men; the only mark of hoftility, however, which we faw among them, was the perforation of the fhield by a fpear which had been juft mentioned, for none of them appeared to have been wounded by an enemy. Neither can we determine whether they are pufillanimous or brave; the refolution 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 reafon to conclude that they were not only naturally courageous, but that they had acquired a familiarity with the dangers of hoftility, 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, fuch as those who had only been occafionally warriors must be fuppofed to have fhaken off, whatever might have been their natural difpofition. 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 fuppofed that we should know much of their language; yet as this is an object of great curiofity, especially to the learned, and of great importance in their refearches into the origin of, the various nations that have been discovered, we took fome pains to bring away fuch a fpecimen of it as might, in a certain degree, anfwer the purpofe; and I fhall 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 figns that we wished they should name it: the word that they pronounced upon the occafion, 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 ftone, and ask us the name of it, we might answer a pebble or a flint; fo when we took up a stone, and ask an Indian the name of it, he might pronounce a word that diffinguifhed the fpecies and not the genus, or that, instead of fignifying ftone fimply, might fignify a rough ftone,

1770.

Auguft.

1770

stone, or a smooth stone; however, as much as poffible Auguft. to avoid mistakes of this kind, feveral of us contrived, at different times, to get from them as many words as we could, and having noted them down, compared our lifts those which were the fame in all, and which, according to every one's account, fignified the fame thing, we ventured to record, with a very few others, which, from the fimplicity of the fubject, and the ease of expreffing our question with plainness and precision by a fign, have acquired equal authority.

I shall now quit this country, with a few observations relative to the currents and tides upon the coast. From latitude 32°, and fomewhat higher, down to Sandy Cape, in latitude 24° 46', we conftantly found a current fetting to the fouthward, at the rate of about ten or fifteen miles a day, being more or lefs, according to our diftance from the land; for it always ran with more force in fhore than in the offing; but I could never fatisfy myself whether the flood-tide came from the southward, the eastward, or the northward : I inclined to the opinion that it came from the foutheast, but the first time we anchored off the coaft, which was in latitude 24° 30', about ten leagues to the foutheaft of Bustard Bay, I found that it came from the north-west; on the contrary thirty leagues farther to the north-west, on the fouth fide 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 flower motion than it had come from the east: on the east fide of the bay of Inlets, it fet ftrongly to the weftward, as far as the opening of Broad Sound; but on the north fide of that Sound, it came with a very flow motion from the north-weft; and when we lay at anchor before Repulfe Bay, it came from the northward to account for its courfe in all this variety of directions, we need only admit that the flood-tide comes from the eaft or fouth-eaft. It is well known, that where there are deep inlets, and large creeks into low lands, running up from the fea, and not occafioned by rivers of fresh water, there will always be a great VOL. II. indraught

E e

1770.

indraught of the flood-tide, the direction of which Auguft. will be determined by the pofition or direction of the

Tha:f. 23.

coaft which forms the entrance of such inlet, whatever be its courfe at fea; and where the tides are weak, which upon this coaft is generally the cafe, a large inlet will, if I may be allowed the expreffion, attract the flood-tide for many leagues,

A view of the chart will at once illustrate this pofition. To the northward of Whitfunday's paffage there is no large inlet, confequently the flood fets to the north-ward, or north-weftward, according to the direction of the coaft, and the ebb to the south, or fouth-eastward, at leaft fuch is their courfe at a little distance from the land, for very near it they will be influenced by fmall inlets. I also obferved, that we had only one high tide in twenty-four hours, which happened in the night. The difference between the perpendicular rife 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 fo inconfiderable as they are here, is a large 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 afhore, and perhaps farther to the northward it is ftill greater: after we got within the reef the fecond time, we found the tides more confiderable than we had ever done before, except in the Bay of Inlets, and poffibly this may be owing to the water being more confined between the fhoals; here alfo the flood fets to the north-weft, and continues in the fame direction to the extremity of New Wales; from whence its direction is weft and fouth-weft into the Indian fea.

CHAP. IX.

The Paffage from New South Wales to New Guinea, with an Account of what happened upon landing there.

N the afternoon of Thurfday Auguft 23d, after

light airs from the S. S. W. till five o'clock, when it fell calm, and the tide of ebb foon after fetting to the

N. E.

N. E. we came to an anchor in eight fathom water, with a foft fandy bottom. Booby Ifland bore S. 50 E. diftant five miles, and the Prince of Wales's Ifles extended from N. E. by N. to S. 55 E. between these there appeared to be a clear open paffage, extending from N. 46 E. to E. by N.

At half an hour after five in the morning of the Friday 24.. 25th, as we were purchafing the anchor, the cable parted about eight or ten fathoms from the ring: the fhip then began to drive; but I immediately dropped another anchor, which brought her up before the got more than a cable's length from the buoy; the boats were then fent to sweep for the anchor, but could not fucceed. At noon our latitude, by obfervation, was 10° 30' S. As I was refolved not to leave the anchor behind, while there remained a poffibility of recovering it, I fent the boats again after dinner, with a small line, to difcover where it lay; this being happily effected, we fwept for it with a hawfer, and by the fame hawfer hove the fhip up to it: we proceeded to weigh it, but just as we were about to fhip it, the hawfer flipped, and we had all our labour to repeat: by this time it was dark, and we were obliged to fufpend our operations till the morning."

As foon as it was light, we fweeped it again, and Saturd. 25. heaved it to the bows: by eight o'clock, we weighed the other anchor, got under fail, and, with a fine breeze at E. N. E. ftood to the north west. At noon our latitude, by obfervation, was 10° 18' S. longitude 219° 39' W. At this time we had no land in fight, but about two miles to the fouthward of us lay a large fhoal, upon which the fea 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 fathoms, but it soon fhallowed to feven fathoms; and at half an hour after one, having run eleven miles between noon and that time, the boat which was a-head made the fignal for fhoal-water; we immediately let go an anchor, and brought the fhip up with all the fails standing, for the boat having just been relieved, was at but a little diftance; upon locking out from the fhip, we faw fhoal water almost E e 2

all