A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 13 by Robert Kerr

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Early on the 24th the carpenters began to repair the sheathing under the
larboard bow, where we found two planks cut about half through; and in
the mean time I sent a party of men, under the direction of Mr Gore, in
search, of refreshments for the sick: This party returned about noon
with a few palm cabbages, and a bunch or two of wild plantain; the
plantains were the smallest I had ever seen, and the pulp, though it was
well tasted, was full of small stones. As I was walking this morning at
a little distance from the ship, I saw myself one of the animals which
had been so often described; it was of a light mouse-colour, and in size
and shape very much resembling a greyhound; it had a long tail also,
which it carried like a greyhound; and I should have taken it for a
wild-dog, if, instead of running, it had not leapt like a hare or deer:
Its legs were said to be very slender, and the print of its foot to be
like that of a goat; but where I saw it the grass was so high that the
legs were concealed, and the ground was too hard to receive the track.
Mr Banks also had an imperfect view of this animal, and was of opinion
that its species was hitherto unknown.[83]

[Footnote 83: It is almost superfluous to tell any reader now that the
animal mentioned is the kangaroo, of which specimens are to be seen in
nearly every travelling collection of wild beasts.--E.]

After the ship was hauled ashore, all the water that came into her of
course went backwards; so that although she was dry forwards, she had
nine feet water abaft: As in this part therefore her bottom could not be
examined on the inside, I took the advantage of the tide being out this
evening to get the master and two of the men to go under her, and
examine her whole larboard side without. They found the sheathing gone
about the floor-heads abreast of the main-mast, and part of a plank a
little damaged; but all agreed that she had received no other material
injury. The loss of her sheathing alone was a great misfortune, as the
worm would now be let into her bottom, which might expose us to great
inconvenience and danger; but as I knew no remedy for the mischief but
heaving her down, which would be a work of immense labour and long time,
if practicable at all in our present situation, I was obliged to be
content. The carpenters however continued to work under her bottom in
the evening till they were prevented by the tide; the morning tide did
not ebb out far enough to permit them to work at all, for we had only
one tolerable high and low tide in four-and-twenty hours, as indeed we
had experienced when we lay upon the rock. The position of the ship,
which threw the water in her abaft, was very near depriving the world of
all the knowledge which Mr Banks had endured so much labour, and so many
risks, to procure; for he had removed the curious collection of plants
which he made during the whole voyage into the bread-room, which lies in
the after-part of the ship, as a place of the greatest security; and
nobody having thought of the danger to which laying her head so much
higher than the stem would expose them, they were this day found under
water. Most of them however were, by indefatigable care and attention,
restored to a state of preservation, but some were entirely spoilt and
destroyed.

The 25th was employed in filling water and overhauling the rigging, and
at low-water the carpenters finished the repairs under the larboard bow,
and every other place which the tide would permit them to come at; some
casks were then lashed under her bows to facilitate her floating, and at
night, when it was high water, we endeavoured to heave her off, but
without success, for some of the casks that were lashed to her gave way.

The morning of the 26th was employed in getting more casks ready for the
same purpose, and in the afternoon we lashed no less than
eight-and-thirty under the ship's bottom, but to our great mortification
these also proved ineffectual, and we found ourselves reduced to the
necessity of waiting till the next spring-tide.

This day some of our gentlemen who had made an excursion into the woods,
brought home the leaves of a plant which was thought to be the same that
in the West Indies is called coccos; but upon trial the roots proved too
acrid to be eaten; the leaves, however, were little inferior to
spinnage. In the place where these plants were gathered, grew plenty of
the cabbage trees which have occasionally been mentioned before, a kind
of wild plantain, the fruit of which was so full of stones as scarcely
to be eatable; another fruit was also found about the size of a small
golden pippin, but flatter, and of a deep purple colour: When first
gathered from the tree, it was very hard and disagreeable, but after
being kept a few days became soft, and tasted very much like an
indifferent damascene.

The next morning we began to move some of the weight from the after-part
of the ship forward, to ease her; in the mean time the armourer
continued to work at the forge, the carpenter was busy in caulking the
ship, and the men employed in filling water and overhauling the rigging:
In the forenoon, I went myself in the pinnace up the harbour, and made
several hauls with the seine, but caught only between twenty and thirty
fish, which were given to the sick and convalescent.

On the 28th, Mr Banks went with some of the seamen up the country, to
shew them the plant which in the West Indies is called Indian kale, and
which served us for greens. Tupia had much meliorated the root of the
coccos, by giving them a long dressing in his country oven, but they
were so small that we did not think them an object for the ship. In
their walk they found one tree which had been notched for the
convenience of climbing it, in the same manner with those, we had seen
in Botany Bay: They saw also many nests of white ants, which resemble
those of the East Indies, the most pernicious insects in the world. The
nests were of a pyramidical figure, from a few inches to six feet high,
and very much resembled the stones in England, which are said to be
monuments of the Druids. Mr Gore who was also this day four or five
miles up the country, reported that he had seen the footsteps of men,
and tracked animals of three or four different sorts, but had not been
fortunate enough to see either man or beast.

At two o'clock in the morning of the 20th, I observed, in conjunction
with Mr Green, an emersion of Jupiter's first satellite; the time here
was 2h 18' 53", which gave the longitude of this place 214 deg. 42' 30" W.;
its latitude is 15 deg. 26' S. At break of day, I sent the boat out again
with the seine, and in the afternoon it returned with as much fish as
enabled me to give every man a pound and a half. One of my midshipmen,
an American, who was this day abroad with his gun, reported that he had
seen a wolf, exactly like those which he had been used to see in his own
country, and that he had shot at it, but did not kill it.

The next morning, encouraged by the success of the day before, I sent
the boat again to haul the seine, and another party to gather greens: I
sent also some of the young gentlemen to take a plan of the harbour, and
went myself upon a hill, which lies over the south point, to take a view
of the sea. At this time it was low water, and I saw, with great
concern, innumerable sand-banks and shoals lying all along the coast in
every direction. The innermost lay about three or four miles from the
shore, the outermost extended as far as I could see with my glass, and
many of them did but just rise above water. There was some appearance of
a passage to the northward, and I had no hope of getting clear but in
that direction, for as the wind blows constantly from the S.E., it would
have been difficult, if not impossible, to return back to the southward.

Mr Gore reported that he had this day seen two animals like dogs, of a
straw colour, that they ran like a hare, and were about the same size.
In the afternoon, the people returned from hauling the seine, with still
better success than before, for I was now able to distribute two pounds
and an half to each man: The greens that had been gathered I ordered to
be boiled among the peas, and they made an excellent mess, which, with
copious supplies of fish, afforded us unspeakable refreshment.

The next day, July the 1st, being Sunday, every body had liberty to go
ashore, except one from each mess, who were again sent out with the
seine. The seine was again equally successful, and the people who went
up the country gave an account of having seen several animals, though
none of them were to be caught. They saw a fire also about a mile up the
river, and Mr Gore, the second lieutenant, picked up the husk of a
cocoa-nut, which had been cast upon the beach, and was full of
barnacles: This probably might come from some island to windward,
perhaps from the Terra del Espirito Santo of Quiros, as we were now in
the latitude where it is said to lie. This day the thermometer in the
shade rose to 87, which was higher than it had been on any day since we
came upon this coast.

Early the next morning, I sent the master in the pinnace out of the
harbour, to sound about the shoals in the offing, and look for a channel
to the northward: At this time we had a breeze from the land, which
continued till about nine o'clock, and was the first we had since our
coming into the river. At low water we lashed some empty casks under the
ship's bows, having some hope that as the tides were rising she would
float the next high water. We still continued to fish with great
success, and at high water we again attempted to heave the ship off, but
our utmost efforts were still ineffectual.

The next day at noon the master returned, and reported that he had found
a passage out to sea between the shoals, and described its situation.
The shoals, he said, consisted of coral rocks, many of which were dry at
low water, and upon one of which he had been ashore. He found here some
cockles of so enormous a size, that one of them was more than two men
could eat, and a great variety of other shell-fish, of which he brought
us a plentiful supply: In the evening he had also landed in a bay about
three leagues to the northward of our station, where he disturbed some
of the natives who were at supper; they all fled with the greatest
precipitation at his approach, leaving some fresh sea-eggs, and a fire
ready kindled, behind them, but there was neither house nor hovel near
the place. We observed that although the shoals that lie just within
sight of the coast, abound with shell-fish, which may be easily caught
at low water; yet we saw no such shells about the fire-places on shore.
This day an allegator was seen to swim about us for some time; and at
high water we made another effort to float the ship, which happily
succeeded: We found however that by lying so long with her head
a-ground, and her stern a-float, she had sprung a plank between decks,
a-breast of the main-chains, so that it was become necessary to lay her
ashore again.

The next morning was employed in trimming her upon an even keel, and in
the afternoon, having warped her over, and waited for high water, we
laid her ashore on the sandbank on the south side of the river; for the
damage she had received already from the great descent of the ground,
made me afraid to lay her broad-side to the shore in the same place from
which we had just floated her. I was now very desirous to make another
trial to come at her bottom, where the sheathing had been rubbed off,
but though she had scarcely four feet water under her, when the tide was
out, yet that part was not dry.

On the 5th, I got one of the carpenter's crew, a man in whom I could
confide, to go down again to the ship's bottom, and examine the place.
He reported, that three streaks of the sheathing, about eight feet long,
were wanting, and that the main plank had been a little rubbed. This
account perfectly agreed with the report of the master, and others, who
had been under her bottom before: I had the comfort, however, to find
the carpenter of opinion that this would be of little consequence, and
therefore, the other damage being repaired, she was again floated at
high water, and moored alongside the beach, where the stores had been
deposited; we then went to work to take the stores on board, and put her
in a condition for the sea. This day, Mr Banks crossed to the other side
of the harbour, where, as he walked along a sandy beach, he found
innumerable fruits, and many of them such as no plants which he had
discovered in this country produced: Among others were some cocoa-nuts,
which Tupia said had been opened by a kind of crab, which from his
description we judged to be the same that the Dutch call _Beurs Krabbe_,
and which we had not seen in these seas. All the vegetable substances
which he found in this place were encrusted with marine productions, and
covered with barnacles; a sure sign that they must have come far by sea,
and, as the trade-wind blows right upon the shore, probably from Terra
del Espirito Santo, which has been mentioned already.

The next morning, Mr Banks, with Lieutenant Gore, and three men, set out
in a small boat up the river, with a view to spend two or three days in
an excursion, to examine the country, and kill some of the animals which
had been so often seen at a distance.

On the 7th, I sent the master again out to sound about the shoals, the
account which he had brought me of the channel being by no means
satisfactory; and we spent the remainder of this day, and the morning of
the next, in fishing, and other necessary occupations.

About four o'clock in the afternoon, Mr Banks and his party returned,
and gave us an account of their expedition. Having proceeded about three
leagues among swamps and mangroves, they went up into the country, which
they found to differ but little from what they had seen before: They
pursued their course therefore up the river, which at length was
contracted into a narrow channel, and was bounded, not by swamps and
mangroves, but by steep banks, that were covered with trees of a most
beautiful verdure, among which was that which in the West Indies is
called _Mohoe_, or the bark tree, the _hibiscus tiliaceus_; the land
within was in general low, and had a thick covering of long grass: The
soil seemed to be such as promised great fertility to any who should
plant and improve it. In the course of the day, Tupia saw an animal,
which, by his description, Mr Banks judged to be a wolf: They also saw
three other animals, but could neither catch nor kill one of them, and a
kind of bat, as large, as a partridge, but this also eluded all their
diligence and skill. At night, they took up their lodging close to the
banks of the river, and made a fire, but the musquitos swarmed about
them in such numbers, that their quarters were almost untenable: They
followed them into the smoke, and almost into the fire, which, hot as
the climate was, they could better endure than the stings of these
insects, which were an intolerable torment. The fire, the flies, and the
want of a better bed than the ground, rendered the night extremely
uncomfortable, so that they passed it not in sleep, but in restless
wishes for the return of day. With the first dawn they set out in search
of game, and in a walk of many miles, they saw four animals of the same
kind, two of which Mr Banks's greyhound fairly chaced, but they threw
him out at a great distance, by leaping over the long thick grass, which
prevented his running: This animal was observed not to run upon four
legs, but to bound or hop forward upon two, like the _Jerbua_, or _Mus
Jaculus_. About noon, they returned to the boat, and again proceeded up
the river, which was soon contracted into a fresh-water brook, where,
however, the tide rose to a considerable height. As evening approached,
it became low water, and it was then so shallow that they were obliged
to get out of the boat and drag her along, till they could find a place
in which they might, with some hope of rest, pass the night. Such a
place at length offered, and while they were getting the things out of
the boat, they observed a smoke at the distance of about a furlong: As
they did not doubt but that some of the natives, with whom they had so
long and earnestly desired to become personally acquainted, were about
the fire, three of the party went immediately towards it, hoping that so
small a number would not put them to flight: When they came up to the
place, however, they found it deserted, and therefore they conjectured,
that before they had discovered the Indians, the Indians had discovered
them. They found the fire still burning, in the hollow of an old tree
that was become touch-wood, and several branches of trees newly broken
down, with which children had been playing: They observed also many
footsteps upon the sand, below high-water mark, which were certain
indications that the Indians had been recently upon the spot. Several
houses were found at a little distance, and some ovens dug in the
ground, in the same manner as those of Otaheite, in which victuals
appeared to have been dressed since the morning; and scattered about
them, lay some shells of a kind of clamm, and some fragments of roots,
the refuse of the meal. After regretting their disappointment, they
repaired to their quarters, which was a broad sand-bank, under the
shelter of a bush. Their beds were plantain leaves, which they spread
upon the sand, and which were as soft as a mattress; their cloaks served
them for bed-clothes, and some bunches of grass for pillows: With these
accommodations they hoped to pass a better night than the last,
especially as, to their great comfort, not a musquito was to be seen.
Here then they lay down, and, such is the force of habit, they resigned
themselves to sleep, without once reflecting upon the probability and
danger of being found by the Indians in that situation. If this appears
strange, let us for a moment reflect, that every danger, and every
calamity, after a time becomes familiar, and loses its effect upon the
mind. If it were possible that a man should first be made acquainted
with his mortality, or even with the inevitable debility and infirmities
of old age, when his understanding had arrived at its full strength, and
life was endeared by the enjoyments of youth, and vigour, and health,
with what an agony of terror and distress would the intelligence be
received! yet, being gradually acquainted with these mournful truths, by
insensible degrees, we scarce know when, they lose all their force, and
we think no more of the approach of old age and death, than these
wanderers of an unknown desert did of a less obvious and certain evil,
the approach of the native savages, at a time when they must have fallen
an easy prey to their malice or their fears. And it is remarkable, that
the greater part of those who have been condemned to suffer a violent
death, have slept the night immediately preceding their execution,
though there is perhaps no instance of a person accused of a capital
crime having slept the first night of his confinement. Thus is the evil
of life in some degree a remedy for itself, and though every man at
twenty deprecates fourscore, almost every man is as tenacious of life at
fourscore as at twenty; and if he does not suffer under any painful
disorder, loses as little of the comforts that remain by reflecting that
he is upon the brink of the grave, where the earth already crumbles
under his feet, as he did of the pleasures of his better days, when his
dissolution, though certain, was supposed to be at a distance.[84]

[Footnote 84: The reader will receive this hypothetical statement as he
finds it agreeable, or not, to his own experience,--a better guide, in
all probability, than mere philosophy. The writer has his doubts upon
the subject. But let every one judge for himself. For his part, he is
convinced that frequent contemplation of death, though it certainly aids
the mind in reasoning about it, does not lessen the apprehension of it,
but the reverse: so that, did not _some peculiar principle_ come to his
aid, and seem indeed to acquire continually more clearness and
efficiency, his distress or uneasy feeling would be much heightened by
the exercise. But he sees no reason either to expect, or to wish, that
it may be ever otherwise with him; for he is persuaded, that much of
man's dignity and welfare consists in his seeing things just as they
are, without any disguise or delusion; and that whatever death really
is, there is an infallible remedy provided against its greatest terrors,
to which he can always have recourse. So far, on the other hand, as his
observation on others, which has not been small, extends, he would
notice, that, on the whole, young persons die more easily than the aged;
he means, they submit to that event, when really imminent, with more
apparent tranquillity, though, when at a distance, they are much less
disposed either to think or to speak about it. It will not be easy to
reconcile these two facts with the reasoning in the text. But to be
sure, a wider induction is requisite for the establishment of any
theory. This is not the place for it. The instances adduced by Dr H. in
support of his theory, are explicable on another principle, viz. that
every excitement of mind or body is followed by a depression precisely
proportioned to its intensity. This seems a law in our economy,
deducible from almost unlimited observation, and of extreme importance,
both in point of fact, and as a principle for discussion. Before ending
this note, it is suggested to the reader, to consult, on the subjects of
it, his own heart and mind, in preference to all the books ever written,
_save one_. If that one enforce the dictates promulgated within, and at
the same time minister consolation, he will smile at philosophy, and
gain the best victory over the fear of death. To him then,
notwithstanding every outward difficulty to which he can possibly be
exposed, and all that inward strife and humiliation which he cannot but
experience, the words of Cowper will be expressively applicable:--

"Therefore in Contemplation is his bliss,
Whose power is such, that whom she lifts from earth
She makes familiar with a heaven unseen,
And shows him glories yet to be revealed."

But this is a mystery!--E.]

Our travellers having slept, without once awaking, till the morning,
examined the river, and finding the tide favoured their return, and the
country promised nothing worthy of a farther search, they re-embarked in
their boat, and made the best of their way to the ship.

Soon after the arrival of this party, the master also returned, having
been seven leagues out to sea, and he was now of opinion that there was
no getting out where before, he thought there had been a passage: His
expedition, however, was by no means without its advantage; for having
been a second time upon the rock where he had seen the large cockles, he
met with a great number of turtle, three of which he caught, that
together weighed seven hundred and ninety-one pounds, though he had no
better instrument than a boat-hook.

The next morning, therefore, I sent him out again, with proper
instruments for taking them, and Mr Banks went with him; but the success
did not at all answer our expectations, for, by the unaccountable
conduct of the officer, not a single turtle was taken, nor could he be
persuaded to return: Mr Banks, however, went ashore upon the reef, where
he saw several of the large cockles, and having collected many shells
and marine productions, he returned at eleven o'clock at night in his
own small boat, the master still continuing with the large one upon the
rock. In the afternoon, seven or eight of the natives had appeared on
the south side of the river, and two of them came down to the sandy
point, opposite to the ship; but upon seeing me put off in a boat to
speak with them, they all ran away with the greatest precipitation.

As the master continued absent with the boat all night, I was forced to
send the second lieutenant for him early the next morning in the yawl;
and soon after, four of the natives appeared upon the sandy point, on
the north side of the river, having with them a small wooden canoe, with
out-riggers: They seemed for some time to be busily employed in striking
fish. Some of our people were for going over to them in a boat, but this
I would by no means permit, repeated experience having convinced me that
it was more likely to prevent, than procure an interview. I was
determined to try what could be done by a contrary method, and
accordingly let them alone, without appearing to take the least notice
of them: This succeeded so well, that at length two of them came in the
canoe within a musket-shot of the ship, and there talked a great deal in
a very loud tone. We understood nothing that they said, and therefore
could answer their harangue only by shouting, and making all the signs
of invitation and kindness that we could devise. During this conference,
they came, insensibly, nearer and nearer, holding up their lances, not
in a threatening manner, but as if to intimate that if we offered them
any injury, they had weapons to revenge it. When they were almost
along-side of us, we threw them some cloth, nails, beads, paper, and
other trifles, which they received without the least appearance of
satisfaction: At last, one of the people happened to throw them a small
fish; at this they expressed the greatest joy imaginable, and
intimating, by signs, that they would fetch their companions,
immediately paddled away towards the shore. In the mean time some of our
people, and among them Tupia, landed on the opposite side of the river.
The canoe, with all the four Indians, very soon returned to the ship,
and came quite along-side, without expressing any fear or distrust. We
distributed some more presents among them, and soon after they left us,
and landed on the same side of the river where our people had gone
ashore: Every man carried in his hand two lances, and a stick, which is
used in throwing them, and advanced to the place where Tupia and the
rest of our people were sitting. Tupia soon prevailed upon them to lay
down their arms, and come forward without them: He then made signs that
they should sit down by him, with which they complied, and seemed to be
under no apprehension or constraint: Several more of us then going
ashore, they expressed some jealousy lest we should get between them and
their arms; we took care, however, to shew them that we had no such
intention, and having joined them, we made them some more presents, as a
farther testimony of our good-will, and our desire to obtain theirs. We
continued together, with the utmost cordiality, till dinner-time, and
then giving them to understand that we were going to eat, we invited
them, by signs, to go with us: This, however, they declined, and as soon
as we left them, they went away in their canoe. One of these men was
somewhat above the middle age, the other three were young; they were in
general of the common stature, but their limbs were remarkably small;
their skin was of the colour of wood soot, or what would be called a
dark chocolate colour; their hair was black, but not woolly; it was
short cropped, in some lank, and in others curled. Dampier says, that
the people whom he saw on the western coast of this country wanted two
of their fore-teeth, but these had no such defect. Some part of their
bodies had been painted red, and the upper-lip and breast of one of them
was painted with streaks of white, which he called _Carbanda_; their
features were far from disagreeable, their eyes were lively, and their
teeth even and white; their voices were soft and tunable, and they
repeated many words after us with great facility. In the night, Mr Gore
and the master returned with the long-boat, and brought one turtle and a
few shell-fish. The yawl had been left upon the shoal with six men, to
make a farther trial for turtle.