being yet formed. We dreffed it for dinner the next day; but to our great difappointment, we found it had a much worse flavour than we had eaten before. 1770. July. Saturd. 28. The wind continued in the fame quarter, and with the fame violence, till five o'clock in the morning of the 29th, when it fell calm; foon after a light breeze Sunday 29. fprung up from the land, and it being about two hours ebb, I fent 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 fea. But when the boat came back, the officer reported that there were only thirteen feet water upon the bar, which was fix inches less than the fhip drew. We were therefore obliged to come to, and the fea breeze fetting in again about eight o'clock, we gave up all hope of failing that day. We had fresh gales at S. E. with hazy weather and Mond. 30. rain, till two in the morning of the 31ft, when the Tuesday 31. weather being fomewhat 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 fuccefs; fometimes taking a turtle, and frequently bringing in from two to three hundred weight of fish. On the first of Auguft the Carpenter examined the Auguft. pumps, and, to our great mortification, found them Wedn. 1. all in a state of decay, owing, as he faid, to the fap's having been left in the wood; one of them was fo rotten as, when hoifted up, to drop to pieces, and the rest were little better; fo that our chief truft was now in the foundness of our veffel, which happily did not admit more than one inch of water in an hour. At fix o'clock in the morning of Friday the 3d we Friday 3. made another unfuccefsful 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 Saturd. 4. feven, we got once more under fail, with a light air from the land, which foon died away, and was followed by the fea-breezes from S. E. by S. with which we flood off to fea E. by N. having the pinnace a-head, which was ordered to keep founding continually. The yawl had been fent to the turtle bank, to take up the net 1770. Auguft. : net which had been left there; but as the wind freshened, we got out before her. A little before noon we anchored in fifteen fathoms water, with a fandy bottom; for I did not think it fafe to run in among the fhoals, till I had well viewed them, at low-water, from the maft-head, which might determine me which way to fteer for as yet I was in doubt whether I should beat back to the fouthward, round all the fhoals, or feek a paffage 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 failed bore S. 70 W. diftant about five leagues; the northernmost point of the main in fight, which I named CAPE BEDFORD, and which lies in latitude 15o 16' S. longitude 214° 45′ W. bore N. 20 W. diftant three leagues and a half; but to the N. E. of this Cape we could fee land which had the appearance of two high iflands: the turtle banks bore east, diftant one mile: our latitude by observation was 15° 32' S. and our depth of water in ftanding off from the land was from three and an half to fifteen fathoms. CHAP. VII. Departure from Endeavour River; a particular Defcription of the Harbour there, in which the Ship was refitted, the adjacent Country, and feveral Ïslands near the Coaft: the Range from Endeavour River to the Northern Extremity of the Country, and the Dangers of that Navigation. T O the harbour which we had now left, I gave the name of ENDEAVOUR RIVER. It is only a small 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 fide, where the bank is so steep for near a quarter of a mile, that a fhip may lie a-float at low water, fo near the fhore as to reach it with a ftage, and the fituation is extremely 1770. extremely convenient for heaving down; but at low water, the depth upon the bar is not more than nine August. or ten feet, nor more than seventeen or eighteen at the height of the tide; the difference between high and low water, at fpring 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 coaft is fo barricaded with fhoals, as to make the harbour still more difficult of access; the fafeft approach is from the southward, keeping the main land close upon the board all the way. Its fituation may always be found by the latitude, which has been very accurately laid down. Over the fouth point is some high land, but the north point is formed by a low fandy 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 fea, and the weather was frequently tempeftuous, 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 meaneft perfon on board having the fame fhare as myself; and I think every commander, in fuch a voyage as this, will find it his interest to follow the fame rule. In feveral parts of the fandy beaches, and fand hills near the fea, we found purflain, and a kind of bean that grows upon a ftalk, which creeps along the ground: the purslain we found very good when it was boiled, and the beans are not to be defpifed, for we found them of great service to our fick 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 tafte they fomewhat refemble; 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 fmall, and yielded fo little cabbage that they were not worth feeking. VOL. II. B b Befides 1770. Auguft. Befides the kanguroo and the opoffum, that have been already mentioned, and a kind of polecat, there are wolves upon this part of the coaft, if we were not deceived by the tracks upon the ground, and feveral species of ferpents; fome of the ferpents are venemous, and some harmless: there are no tame animals here except dogs, and of these we faw but two or three, which frequently came about the tents, to pick up the scraps and bones that happened to lie fcattered nerr them. There does not indeed feem to be many of any animal, except the kanguroo; we fcarcely faw any other above once, but this we met with alrnoft every time we went into the woods. Of land fowls we faw crows, kites, hawks, cockatoos of two forts, one white and the other black, a very beautiful kind of loriquets, fome parrots, pigeons of two or three forts, and feveral fmall birds not known in Europe. The water fowls are herns, whistling ducks, which perch, and, I believe, rooft upon trees, wild geefe, curlieus, and a few others, but thefe do not abound. The face of the country, which has been occafionally mentioned before, is agreeably diverfified by bill and valley, lawn and wood. The foil of the hills is hard, dry, and ftony, yet it produces coarse grafs befides wood; the foil of the plains and vallies is in fome places fand, and in fome clay; in fome alfo it is rocky and ftony, like the hills; in general, however, it is well clothed, and has at least the appear. ance of fertility. The whole country, both hill and valley, wood and plain, abounds with ant hills, fome of which are fix or eight feet high, and twice as much in circumference. The trees here are not of many forts; the gum tree, which we found on the fouthern part of the coaft, is the most common, but here it is not fo large on each fide of the river, thro' its whole course, there are mangroves in great numbers, which in fome places extend a mile within the coaft. The country is in all parts well watered, there being feveral fine rivulets at a fmall 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 feafon; we were however well fupplied with water by fprings, which were not far off. In the afternoon of the 4th, we had a gentle breeze 1770. Auguft. at S. E. and clear weather, but as I did not intend to fail till the next morning, I fent all the boats to the reef, Saturd. 4. 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 fhoals, which made a very threatening appearance: I could fee feveral at a remote distance, and part of ma-ny of them was above water. The fea appeared most open to the north-east of the turtle reef, and I came to a refolution to ftretch out that way clofe upon a wind, because if we should find no paffage, we could always return the way we went. In the evening the boats brought in a turtle, a fting-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 lefs than two pounds of meat: in the night also we caught feveral fharks, which, though not a dainty, were an acceptable increase of our fresh provifions. In the morning I waited till half ebb before I weigh- Sunday 5. ed, because at that time the fhoals begin to appear, but the wind then blew fo hard, that I was obliged to remain at an anchor: in the afternoon, however, the gale becoming more moderate, we got under fail, and ftood out upon a wind N. E. by E. leaving the turtle reef to windward, and having the pinnace founding a-head: we had not kept this courfe long, before we discovered fhoals 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 fhoal water, where we little expected it: upon this we tacked, and stood on and off, while the pinnace ftretched farther to the eastward, and night approaching, I came to an anchor in twenty fathoms water, with a muddy bottom. Endeavour River then bore S. 52 W. Cape Bedford, W. by N. N. diftant five leagues, the northermost land in fight, which had the appearance of an ifland, N. and a fhoal, a fmall fandy part of which appeared above water, bore N. E. diftant between two and three miles in standing off from turtle reef to this place, we had from fourteen to twenty fathoms 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 : 14 Bb2 Lip. |