1770. April.

May. Tuesday 1.

and were heard frequently to fhout very loud. As foo as it was light they were feen walking along the beac and foon after they retired to the woods, where, at t distance of about a mile from the fhore, they kind feveral fires.

Our people went a-fhore as ufual, and with th Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, who, in fearch of pla repaired to the woods. Our men, who were emplo in cutting grafs, being the fartheft removed from main body of the people, a company of fourteen o teen Indians advanced towards them, having ftic their hands, which, according to the report o Serjeant of the marines, fhone like a mufquet. grafs-cutters, upon feeing them approach, drew ther, and repaired to the main body. The In being encouraged by this appearance of a flight fued them; they stopped, however, when they within about a furlong of them, and after fhout veral times went back into the woods. In the they came again in the fame manner, stoppe. fame distance, shouted, and retired. I follow myself, alone and unarmed, for a confidera along the fhore, but I could not prevail upor stop.

This day Mr. Green took the fun's mer tude, a little within the fouth entrance of which gave the latitude 34° S. the variation o dle was 11° 3' E.

Ir

Early the next morning the body of For
land, one of our feamen, who died the e
fore, was buried near the watering-place, ar
incident I called the fouth point of this bay
LAND POINT. This day we refolved to n
curfion into the country. Mr. Banks, Dr
myself, and seven others, properly accout.
expedition, fet out, and repaired first to the
the watering-place, whither fome of the nativ
nued every day to refort; and though the li
fents which we had left there before had not y
taken away, we left others of somewhat more
confifting of cloth, looking-glaffes, combs, and
and then went up into the country. We found t

1770. May.

Wednesd. 1.

had performed this fervice, he went a-fhore, and having taken a midshipman with him, and fent the boat away, fet 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 diftant; when Mr. Gore perceived them fo near, he ftopped, and faced about, upon which they stopped alfo; and when he went on again, continued their purfuit: they did not, however, attack him, though they were all armed with lances, and he and the midshipman got in fafety to the watering-place. The Indians, who had flackened their purfuit when they came in fight of the main body of our people, halted at about the diftance of a quarter of a mile, where they flood still. Mr. Monkhouse, and two or three of the waterers, took it in their heads to march up to them; but feeing the Indians keep their ground till they came pretty near them, they were feized with a fudden fear, very common to the rash and fool-hardy, and made a hafty retreat. This step, which infured the danger that it was taken to avoid, encouraged the Indians, and four of them running forward difcharged their lances at the fugitives with fuch force, that, flying no less than forty yards, they went beyond them. As the Indians did not purfue, our people, recovering their fpirits, ftopped to collect the lances, when they came up to the place where they lay; upon which the Indians, in their turn, began to retire. Juft at this time I came up, with Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, and Tupia; and being defirous to convince the Indians that we were neither afraid of them, nor intended them any mischief, we advanced towards them, making figns of expoftulation and entreaty, but they could not be perfuaded 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 figns to come on fhore, which he, certainly with great prudence, declined.

The morning of the next day was fo rainy, that we were all glad to stay on board. In the afternoon, however, it cleared up, and we made another excurfion along the fea-coaft to the fouthward. We went a-fhore, and Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander gathered many plants;

but

May.

but befides these we faw nothing worthy of notice. At 1770 our first entering the woods, we met with three of the natives, who instantly ran away; more of them were feen by some of the people, but they all disappeared, with great precipitation, as foon 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 fight of us afterwards, it appears that they were fufficiently 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 feen the effects of them, from their lurking places, upon the birds that we had fhot. Tupia, who was now become a good markfman, frequently ftrayed from us to fhoot parrots, and he told us, that, while he was thus employed, he had once met with nine Indians,, who, as foon as they perceived he faw them, ran from him in great confusion and terror.

The next day twelve canoes, in each of which was Thursday 3. a fingle Indian, came towards the watering-place, and were within half a mile of it a confiderable time; they were employed in striking fish, upon which, like others that we had feen before, they were fo intent that they seemed to regard nothing else. It happened, however, that a party of our people were out a fhooting near the place, and one of the men, whose curiofity might at length perhaps be roufed, by the report of the fowlingpieces, was obferved by Mr. Banks to haul up his canoe. upon the beach, and go towards the fhooting 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 feen 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 fome connection with the natives. In

U 4

Our

1770. May.

Friday 4.

our way we met with eleven or twelve small canoes, with each a man in it, probably the fame that were afterwards a-breast of the shore, who all made into shoal water upon our approach. We met other Indians on fhore the first time we landed, who instantly took to their canoes, and paddled away. We went up the country to fome diftance, and found the face of it nearly the fame with that which has been described already, but the foil was much richer; for instead of fand, 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 tartnefs, though but little flavour. We found alfo interfperfed fome of the finest meadows in the world; fome places, however, were rocky, but these were comparatively few: the ftone is fandy, and might be used with advantage for building. When we returned to the boat, we saw some smoke upon another part of the coaft, and went thither in hopes of meeting with the people, but at our approach these also ran away. We found fix fmall canoes, and fix fires very near the beach, with some muscles roafting 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 fome shell-fish had come a-fhore to eat it, and made his feparate 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 fmall well of fresh water, fupplied by a spring, and the day being now far spent we returned to the ship. In the evening Mr. Banks made a little excurfion with his gun, and found fuch a number of quails, resembling those in England, that he might have fhot as many as he pleased; but his object was variety, and not number.

The next morning, as the wind would not permit me to fail, I fent feveral parties into the country, to try again whether fome intercourse could not be eftablished with the natives. A midshipman, who belonged to one of these parties, having ftraggled a long way from his companions, met with a very old man

and