Neither

their weapons; for supposing the lances to serve merely for the striking of fish, the shield could be intended for nothing but a defence against men; the only mark of hostility, however, which we saw among them, was the perforation of the shield by a spear, which has been just mentioned, for none of them appeared to have been wounded by an enemy. can we determine whether they are pusillanimous or brave; the resolution with which two of them attempted to prevent our landing, when we had two boats full of men, in Botany Bay, even after one of them was wounded with small shot, gave us reason to conclude that they were not only naturally courageous, but that they had acquired a familiarity with the dangers of hostility, and were, by habit as well as nature, a daring and warlike people; but their precipitate flight from every other place that we approached, without even a menace, while they were out of our reach, was an indication of uncommon tameness and timidity, such as those who had only been occasionally warriors must be supposed to have shaken off, whatever might have been their natural disposition. I have faithfully related facts, the reader must judge of the people for himself.

From the account that has been given of our commerce with them, it cannot be supposed that we should know much of their language; yet as this is an object of great curiosity, especially to the learned, and of great importance in their researches into the origin of the various nations that have been discovered, we took some pains to bring away such a specimen of it as might, in a certain degree, answer the purpose, and I shall now give an account how it was procured. If we wanted to know the name of a stone, we took a stone up into our hands, and as well as we could, intimated by signs, that we wished they should name it: the word that they pronounced upon the occasion we immediately wrote down. This method, though it was the best we could contrive, might certainly lead us into many mistakes; for if an Indian was to take up a stone, and ask us the name of it, we might answer a pebble or a flint; so when we took up a stone, and asked an Indian the name of it, he might pronounce a word that distinguished the species and not the genus, or that, instead of signifying stone simply, might signify a rough stone, or a smooth stone; however, as much as possible to avoid mistakes of this kind, several of us contrived, at different times, to get from them as many words as we could, and having noted them down, compared our lists: those which were the same in all, and which, according to every one's account, signified the same thing, we ventured to record, with a very few others, which, from the simplicity of the subject, and the ease of expressing our question with plainness and precision by a sign, have acquired equal authority.

* Captain King, in his account of his second visit to Endeavour River (Survey of the coasts of Australia, vol. i.

Cherco.

I shall now quit this country, with a few observations relative to the currents and tides upon the coast. From latitude 32°, and somewhat higher, down to Sandy Cape, in latitude 24° 46', we constantly found a current setting to the southward, at the rate of about ten or fifteen miles a day, being more or less, according to our distance from the land, for it always ran with more force in shore than in the offing; but I could never satisfy myself whether the flood-tide came from the southward, the eastward, or the northward; I inclined to the opinion that it came from the south-east, but the first time we anchored off the coast, which was in latitude 24o 30', about ten leagues to the south-east of Bustard Bay, I found it come from the north-west; on the contrary, thirty leagues farther to the north-west, on the south side of Keppel Bay, I found that it came from the east, and at the northern part of that Bay it came from the northward, but with a much slower motion than it had come from the east on the east side of the Bay of Inlets, it set strongly to the westward, as far as the opening of Broad Sound; but on the north side of that sound, it came with a very slow motion from the north-west; and when we lay at anchor before Repulse Bay, it came from the northward to account for its course in all this variety of directions, we need only admit that the flood-tide comes from the east, or south-east. It is well known, that where there are deep inlets, and large creeks into low lands, running up from the sea, and not occasioned by rivers of fresh water, there will always be a great indraught of the flood-tide, the direction of which will be determined by the position or direction of the coast which forms the entrance of such inlet, whatever be its course at sea; and where the tides are weak, which upon this coast is generally the case, a large inlet will, if I may be allowed the expression, attract the flood-tide for many leagues.

A view of the map will at once illustrate this position. To the northward of Whitsunday's Passage there is no large inlet, consequently the flood sets to the northward, or northwestward, according to the direction of the coast, and the ebb to the south, or south-eastward; at least such is their course at a little distance from the land, for very near it they will be influenced by small inlets. I also observed, that we had only one high tide in twentyfour hours, which happened in the night. The difference between the perpendicular rise of the water in the day and the night, when there is a spring-tide, is no less than three feet, which, where the tides are so inconsiderable as they are here, is a great proportion of the whole difference between high and low water. This irregularity of the tides, which is worthy of notice, we did not discover till we were run ashore, and perhaps farther to the northward it is still greater after we got within the reef the second time, we found the tides more considerable than we had ever done before, except in the Bay of Inlets, and possibly this may be owing to the water being more confined between the shoals; here also the flood sets to the north-west, and continues in the same direction to the extremity of New Wales, from whence its direction is west and south-west into the Indian sca.

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CHAPTER VII.—THE PASSAGE FROM NEW SOUTH WALES TO NEW GUINEA, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF WHAT HAPPENED UPON LANDING THERE.

In the afternoon of Thursday, August the 23d, after leaving Booby Island, we steered W.N.W., with light airs from the S.S.W. till five o'clock, when it fell calm, and the tide of ebb soon after setting to the N.E., we came to an anchor in eight fathom water, with a soft sandy bottom. Booby Island bore S. 50 E., distant five miles, and the Prince of Wales's Isles extended from N.E. by N. to S. 55 E.; between these there appeared to be a clear

p. 368), makes the following remarks in reference to this vocabulary:-"A few words were obtained by Mr. Cunningham, which served to confirm many we had possessed ourselves of last year; and which being afterwards compared with the vocabulary of the New South Wales' language given by Captain Cook, prove that he obtained it at Endeavour River. And here it is not a little curious to remark that of the only two words which materially differ in the two accounts, one of them is the name of the kangaroo. This word was repeatedly used to

them last year, as well as this, accompanied by an imitation of the leap of the animal, which they readily understood; but on repeating the word kangaroo, they always corrected us by saying 'mēn-ŭ-ăh.' This animal has, therefore, been distinguished by a name which chance alone gave it; and not, as has always been supposed, from the term applied to it by the natives of the part where Captain Cook first saw it. We may here observe that Captain Cook writes the name Kanguroo, instead of Kangaroo, the accepted modern spelling."-ED.

open passage, extending from N. 46 E. to E. by N. At half an hour after five, in the morning of the 24th, as we were purchasing the anchor, the cable parted at about eight or ten fathom from the ring the ship then began to drive, but I immediately dropped another anchor, which brought her up before she got more than a cable's length from the buoy; the boats were then sent to sweep for the anchor, but could not succeed. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 10° 30′ S. As I was resolved not to leave the anchor behind, while there remained a possibility of recovering it, I sent the boats again after dinner, with a small line, to discover where it lay; this being happily effected, we swept for it with a hawser, and by the same hawser hove the ship up to it: we proceeded to weigh it, but just as we were about to ship it, the hawser slipped, and we had all our labour to repeat. By this time it was dark, and we were obliged to suspend our operations till the morning. As soon as it was light we sweeped it again, and heaved it to the bows; by eight o'clock we weighed the other anchor, got under sail, and, with a fine breeze at E.N.E., stood to the north-west. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 10° 18' S., longitude 219° 39′ W. At this time we had no land in sight, but about two miles to the southward of us lay a large shoal, upon which the sea broke with great violence, and part of which, I believe, is dry at low-water. It extends N. W. and S.E., and is about five leagues in circuit. Our depth of water, from the time we weighed till now, was nine fathom, but it soon shallowed to seven fathom; and at half an hour after one, having run eleven miles between noon and that time, the boat which was a-head made the signal for shoal water; we immediately let go an anchor, and brought the ship up with all the sails standing, for the boat having just been relieved, was at but a little distance. Upon looking out from the ship, we saw shoal water almost all round us, both wind and tide at the same time setting upon it. The ship was in six fathom, but upon sounding round her, at the distance of half a cable's length, we found scarcely two. This shoal reached from the east, round by the north and west, as far as the south-west, so that there was no way for us to get clear but that which we came. This was another hair's-breadth escape, for it was near high-water, and there ran a short cockling sea, which must very soon have bulged the ship if she had struck; and if her direction had been half a cable's length more, either to the right or left, she must have struck before the signal for the shoal was made. The shoals which, like these, lie a fathom or two under water, are the most dangerous of any, for they do not discover themselves till the vessel is just upon them, and then indeed the water looks brown, as if it reflected a dark cloud. Between three and four o'clock, the tide of ebb began to make, and I sent the master to sound to the southward and south-westward; and in the mean time, as the ship tended, I weighed anchor, and with a little sail stood first to the southward, and afterwards, edging away to the westward, got once more out of danger. At sunset, we anchored in ten fathom, with a sandy bottom, having a fresh gale at E.S.E.

Our

At six in the morning, we weighed again and stood west, having, as usual, first sent a boat a-head to sound. I had intended to steer N.W. till I had made the south coast of New Guinea, designing, if possible, to touch upon it; but upon meeting with these shoals, I altered my course, in hopes of finding a clearer channel and deeper water. In this I succeeded, for by noon our depth of water was gradually increased to seventeen fathom. latitude was now, by observation, 10° 10′ S., and our longitude 220° 12′ W. No land was in sight. We continued to steer west till sunset, our depth of water being from twentyseven to twenty-three fathom. We then shortened sail, and kept upon a wind all night; four hours on one tack, and four on another. At daylight, we made all the sail we could, and steered W.N.W. till eight o'clock, and then N. W. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 9° 56′ S., longitude 221° W., variation 2° 30′ E. We continued our N.W. course till sunset, when we again shortened sail, and hauled close upon a wind to the northward: our depth of water was twenty-one fathom. At eight, we tacked and stood to the southward till twelve; then stood to the northward with little sail till daylight Our soundings were.from twenty-five to seventeen fathom, the water growing gradually shallow as we stood to the northward. At this time we made sail and stood to the north, in order to make the land of New Guinea. From the time of our making sail till noon, the depth of water gradually decreased from seventeen to twelve fathom, with a stony and shelly bottom.

Our

latitude, by observation, was now 8° 52′ S., which is in the same parallel as that in which the southern parts of New Guinea are laid down in the charts; but there are only two points so far to the south, and I reckoned that we were a degree to the westward of them both, and therefore did not see the land, which trends more to the northward. We found the sea here to be in many parts covered with a brown scum, such as sailors generally call spawn. When I first saw it, I was alarmed, fearing that we were among shoals; but, upon sounding, we found the same depth of water as in other places. This scum was examined both by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, but they could not determine what it was: it was formed of innumerable small particles, not more than half a line in length, each of which in the microscope appeared to consist of thirty or forty tubes; and each tube was divided through its whole length by small partitions into many cells, like the tubes of the conferva. They were supposed to belong to the vegetable kingdom, because, upon burning them, they produced no smell like that of an animal substance. The same appearance had been observed upon the coast of Brazil and New Holland, but never at any considerable distance from the shore. In the evening a small bird hovered about the ship, and at night, settling among the rigging, was taken. It proved to be exactly the same bird which Dampier has described, and of which he has given a rude figure, by the name of a Noddy, from New Holland.(See his Voyages, vol. iii. p. 98. Tab. of Birds, fig. 5.)

We continued standing to the northward with a fresh gale at E. by S. and S.E. till six in the evening, having very irregular soundings, the depth changing at once from twentyfour fathom to seven. At four, we had seen the land from the mast-head, bearing N.W. by N.; it appeared to be very low, and to stretch from W.N.W. to N.N.E., distant four or five leagues. We now hauled close upon a wind till seven, then tacked and stood to the southward till twelve, at which time we wore and stood to the northward till four in the morning, then laid the head of the vessel off till daylight, when we again saw the land, and stood in N.N.W. directly for it, with a fresh gale at E. by S. Our soundings during the night were very irregular, from seven to five fathom, suddenly changing from deep to shallow, and from shallow to deep, without in the least corresponding with our distance from the land. At half an hour after six in the morning, a small low island, which lay at the distance of about a league from the main, bore N. by W., distant five miles: this island lies in latitude 8° 13′ S., longitude 221° 25′ W.; and I find it laid down in the charts by the names of Bartholomew and Whermoysen. We now steered N.W. by W., W.N.W., W. by N., W. by S., and S. W. by W., as we found the land lie, with from five to nine fathomn; and though we reckoned we were not more than four leagues from it, yet it was so low and level, that we could but just see it from the deck. It appeared, however, to be well covered with wood, and among other trees, we thought we could distinguish the cocoanut. We saw smoke in several places, and therefore knew there were inhabitants. At noon, we were about three leagues from the land; the westernmost part of which that was in sight bore S. 79° W. Our latitude, by observation, was 8° 19' S., and longitude 221° 44′ W. The island of St. Bartholomew bore N. 74 E., distant twenty miles.

After steering S. W. by W. six miles, we had shoal water on our starboard-bow, which I sent the yawl to sound, and at the same time hauled off upon a wind till four o'clock; and though, during that time, we had run six miles, we had not deepened our water an inch. I then edged away S. W. four miles more; but finding it still shoal water, I brought to, and called the boats aboard. At this time, being between three and four leagues from the shore, and the yawl having found only three fathom water in the place to which I had sent her to sound, I hauled off close upon a wind, and weathered the shoal about half a mile.

Between one and two o'clock, we passed a bay or inlet, before which lies a small island that seems to shelter it from the southerly winds; but I very much doubt whether there is sufficient depth of water behind it for shipping. I could not attempt to determine the question, because the S.E. trade-wind blows right into the bay, and we had not as yet had any breeze from the land. We stretched off to sca till twelve o'clock, when we were about eleven leagues from the land, and had deepened our water to twenty-nine fathom. We now tacked and stood in till five in the morning; when, being in six fathom and a half, we

tacked and laid the head of the vessel off till daylight, when we saw the land, bearing N.W. by W., at about the distance of four leagues. We now made sail, and steered first W.S.W., then W. by S.; but coming into five fathom and a half, we hauled off S. W. till we deepened our water to eight fathom, and then kept away W. by S. and W., having nine fathom, and the land just in sight from the deck; we judged it to be about four leagues distant, and it was still very low and woody. Great quantities of the brown scum continued to appear upon the water, and the sailors, having given up the notion of its being spawn, found a new name for it, and called it Sea-sawdust. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 8° 30′ S., our longitude 222° 34′ W.; and Saint Bartholomew's Isle bore N. 69 E., distant seventy-four miles.

As all this coast appears to have been very minutely examined by the Dutch, and as our track, with the soundings, will appear by the chart, it is sufficient to say, that we continued our course to the northward with very shallow water, upon a bank of mud, at such a distance from the shore as that it could scarcely be seen from the ship, till the 3rd of September. During this time we made many attempts to get near enough to go on shore, but without success; and having now lost six days of fair wind, at a time when we knew the south-east monsoon to be nearly at an end, we began to be impatient of farther delay, and determined to run the ship in as near to the shore as possible, and then land with the pinnace, while she kept plying off and on, to examine the produce of the country, and the disposition of the inhabitants. For the last two days we had early in the morning a light breeze from the shore, which was strongly impregnated with the fragrance of the trees, shrubs, and herbage that covered it, the smell being something like that of Gum Benjamin. On the 3rd of September, at daybreak, we saw the land extending from N. by E. to S.E., at about four leagues distance, and we then kept standing in for it with a fresh gale at E.S.E. and E. by S. till nine o'clock, when being within about three or four miles of it, and in three fathom water, we brought to. The pinnace being hoisted out, I set off from the ship with the boat's crew, accompanied by Mr. Banks, who also took his servants, and Dr. Solander, being in all twelve persons well armed; we rowed directly towards the shore, but the water was so shallow that we could not reach it by about two hundred yards: we waded, however, the rest of the way, having left two of the seamen to take care of the boat. Hitherto we had seen no signs of inhabitants at this place; but as soon as we got ashore we discovered the prints of human feet, which could not long have been impressed upon the sand, as they were below high-water mark: we therefore concluded that the people were at no great distance, and, as a thick wood came down within a hundred yar of the water, we thought it necessary to proceed with caution, lest we should fall into an ambuscade, and our retreat to the boat be cut off. We walked along the skirts of the wood, and at the distance of about two hundred yards from the place where we landed, we came to a grove of cocoa-nut trees, which stood upon the banks of a little brook of brackish water. The trees were of a small growth, but well hung with fruit; and near them was a shed or hut, which had been covered with their leaves, though most of them were now fallen off about the hut lay a great number of the shells of the fruit, some of which appeared to be just fresh from the tree. We looked at the fruit very wishfully, but not thinking it safe to climb, we were obliged to leave it without tasting a single nut. At a little distance from this place we found plantains, and a bread-fruit tree, but it had nothing upon it; and having now advanced about a quarter of a mile from the boat, three Indians rushed out of the wood with a hideous shout, at about the distance of a hundred yards; and as they ran towards us, the foremost threw something out of his hand, which flew on one side of him, and burnt exactly like gunpowder, but made no report: the other two instantly threw their lances at us; and, as no time was now to be lost, we discharged our pieces, which were loaded with small shot. It is probable that they did not feel the shot, for though they halted a moment, they did not retreat; and a third dart was thrown at us. As we thought their farther approach might be prevented with less risk of life, than it would cost to defend ourselves against their attack if they should come nearer, we loaded our

The track will appear upon the general map, but the chart here alluded to is omitted in the present edition as valuable only for nautical purposes, and superseded by more modern publications.-ED.