# Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks/Chapter 11

CHAPTER XI
NEW ZEALAND TO AUSTRALIA (ENDEAVOUR RIVER)
March 31—June 18, 1770
Choice of routes—Reasons in favour of and against the existence of a southern continent—Suggestions for a proposed expedition in search of it—Leave New Zealand—Malt wort—Portuguese man-of-war and its sting—Hot weather—Land seen—Waterspouts—Variation of the compass—Natives—Their indifference to the ship—Opposition to landing—Excursion into the country—Vegetation and animals seen—Botanising—Timidity of the natives—Enormous sting-rays—Treachery of natives—Leave Botany Bay—Ants—Stinging caterpillars—Gum trees—Oysters—Crabs—Figs impregnated by Cynips—East Indian plants—Ants' nests—Butterflies—Amphibious fish—Ship strikes on a coral rock—Critical position—Fothering the ship—Steadiness of the crew—The ship taken into the Endeavour River—Scurvy.
Having now entirely circumnavigated New Zealand, and found it, not as generally supposed, part of a continent, but two islands, and having not the least reason to imagine that any country larger than itself lay in its neighbourhood, it was resolved to leave it and proceed upon further discoveries on our return to England, as we were determined to do as much as the state of the ship and provisions would allow. In consequence of this resolution a consultation was held and three schemes proposed. One, much the most eligible, was to return by Cape Horn, keeping all the way in the high latitudes, by which means we might with certainty determine whether or not a southern continent existed. This was unanimously agreed to be more than the condition of the ship would allow. Our provisions indeed might be equal to it; we had six months' at two-thirds allowance, but our ​sails and rigging, with which, the former especially, we were at first but ill provided, were rendered so bad by the blowing weather that we had met with off New Zealand that we were by no means in a condition to weather the hard gales which must be expected in a winter passage through high latitudes. The second was to steer to the southward of Van Diemen's Land and stand away directly for the Cape of Good Hope, but this was likewise immediately rejected. If we were in too bad a condition for the former, we were in too good a one for this; six months' provision was much more than enough to carry us to any port in the East Indies, and the overplus was not to be thrown away in a sea where so few navigators had been before us. The third, therefore, was unanimously agreed to, which was to stand immediately to the westward, fall in with the coast of New Holland as soon as possible, and after following that to the northward as far as seemed proper, to attempt to fall in with the lands seen by Quiros in 1606. In doing this we hoped to make discoveries more interesting to trade at least than any we had yet made. We were obliged certainly to give up our first grand object, the southern continent; this for my own part I confess I could not do without much regret.
That a southern continent really exists I firmly believe; but if asked why I believe so, I confess my reasons are weak: yet I have a prepossession in favour of the fact which I find it difficult to account for. Ice in large bodies has been seen off Cape Horn now and then. Sharp saw it, as did Frézier on his return from the coast of Chili in the month of March 1714: he also mentions that it has been seen by other French ships in the same place. If this ice (as is generally believed) is formed by fresh water only, there must be land to the southward, for the coast of Terra del Fuego is by no means cold enough to produce such an effect. I should be inclined to think also that it lies away to the westward, as the west and south-west winds so generally prevail, that the ice must be supposed to have followed the direction of these winds, and consequently have come from these points. When we sailed to the southward, in August ​and September 1769, we met with signs of land, seaweed and a seal, which, though both of them are often seen at great distances from land, yet are not met with in open oceans, and we were at that time too far from the coast of New Zealand, and much too far from that of South America, to have supposed them to have come from either of these. The body of this land must, however, be situated in very high latitudes; a part of it may indeed come to the northward, within our track; but as we never saw any signs of land except at the time mentioned above, although I made it my particular business (as well as I believe did most of us) to look out for such, it must be prodigiously smaller in extent than the theoretical continent-makers have supposed it to be. We have by our track proved the absolute falsity of over three-fourths of their positions; and the remaining part cannot be much relied upon, but above all we have taken from them their finest groundwork, in proving New Zealand to be an island, which I believe was looked upon, even by the most thoughtful people, to be in all probability at least a part of some vast country. All this we have taken from them: the land seen by Juan Fernandez, the land seen by the Dutch squadron under L'Hermite, signs of a continent seen by Quiros, and the same by Roggeween, etc. etc., have by us been proved not to be at all related to a continent. As for their reasoning about the balancing of the two poles, which always appeared to me to be a most childish argument, we have already shorn off so much of their supposed counterbalancing land, that by their own account the south pole would already be too light, unless what we have left should be made of very ponderous materials. As much fault as I find with these gentlemen will, however, probably recoil on myself, when I, on so light grounds as those I have mentioned, again declare it to be my opinion that a southern continent exists, an opinion in favour of which I am strongly prepossessed. But foolish and weak as all prepossessions must be thought, I would not but declare myself so, lest I might be supposed to have stronger reasons which I concealed.
​To search for this continent, then, the best and readiest way by which at once its existence or non-existence might be proved, appears to me to be this: let the ship or ships destined for this service leave England in the spring and proceed directly to the Cape of Good Hope, where they might refresh their people and take in fresh provisions, and thence proceed round Van Diemen's Land to the coast of New Zealand, where they might again refresh in any of the numerous harbours at the mouth of Cook's Straits, where they would be sure to meet with plenty of water, wood, and fish. Here they should arrive by the month of October, so as to have the good season before them to run across to the South Sea, which by reason of the prevailing westerly winds they would easily be able to do in any latitude. If in doing this they should not fall in with a continent, they might still be of service in exploring the islands in the Pacific Ocean, where they might refresh themselves and proceed home by the East Indies. Such a voyage, as a voyage of mere curiosity, should be promoted by the Royal Society, to whom I doubt not that his Majesty upon proper application would grant a ship, as the subject of such a voyage seems at least as interesting to science in general and the increase of knowledge as the observation which gave rise to the present one. The small expense of such an equipment to Government is easily shown. I will venture roundly to affirm that the smallest station sloop in his Majesty's service is every year more expensive than such a ship, where every rope, every sail, every rope-yarn even is obliged to do its duty most thoroughly before it can be dismissed. How trifling then must this expense appear, when in return for it the nation acquires experienced seamen in those who execute it, and the praise which is never denied to countries who in this public-spirited manner promote the increase of knowledge.
At the Cape of Good Hope might be procured beef, bread, flour, peas, spirits, or indeed any kind of provision at reasonable rates. The beef must be bought alive and salted, for which purpose it would be proper to take out salt from ​Europe: the general price, which indeed never varies, is two-pence a pound. It is tolerable meat, but not so fat as ours in England. Pork is scarce and dear, of that therefore a larger proportion might be taken out. Bread, which varies in price, is of the rusk kind, very good but rather brown. Spirit is arrack from Batavia, the price of which, after having paid the duties of import and export, is 60 rixdollars (£12 sterling) a legger of 150 gallons. Wine is in great plenty and very cheap, and while I was there they began to distil a kind of brandy, which, however, at that time was as dear as arrack, and much inferior to it both in strength and goodness.
Should a ship upon this expedition be obliged to go into False Bay, into which the Dutch remove on the 12th of May, most of these articles might be got there at a small advance occasioned by the carriage, which is very cheap, and if anything were wanted it might be bought from Cape Town either by Dutch scouts, of which there are several belonging to the company in the harbour, or by waggons over-land, as the road is good and much frequented at that season of the year.
31st March. Our route being settled in the manner above mentioned, we this morning weighed, and sailed with a fair breeze of wind, inclined to fall in with Van Diemen's Land, as near as possible at the place where Tasman left it.
2nd April. Our malt having turned out so indifferent that the surgeon made little use of it, a method was thought of some weeks ago to bring it into use, which was, to make as strong a wort with it as possible, and in this boil the wheat, which is served to the people for breakfast: it made a mess far from unpleasant, which the people soon grew very fond of. I myself who have for many months constantly breakfasted upon the same wheat as the people, either received, or thought I received, great benefit from the use of ​this mess. It totally banished that troublesome costiveness which I believe most people are subject to when at sea. Whether or no this is a more beneficial method of administering wort as a preventative than the common, must be left to the faculty, especially that excellent surgeon Mr. M'Bride, whose ingenious treatise on the sea-scurvy can never be sufficiently commended. For my own part I should be inclined to believe that the salubrious qualities of the wort which arise from fermentation might in some degree at least be communicated to the wheat when thoroughly saturated with its particles, which would consequently acquire a virtue similar to that of fresh vegetables, the greatest resisters of sea-scurvy known.
3rd. We got fast on to the westward, but the compass showed that the hearts of our people hanging that way caused a considerable north variation, which was sensibly felt by our navigators, who called it a current, as they do usually everything which makes their reckonings and observations disagree.
5th. The captain told me that he had during this whole voyage observed that between the degrees of 40° and 37° south latitude the weather becomes suddenly milder in a very great degree, not only in the temperature of the air, but in the strength and frequency of gales of wind, which increase very much in going towards 40°, and decrease in the same proportion as you approach 37°.
11th. Went out shooting and killed Diomedea exulans and impavida: saw D. profuga; Procellaria melanopus, velox, oceanica, vagabunda, and longipes; Nectris fuliginosa. Took up with dipping-net Mimus volutator, Medusa pelagica, Dagysa cornuta, Phyllodoce velella, and Holothuria obtusata, of which last an albatross that I had shot discharged a large quantity, incredible as it may appear that an animal should feed upon this blubber, whose innumerable stings give a much more acute pain to a hand which touches them than nettles.
12th. I again went out in my small boat and shot much the same birds as yesterday: took up also chiefly the same ​animals, to which was added Actinia natans. I again saw undoubted proofs that the albatrosses eat Holothuriæ or Portuguese men-of-war, as the seamen call them. I had also an opportunity of observing the manner in which this animal stings. The body consists of a bladder, on the upper side of which is fixed a kind of sail, which he erects or depresses at pleasure: the edges of this he also at pleasure gathers in, so as to make it concave on one side and convex on the other, varying the concavity or convexity to whichever side he pleases, for the conveniency of catching the wind which moves him slowly upon the surface of the sea in any direction he wishes. Under the bladder hang down two kinds of strings, one smooth, transparent and harmless, the other full of small round knobs, having much the appearance of small beads strung together: these he contracts or extends sometimes to the length of four feet. Both these and the others are in this species of a lovely ultramarine blue, but in the more common one, which is many times larger than this, being nearly as large as a goose's egg, they are of a fine red. With these latter, however, he does his mischief, stinging, or burning, as it is called. If touched by any substance they immediately throw out millions of exceedingly fine white threads, about a line in length, which pierce the skin and adhere to it, giving very acute pain. When the animal thrusts them out of the little knobs or beads which are not in contact with some substance they can pierce, they appear very visibly to the naked eye like small fibres of snow-white cotton.
13th. Shooting as usual, but saw no new bird except a gannet, which came not near me. Of these for four or five days past I have killed a good many; indeed, during the whole time they have been tame and appeared unknowing and unsuspicious of men, the generality of them flying to the boat as soon as they saw it, which is generally the case at great distances from land. Took up Dagysa vitrea and gamma, Medusa radiata and porpita, Helix ianthina, very large Doris complanata, and Beroe biloba: saw a large shoal ​of Esox scomboides leaping out of the water in a very extraordinary manner, pursued by a large fish, which I saw but could not strike, though I did two of the former. In the evening saw several fish much resembling bonitos.
The weather we have had for these nine days past, and the things we have seen upon the sea, are so extraordinary that I cannot help recapitulatng a little. The weather, in the first place, which till the fifth was cool, or rather cold, became at once troublesomely hot, bringing with it a mouldy dampness such as we experienced between the tropics: the thermometer, although it showed a considerable difference in the degree of heat, was not nearly so sensible of it as our bodies, which I believe is generally the case when a damp air accompanies warmth. During the continuance of this weather the inhabitants of the tropical seas appeared: the tropic bird, flying fish, and Medusa porpita are animals very rarely seen out of the influence of trade winds. Several others also I have never before seen in so high a latitude, and never before in such perfection as now, except between the tropics. All these uncommon appearances I myself can find no other method of accounting for than the uncommon length of time that the wind had remained in the eastern quarter before this, which possibly had all that time blown home from the trade wind; and at the same time, as it kept the sea in a quiet and still state, had brought with it the produce of the climate from which it came.
19th. With the first daylight this morning the land was seen; it made in sloping hills covered in part with trees or bushes, but interspersed with large tracts of sand. At noon we were sailing along shore, five or six leagues from it, with a brisk breeze of wind and cloudy unsettled weather, when we were called upon deck to see three waterspouts which made their appearance at the same time in different places, but all between us and the land. Two, ​which were very distant, soon disappeared; but the third, which was about a league from us, lasted fully a quarter of an hour. It was a column which appeared of the thickness of a mast or a middling tree, and reached down from a smoke-coloured cloud about two-thirds of the way to the surface of the sea. Under it the sea appeared to be much troubled for a considerable space, and from the whole of that space arose a dark-coloured thick mist reaching to the bottom of the pipe, where it was at its greatest distance from the water. The pipe itself was perfectly transparent, and much resembled a tube of glass or a column of water, if such a thing could be supposed to be suspended in the air: it very frequently contracted and dilated, lengthened and shortened itself, and that by very quick motions. It very seldom remained in a perpendicular direction, but generally inclined either one way or the other in a curve, as a light body acted upon by the wind is observed to do. During the whole time that it lasted, smaller ones seemed to attempt to form in its neighbourhood; at last one almost as thick as a rope formed close by it, and became longer than the old one, which at that time was in its shortest state; upon this they joined together in an instant, and gradually contracting into the cloud, disappeared.
22nd. We stood in with the land, near enough to discern five people, who appeared through our glasses to be enormously black: so far did the prejudices which we had built on Dampier's account influence us, that we fancied we could see their colour when we could scarce distinguish whether or not they were men.
Since we have been on the coast, we have not observed those large fires which we so frequently saw in the islands and New Zealand, made by the natives in order to clear the ground for cultivation: we thence concluded not much in favour of our future friends. It has long been an observation among us, that the air in this southern hemisphere was much clearer than in our northern: these last few days at least it has appeared remarkably so.
23rd. Took with the dipping-net Cancer erythrophthalmus, ​Medusa radiata, pelagica; Dagysa gemma, strumosa, cornuta; Holothuria obtusata; Phyllodoce velella and Mimus volutator. The master to-day, in conversation, made a remark on the variation of the needle, which struck me much. As to me it was new, and appeared to throw much light on the theory of that phenomenon. The variation is here very small: he says that he has three times crossed the line of no variation, and that at all those times, as well as at this, he has observed the needle to be very unsteady, moving very easily and scarcely at all fixing. This he showed me; he also told me that in several places he had been in, the land had a very remarkable effect upon the variation, as in the place we were in now: at one or two leagues distant from the shore, the variation was two degrees less than at eight leagues distance.
27th. Some bodies, three feet long and half as broad, floated very buoyantly past the ship: they were supposed to be cuttle bones, which indeed they a good deal resembled, but for their enormous size.
28th. An opening appearing like a harbour was seen, and we stood directly in for it: a small smoke arising from a very barren place directed our glasses that way, and we soon saw ten people who, on our approach, left the fire, and retired to a little eminence, whence they could conveniently see the ship. Soon after this two canoes carrying two men each landed on the beach under them: the men hauled up their boats, and went to their fellows upon the hill. Our boat, which had been sent ahead to sound, now approached the place, and they all retired higher up the hill. We saw, however, that at the beach or landing-place one man at least was hidden among some rocks, and never, so far as we could see, left that place. Our boat proceeded along shore, and the Indians followed her at a distance; when she came back the officer who was in her told me that in a cove, a little within the harbour, they came down to the beach and invited our people to land by many signs and words which he did not at all understand. All, however, were armed with long pikes and a wooden weapon made like a short scimitar. ​During this time, a few of the Indians who had not followed the boat remained on the rocks opposite the ship, threatening and menacing with their pikes and swords: two in particular, who were painted with white, their faces seemingly only dusted over with it, their bodies painted with broad strokes drawn over their breasts and backs, resembling much a soldier's cross-belt, and their legs and thighs also with broad strokes drawn round them, like broad garters or bracelets. Each of these held in his hand a wooden weapon about 2½ feet long, in shape much resembling a scimitar; the blades of these looked whitish, and some thought shining, insomuch that they were almost of opinion that they were made of some kind of metal; but I thought they were only wood smeared over with the white pigment with which they paint their bodies. These two seemed to talk earnestly together, at times brandishing their crooked weapons at us, as in token of defiance. By noon we were within the mouth of the inlet, which appeared to be very good. Under the south head of it were four small canoes, each containing one man, who held in his hand a long pole, with which he struck fish, venturing with his little embarkation almost into the surf. These people seemed to be totally engaged in what they were about: the ship passed within a quarter of a mile of them, and yet they scarcely lifted their eyes from their employment. I was almost inclined to think that, attentive to their business and deafened by the noise of the surf, they neither saw nor heard her go past.
We came to an anchor abreast of a small village consisting of six or eight houses. Soon after this an old woman, followed by three children, came out of the wood: she carried several pieces of stick, and the children also had their little burthens. When she came to the houses, three younger children came out of one of them to meet her. She often looked at the ship, but expressed neither surprise nor concern: she then lighted a fire, and the four canoes came ​in from fishing, the people landed, hauled up their boats and began to dress their dinner, to all appearance totally unmoved by us, though we were within little more than half a mile of them. On all these people whom we had seen so distinctly through our glasses, we had been unable to observe the least signs of clothing; myself, to the best of my judgment, plainly discerned that the women did not copy our mother Eve even in the fig-leaf.
After dinner the boats were manned, and we set out from the ship, intending to land at the place where we saw these people, hoping that as they regarded the ship's coming into the bay so little, they would as little regard our landing. We were in this, however, mistaken; for as soon as we approached the rocks two of the men came down, each armed with a lance about 10 feet long, and a short stick, which he seemed to handle as though it was a machine to throw the lance. They called to us very loudly in a harsh sounding language, of which neither we nor Tupia understood a word, shaking their lances and menacing; in all appearance resolved to dispute our landing to the utmost, though they were but two, and we thirty or forty at least. In this manner we parleyed with them for about a quarter of an hour, they waving to us to be gone; we again signing that we wanted water, and that we meant them no harm. They remained resolute: so a musket was fired over them, the effect of which was that the younger of the two dropped a bundle of lances on the rock the instant he heard the report. He, however, snatched them up again, and both renewed their threats and opposition. A musket loaded with small shot was now fired at the elder of the two, who was about forty yards from the boat; it struck him on the legs, but he minded it very little, so another was immediately fired at him. On this he ran up to the house, about a hundred yards distant, and soon returned with a shield. In the meantime we had landed on the rock. The man immediately threw a lance at us and the young man another, which fell among the thickest of us, but hurt nobody; two more muskets with small shot were then fired ​at them, whereupon the elder threw one more lance and ran away, as did the other. We went up to the houses, in one of which we found the children hidden behind the shield, and a piece of bark.
We were conscious, from the distance the people had been from us when we fired, that the shot could have done them no material harm; we therefore resolved to leave the children upon the spot without even opening their shelter; we therefore threw into the house to them some beads, ribbons, cloth, etc., as presents, and went away. We, however, thought it no improper measure to take away with us all the lances which we could find about the houses, amounting in number to forty or fifty. They varied in length from 6 to 15 feet. Both those which were thrown at us, and all we found, except one, had four prongs headed with very sharp fish bones, which were besmeared with a greenish-coloured gum, that at first gave me some suspicion of poison.
The people were blacker than any we have seen on the voyage, though by no means negroes; their beards were thick and bushy, and they seemed to have a redundancy of hair upon those parts of the body where it commonly grows. The hair of their heads was bushy and thick, but by no means woolly like that of a negro. They were of a common size, lean, and seemed active and nimble; their voices were coarse and strong. Upon examining the lances we had taken from them, we found that most of them had been used in striking fish; at least we concluded so from the seaweed which was found stuck in among the four prongs.
At night many moving lights were seen at different parts of the bay; such we had been used to see at the Islands, from hence we supposed that the people here strike fish in the same manner.
​1st May. The captain, Dr. Solander, and myself, and some of the people, making in all ten muskets, resolved to make an excursion into the country. We accordingly did so, and walked till we completely tired ourselves, which was in the evening; seeing by the way only one Indian, who ran from us as soon as he saw us. The soil, wherever we saw it, consisted of either swamps or light sandy soil, on which grew very few species of trees, one, which was large, yielding a gum much like Sanguis draconis; but every place was covered with vast quantities of grass. We saw many Indian houses, and places where they had slept upon the grass without the least shelter. In these we left beads, ribbons, etc. We saw one quadruped about the size of a rabbit. My greyhound just got sight of him, and instantly lamed himself against a stump which lay concealed in the long grass. We saw also the dung of a large animal that had fed on grass, much resembling that of a stag; also the footprints of an animal clawed like a dog or wolf, and as large as the latter, and of a small animal whose feet were like those of a polecat or weasel. The trees overhead abounded very much with loryquets and cockatoos, of which we shot several.
2nd. The morning was rainy, and we had already so many plants that we were well contented to find an excuse for staying on board to examine them a little. In the afternoon, however, it cleared up, and we returned to our old occupation of collecting, in which we had our usual good success. Tupia, who strayed from us in pursuit of parrots, of which he shot several, told us on his return that he had seen nine Indians, who ran from him as soon as they perceived him.
3rd. Our collection of plants was now grown so immensely large that it was necessary that some extraordinary care should be taken of them, lest they should spoil in the books. I therefore devoted this day to that business, and carried ashore all the drying paper, nearly 200 quires, of which the larger part was full, and spreading them upon a ​sail in the sun, kept them in this manner exposed the whole day, often turning them, and sometimes turning the quires in which were plants inside out. By this means they came on board at night in very good condition. During this time eleven canoes, in each of which was one Indian, came towards us: we soon saw that the people in them were employed in striking fish. They came within about half a mile of us, intent upon their own employments, and not at all regarding us. Opposite the place where they were several of our people were shooting: one Indian, prompted maybe by curiosity, landed, hauled up his canoe, and went towards them. He stayed about a quarter of an hour, and then launched his boat and went off. Probably that time had been spent behind the trees in watching to see what our people did. I could not find, however, that he was seen by anybody.
When the damp of the evening made it necessary to send my plants and books on board, I made a short excursion to shoot anything I could meet with, and found a large quantity of quails, much resembling our English ones, of which I might have killed as many almost as I pleased, had I given my time up to it; but my business was to kill variety, and not too many individuals of any one species. The captain and Dr. Solander employed the day in going in the pinnace into various parts of the harbour. They saw fires at several places, and people who all ran away at their approach with the greatest precipitation, leaving behind the shell-fish which they were cooking. Of this our gentlemen took advantage, eating what they found and leaving beads, ribands, etc., in return. They found also several trees which bore a fruit of the Jambosa kind, in colour and shape much resembling cherries. Of these they ate plentifully, and brought home also abundance, which we ate with pleasure, though they had little to recommend them but a slight acid.
4th. Myself in the woods, botanising as usual: now quite devoid of fear, as our neighbours have turned out such rank cowards. One of our midshipmen, straying by ​himself a long way from any one else, met by accident with a very old man and woman and some children. They were sitting under a tree, and neither party saw the other till they were close together. They showed signs of fear, but did not attempt to run away. The midshipman had nothing about him to give them but some parrots which he had shot. These they refused, drawing away when he offered them, in token either of extreme fear or disgust. The people were very old and gray-headed, the children young. The hair of the man was bushy about his head, and his beard long and rough: the woman's hair was cropped short round her head. They were very dark-coloured, but not black, nor was their hair woolly.
On our return to the ship we found also that our second lieutenant, who had gone out striking, had met with great success. He had observed that the large sting-rays, of which there are abundance in the bay, followed the flowing tide into very shallow water; he therefore took the opportunity, and struck several in not more than two or three feet of water. One that was larger than the rest weighed, when his guts were taken out, 239 lbs.
Our surgeon, who strayed a long way from the others, with one man in his company, in coming out of a thicket observed six Indians standing about sixty yards from him. One of these gave a signal by a word, whereupon a lance was thrown out of the wood at him, which, however, did not come very near him. The six Indians, on seeing that it had not taken effect, ran away in an instant, but on turning about towards the place from whence the lance came, he saw a young lad, who had undoubtedly thrown it, come down from a tree where he had been stationed, probably for that purpose. He descended, however, and ran away so quickly that it was impossible even to attempt to pursue him.
6th. Went to sea this morning with a fair breeze of wind. The land we sailed past during the whole forenoon appeared broken and likely for harbours. We dined to-day upon a sting-ray weighing 336 lbs., which was caught yesterday, ​and his tripe. The fish itself was not quite so good as a skate, nor was it much inferior. The tripe everybody thought excellent. We had it with a dish of the boiled leaves of Tetragonia cornuta, which eat as well, or very nearly as well, as spinach.
17th. About ten we were abreast of a large bay, the bottom of which was out of sight. The sea here suddenly changed from its usual transparency to a dirty clay colour, appearing much as if charged with freshes, from whence I was led to conclude that the bottom of the bay might open into a large river. About it were many smokes, especially on the northern side near some remarkable conical hills. At sunset the land made in one bank, over which nothing could be seen. It was very sandy, and carried with it no signs of fertility.
18th. Land this morning very sandy. We could see through our glasses that the sands, which lay in great patches of many acres each, were movable. Some of them had been lately moved, for trees which stood up in the middle of them were quite green. Others of a longer standing had many stumps sticking out of them, which had been trees killed by the sand heaping about their roots. Few fires were seen. Two water snakes swam by the ship. They were beautifully spotted, and in all respects like land snakes, except that they had broad flat tails, which probably serve them instead of fins in swimming.
22nd. In the course of the night the tide rose very considerably. We plainly saw with our glasses that the land was covered with palm-nut trees, Pandanus tectorius, which we had not seen since we left the islands within the tropics. Along shore we saw two men walking, who took no kind of notice of us.
23rd. Wind blew fresh off the land, so cold that our cloaks were very necessary in going ashore. When we landed, however, the sun soon recovered its influence, and made it sufficiently hot; in the afternoon intolerably so. We landed near the mouth of a large lagoon, which ran a good way ​into the country, and sent out a strong tide. Here we found a great variety of plants, several, however, the same as those we ourselves had before seen in the islands between the tropics, and others known to be natives of the East Indies, a sure mark that we were upon the point of leaving the southern temperate zone, and that for the future we must expect to meet with plants some of which, at least, had been before seen by Europeans. The soil in general was very sandy and dry; though it produced a large variety of plants, yet it was never covered with a thick verdure. Fresh water we saw none, but several swamps and bogs of salt water. In these, and upon the sides of the lagoons, grew many mangrove trees, in the branches of which were many nests of ants, of which one sort were quite green. These, when the branches were disturbed, came out in large numbers, and revenged themselves very sufficiently upon their disturbers, biting more sharply than any I have felt in Europe. The mangroves had also another trap which most of us fell into. This was a small kind of caterpillar, green and beset with many hairs, numbers of which sat together upon the leaves, ranged by the side of each other, like soldiers drawn up; twenty or thirty, perhaps, on one leaf. If these wrathful militia were touched ever so gently, they did not fail to make the person offending sensible of their anger, every hair in them stinging much as nettles do, but with a more acute, though less lasting, smart.
Upon the sides of the hills were many of the trees yielding a gum like Sanguis draconis. They differed, however, from those seen on the 1st of May, in having their leaves longer, and hanging down like those of the weeping willow. Notwithstanding that, I believe that they were of the same species. There was, however, much less gum upon them. Only one tree that I saw had any, contrary to all theory which teaches that the hotter a climate is the more gums exude. The same observation, however, held good in the plant yielding the yellow gum, of which, though we saw vast numbers, we did not see any that showed signs of gum ​On the shoals and sandbanks near the shore of the bay were many large birds, far larger than swans, which we judged to be pelicans; but they were so shy that we could not get within gun-shot of them. On the shore were many birds; one species of bustard, of which we shot a single bird, was as large as a good turkey. The sea seemed to abound in fish, but unfortunately, at the first haul, we tore our seine to pieces. On the mud-banks, under the mangrove trees, were innumerable oysters, hammer-oysters, and many more sorts, among which were a large proportion of small pearl-oysters. Whether the sea in deeper water might abound with as great a proportion of full-grown ones, we had not an opportunity to examine; but if it did, a pearl fishery here must turn out to immense advantage.
24th. At daybreak we went to sea. At dinner we ate the bustard we shot yesterday. It turned out an excellent bird, far the best, we all agreed, that we had eaten since we left England; and as it weighed fifteen pounds, our dinner was not only good but plentiful.
26th. We tried in the cabin to fish with hook and line, but the water was too shoal (three fathoms) for any fish. This want was, however, in some degree supplied by crabs, of which vast numbers were on the ground, who readily took our baits, and sometimes held them so fast with their claws, that they suffered themselves to be hauled into the ship. They were of two sorts, Cancer pelagicus, Linn, and another much like the former, but not so beautiful. The first was ornamented with the finest ultramarine blue conceivable, with which all his claws, and every joint, were deeply tinged. The under part was of a lovely white, shining as if glazed, and perfectly resembling the white of old china. The other had a little of the ultramarine on his joints and toes, and on his back three very remarkable brown spots.
In examining a fig which we had found at our last going ashore, we found in the fruit a Cynips, very like, if not exactly the same species as Cynips sycomori, Linn., described by Hasselquist in his Iter Palestinum, a strong proof of the fact that figs must be impregnated by means ​of insects, though indeed that fact wanted not any additional proofs.
29th. We went ashore and found several plants which we had not before seen; among them, however, were still more East Indian plants than in the last harbour; one kind of grass which we had also seen there was very troublesome to us. Its sharp seeds were bearded backwards, and whenever they stuck into our clothes were by these beards pushed forward till they got into the flesh. This grass was so plentiful that it was hardly possible to avoid it, and, with the mosquitos that were likewise innumerable, made walking almost intolerable. We were not, however, to be repulsed, but proceeded into the country. The gum-trees were like those in the last bay, both in leaf and in producing a very small proportion of gum; on the branches of them and other trees were large ants' nests, made of clay, as big as a bushel, something like those described in Sir Hans Sloane's History of Jamaica, vol. ii. pp. 221 to 258, but not so smooth. The ants also were small, and had white abdomens. In another species of tree, Xanthoxyloides mite, a small sort of black ant had bored all the twigs, and lived in quantities in the hollow part where the pith should be; the tree nevertheless flourishing and bearing leaves and flowers upon those very branches as freely and well as upon others that were sound. Insects in general were plentiful, butterflies especially. With one sort of these, much like P. Semele, Linn., the air was for the space of three or four acres crowded to a wonderful degree; the eye could not be turned in any direction without seeing millions, and yet every branch and twig was almost covered with those that sat still. Of these we took as many as we chose, knocking them down with our caps, or anything that came to hand. On the leaves of the gum-tree we found a pupa or chrysalis, which shone as brightly as if it had been silvered over with the most burnished silver, which it perfectly resembled. It was brought on board, and the next day came out into a butterfly of a velvet black changeable to blue; the wings, both upper and under, were marked near the edges with ​many brimstone-coloured spots, those of his under wings being indented deeply at each end.
We saw no fresh water, but several swamps of salt overgrown with mangroves; in these we found some species of shells, among them Trochus perspectivus, Linn. Here also was a very singular phenomenon in a small fish of which there were great abundance. It was about the size of an English minnow, and had two very strong breast fins; we often found it in quite dry places, where maybe it had been left by the tide. Upon seeing us it immediately fled from us, leaping as nimbly as a frog by means of the breast fins; nor did it seem to prefer water to land, for if seen in the water he often leaped out and proceeded on dry land, and when the water was filled with small stones standing above its surface, would leap from stone to stone rather than go into the water. In this manner I observed several pass over puddles of water and proceed on the other side leaping as before.
In the afternoon we went to the other side of the bay; if anything, the soil was rather better. In neither morning nor evening were there any traces of inhabitants ever having been where we were, except that here and there trees had been burnt down.
8th June. We passed within a quarter of a mile of a small islet or rock, on which we saw with our glasses about thirty men, women, and children standing all together, and looking attentively at us; the first people we have seen show any signs of curiosity at the sight of the ship.
10th. Just without us as we lay at anchor was a small sandy island lying upon a large coral shoal much resembling the low islands to the eastward of us, but the first of the kind we had met with in this part of the South Sea. Early in the morning we weighed and sailed as usual with a fine breeze along shore. While we were at supper she went over a bank of seven or eight fathoms of water, which she came upon very suddenly; this we concluded to be the tail of the shoals we had seen at sunset, and therefore went to bed in perfect security; but scarcely were we warm in our beds ​when we were called up with the alarming news of the ship being fast upon a rock, of which she in a few moments convinced us by beating very violently against it. Our situation became now greatly alarming; we had stood off shore three hours and a half with a pleasant breeze, so knew we could not be very near it. We were little less than certain that we were upon sunken coral rocks, the most dreadful of all, on account of their sharp points and grinding quality, which cut through a ship's bottom almost immediately. The officers, however, behaved with inimitable coolness, free from all hurry and confusion. A boat was got out in which the master went, and after sounding round the ship found that she had run over a rock, and consequently had shoal water all round her. All this time she continued to beat very much, so that we could hardly keep our legs upon the quarter-deck. By the light of the moon we could see her sheathing-boards, etc., floating thickly around her, and about twelve her false keel came away.
11th. In the meanwhile all kind of preparations were making for carrying out anchors, but by reason of the time it took to hoist out boats, etc., the tide ebbed so much that we found it impossible to attempt to get her off till next high water, if she would hold together so long. We now found to add to our misfortune that we had got ashore nearly at the top of high water; and as night tides generally rise higher than the day ones we had little hopes of getting off even then. For our comfort, however, the ship as the tide ebbed settled to the rocks, and did not beat nearly so much as she had done. A rock, however, under her starboard bow kept grating her bottom, making a noise very plainly to be heard in the fore store-rooms; this we doubted not would make a hole; we only hoped that it might not let in more water than we could clear with our pumps.
In this situation day broke upon us and showed us the land about eight leagues off, as we judged; nearer than that was no island or place where we could set foot. Day, however, brought with it a decrease of wind, and soon after that a flat calm, the most fortunate circumstance that could ​possibly attend people in our circumstances. The tide we found had fallen two feet and still continued to fall; anchors were, however, got out and laid ready for heaving as soon as the tide should rise, but to our great surprise we could not observe it to rise in the least.
Orders were now given for lightening the ship, which was begun by starting our water and pumping it up; the ballast was then got up and thrown overboard as well as six of our guns (all that we had upon deck). The seamen worked with surprising cheerfulness and alacrity: no grumbling or growling was to be heard throughout the ship, not even an oath (though the ship was in general as well furnished with them as most in His Majesty's service). By about one o'clock the water had fallen so low that the pinnace touched ground as it lay under the ship's bows ready to take in an anchor. After this the tide began to rise, and as it rose the ship worked violently upon the rocks, so that by two she began to make water, which increased very fast. At night the tide almost floated her, but she made water so fast that three pumps hard worked could only just keep her clear, and the fourth absolutely refused to deliver a drop of water. Now, in my opinion, I entirely gave up the ship, and packing up what I thought I might save prepared myself for the worst.
The most critical part of our distress now approached; the ship was almost afloat and everything ready to get her into deep water, but she leaked so fast that with all our pumps we could only just keep her free. If (as was probable) she should make more water when hauled off she must sink, and we well knew that our boats were not capable of carrying us all ashore, so that some, probably most of us, must be drowned. A better fate, maybe, than those would have who should get ashore without arms to defend themselves from the Indians or provide themselves with food, in a country where we had not the least reason to hope for subsistence, so barren had we always found it, and, had they even met with good usage from the natives and food to support them, debarred from the hope of ever again seeing their native ​country or conversing with any but savages, perhaps the most uncivilised in the world.
The dreadful time now approached, and the anxiety in everybody's countenance was visible enough. The capstan and windlass were manned, and they began to heave; the fear of death now stared us in the face; hopes we had none but of being able to keep the ship afloat till we could run her ashore on some part of the main where out of her materials we might build a vessel large enough to carry us to the East Indies. At ten o'clock she floated, and was in a few minutes hauled into deep water, where to our great satisfaction she made no more water than she had done, which was indeed full as much as we could manage, though there was no one in the ship but who willingly exerted his utmost strength.
The people who had been twenty-four hours at exceedingly hard work now began to flag; I myself, unused to labour, was much fatigued, and had lain down to take a little rest when I was awakened about twelve with the alarming news of the water having gained so much upon the pumps that the ship had four feet of water in her hold. Add to this that a regular land breeze blew off the coast, so that all hopes of running her ashore were totally cut off. This, however, acted upon every one like a charm: rest was no more thought of, but the pumps went with unwearied vigour till the water was all out, which was done in a much shorter time than was expected; and upon examination it was found that she never had half so much water in her as was thought, the carpenter having made a mistake in sounding the pumps.
We now began to have some hopes, and talked of getting the ship into some harbour when we could spare hands from the pumps to get up our anchors; one bower, however, we cut away, but got up the other and three small anchors, far more valuable to us than the bowers, as we were obliged immediately to warp her to windward that we might take advantage of the sea breeze to run in-shore.
One of our midshipmen now proposed an expedient which ​no one else in the ship had seen practised, though all had heard of it by the name of fothering a ship, by means of which he said he had come home from America in a ship which made more water than we did. Nay, so sure was the master of that ship of his expedient that he took her out of harbour knowing how much water she had made, and trusting entirely to it. The midshipman immediately set to work with four or five assistants to prepare his fother, which he did thus. He took a lower studding sail, and having mixed together a large quantity of finely chopped oakum and wool, he stitched it down upon the sail as loosely as possible in small bundles about as big as his fist; these were ranged in rows four or five inches from each other. This was to be sunk under the ship. The theory of it was that wherever the leak was there must be a great suction which would probably catch hold of one or other of these lumps of oakum and wool and, drawing it in, either partly or entirely stop up the hole. While this work was going on the water rather gained on those who were pumping, which made all hands impatient for the trial. In the afternoon the ship was got under way with a gentle breeze of wind, and stood in for the land. Soon after the fother was finished, and applied by fastening ropes to each corner, then sinking the sail under the ship, and with these ropes drawing it as far backwards as we could. In about a quarter of an hour, to our great surprise, the ship was pumped dry, and upon letting the pumps stand she was found to make very little water, so much beyond our most sanguine expectations had this singular expedient succeeded. At night we came to an anchor, the fother still keeping her almost clear, so that we were in an instant raised from almost despondency to the greatest hopes. We were now almost too sanguine, talking of nothing but of getting her into some harbour where we might lay her ashore and repair her, or if we could not find such a place we little doubted of being able by repeated fotherings to carry her quite to the East Indies.
During the whole time of this distress, I must say for the credit of our people that I believe every man exerted his ​utmost for the preservation of the ship, contrary to what I have universally heard to be the behaviour of seamen, who commonly, as soon as a ship is in a desperate situation, begin to plunder and refuse all command. This was no doubt owing to the cool and steady conduct of the officers, who, during the whole time, never gave an order which did not show them to be perfectly composed and unmoved by the circumstances, however dreadful they might appear.
14th. The captain and I went ashore to view a harbour, and found it indeed beyond our most sanguine wishes. It was the mouth of a river, the entrance of which was, to be sure, narrow enough and shallow, but when once in, the ship might be moved afloat so near the shore, that by a stage from her to it all her cargo might be got out and in again in a very short time. In this same place she might be hove down with all ease, but the beach showed signs of the tides rising in the springs six or seven feet, which was more than enough to do our business without that trouble.
16th. Tupia had for the last few days bad gums, which were very soon followed by livid spots on his legs and every symptom of inveterate scurvy. Notwithstanding acid, bark, and every medicine our surgeon could give him, he became now extremely ill. Mr. Green, the astronomer, was also in a very poor way, which made everybody in the cabin very desirous of getting ashore, and impatient at our tedious delays.
17th. Weather a little less rough than it had been the last few days; weighed and brought the ship in, but in doing so ran her ashore twice by the narrowness of the channel; the second time she remained till the tide lifted her off. In the meantime Dr. Solander and I began our plant-gathering. In the evening the ship was moored within twenty feet of the shore, afloat, and before night much lumber was got out of her.
18th. A stage built from the ship much facilitated our undertakings. In walking about the country I saw the old frames of Indian houses, and places where they had dressed ​shell-fish in the same manner as the islanders, but no signs that they had been at the place for six months at least. The country in general was sandy between the hills, and barren, which made walking very easy. Mosquitos there were but few, a piece of good fortune in a place where we were likely to remain some time. Tupia, who had employed himself since we were here in angling, and had lived entirely on what he caught, was surprisingly recovered; poor Mr. Green still very ill. Weather blowing hard with showers; had we not got in yesterday we certainly could not have done so to-day.
* ↑ This paragraph, if not the whole of this discussion, has evidently been introduced (by Banks himself) after having visited the Cape.
* ↑ See footnote, p. 15.
* ↑ To the southward of Cape Howe. The most southerly land seen was by Captain Cook called Point Hicks. It is not a point, but a hill, still called Point Hicks Hill (Wharton's Cook, p. 237, note).
* ↑ A boomerang.
* ↑ Botany Bay. It was Banks who, on his return to England, recommended the Government to form a penal settlement at this spot.
* ↑ A species of Eucalyptus, or gum tree.
* ↑ Moreton Bay.
* ↑ The Glass Houses.
* ↑ Bustard Bay.
* ↑ Eucalypti.
* ↑ Xanthorrhœa: it has not been mentioned before.
* ↑ Endeavour River.