almoft at the fame time, a ten oared boat, full of foldiers, came up and kept rowing round the fhip, without exchanging a word in lefs than a quarter of an hour, another boat came on board with several of the Viceroy's officers, who asked, whence we came; what was our cargo; the number of men and guns on board; the object of our voyage, and several other questions, which we directly and truly answered: they then told me, as a kind of apology for detaining my Lieutenant, and putting an officer VOL. II.

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on

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Monday 14.

on board my pinnace, that it was the invariable custom of the place, to detain the first officer who came on fhore from any fhip on her arrival, till a boat from the viceroy had vifited her, and to fuffer no boat to go either from or to a fhip, while the lay there, without having a foldier on board. They faid that I might go on fhore when I pleased; but wished that every other perfon might remain on board till the paper which they should draw up had been delivered to the viceroy, promifing that, immediately upon their return, the lieutenant fhould be fent on board.

This promife was performed; and on the next morning, the 14th, I went on fhore, and obtained leave of the viceroy to purchase provisions and refreshments for the ship, provided I would employ one of their own people as a factor, but not otherwise. I made fome objections to this, but he infifted upon it as the custom of the place. I objected also against the putting a foldier into the boat every time she went between the ship and the fhore; but he told me, that this was done by the exprefs orders of his court, with which he could in no cafe difpenfe. I then requefted, that the gentlemen whom I had on board might refide on fhore during our stay, and that Mr. Banks might go up the country to gather plants; but this he abfolutely refufed. I judged from his extreme caution, and the feve

rity of thefe restrictions, that he fufpected we were come to trade; I therefore took fome pains to convince him of the contrary. I told him, that we were bound to the fouthward, by the order of his Britannic Majefty, to obferve a tranfit of the planet Venus over the Sun, an aftronomical phænomonon of great importancè to navigation. Of the tranfit of Venus, however, he could form no other conception, than that it was the paffing of the North Star through the South Pole; for thefe are the very words of his interpreter, who was a Swede, and fpokė English very well. I did not think it neceffary to afk permiffion for the gentlemen to come on fhore during the day, or that, when I was on fhore myfelf, I might be at liberty, taking for granted that nothing was intended to the contrary; but in this I was unfortunately mistaken. As foon as I took leave of his excellency, I found an officer who had orders to attend me wherever I went: of this I defired an explanation, and was told that it was meant as a compliment; I earnestly defired to be excufed from accepting fúch an honour, but the good viceroy would by no means suffer it to be difpenfed with.

With this officer, therefore, I returned on board, about twelve o'clock, where I was impatiently expected by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solandér, who made no doubt but that a fair account of us having been given by the officers R 2

who

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1768. November

who had been on board the evening before, in their paper called a Pralica, and every fcruple of the viceroy removed in my conference with his excellency, they should immediately be at liberty to go on fhore, and difpofe of themfelves as they pleafed. Their disappointment at receiving my report may eafily be conceived; and it was ftill increafed by an account, that it had been refolved, not only to prevent their refiding on shore, and going up the country, but even their leaving the ship; orders having been given, that no perfon except the captain, and fuch common failors as were required to be upon duty, should be permitted to land; and that there was probably a particular view to the paffengers in this prohibition, as they were reported to be gentlemen fent abroad to make obfervations and difcoveries, and were uncommonly qualified for that purpose. In the evening, however, Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander dreffed themselves, and attempted to go on fhore, in order to make a vifit to the viceroy; but they were ftopped by the guard-boat which had come off with our pinnace, and which kept hovering round the ship all the while fhe lay here, for that purpose; the officer on board faying, that he had particular orders, which he could not difobey, to fuffer no paffenger, nor any officer, except the captain, to pafs the boat. After much expoftulation to no purpose,

purpose, they were obliged, with whatever reluctance and mortification, to return on board. I then went on fhore myself, but found the viceroy inflexible; he had one answer ready for every thing I could say, That the restrictions under which he had laid us, were in obedience to the King of Portugal's commands, and therefore indifpenfable.

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In this fituation I determined, rather than be made a prisoner in my own boat, to go on shore no more; for the officer who, under pretence of a compliment, attended me when I was afhore, infifted also upon going with me to and from the ship: but ftill imagining, that the fcrupulous vigilance of the viceroy muft proceed from fome mistaken notion about us, which might more. eafily be removed by writing than in converfation, I drew up a memorial, and Mr. Banks drew up another, which we fent on fhore. These memorials were both answered, but by no means to our fatisfaction; we therefore replied: in confequence of which, feveral other papers were interchanged between us and the viceroy, but ftill without effect. However, as I thought fome degree of force, on the part of the viceroy, to enforce these restrictions, neceffary to justify my acquiefcence in them to the Admiralty; I gave orders to my lieutenant, Mr. Hicks, when I fent him with our last reply on Sunday the 20th, in Sunday 20. the evening, not to fuffer a guard to be put into