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

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

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The next morning, we had another visit from four of the natives; three
of them had been with us before, but the fourth was a stranger, whose
name, as we learnt from his companions who introduced him, was
_Yaparico_. This gentleman was distinguished by an ornament of a very
striking appearance: It was the bone of a bird, nearly as thick as a
man's finger, and five or six inches long, which he had thrust into a
hole made in the gristle that divides the nostrils. Of this we had seen
one instance, and only one, in New Zealand; but upon examination, we
found that among all these people this part of the nose was perforated,
to receive an ornament of the same kind: They had also holes in their
ears, though nothing was then hanging to them, and had bracelets upon
the upper part of their arms, made of plaited hair; so that, like the
inhabitants of Terra del Fuego, they seem to be fond of ornament, though
they are absolutely without apparel; and one of them, to whom I had
given part of an old shirt, instead of throwing it over any part of his
body, tied it as a fillet round his head. They brought with them a fish,
which they gave us, as we supposed, in return for the fish that we had
given them the day before. They seemed to be much pleased, and in no
haste to leave us; but seeing some of our gentlemen examine their canoe
with great curiosity and attention, they were alarmed, and jumping
immediately into it, paddled away without speaking a word.

About two the next morning, the yawl, which had been left upon the
shoal, returned, with three turtles and a large skeat. As it seemed now
probable that this fishery might be prosecuted with advantage, I sent
her out again, after breakfast, for a further supply. Soon after, three
Indians ventured down to Tupia's tent, and were so well pleased with
their reception, that one of them went with the canoe to fetch two
others whom we had never seen: When he returned, he introduced the
strangers by name, a ceremony which, upon such occasions, was never
omitted. As they had received the fish that was thrown into their canoe,
when they first approached the ship, with so much pleasure, some fish
was offered to them now, and we were greatly surprised to see that it
was received with the greatest indifference: They made signs, however,
to some of the people, that they should dress it for them, which was
immediately done, but after eating a little of it, they threw the rest
to Mr Banks's dog. They staid with us all the forenoon, but would never
venture above twenty yards from their canoe. We now perceived that the
colour of their skin was not so dark as it appeared, what we had taken
for their complexion, being the effects of dirt and smoke, in which, we
imagined, they contrived to sleep, notwithstanding the heat of the
climate, as the only means in their power to keep off the musquitos.
Among other things that we had given them when we first saw them, were
some medals, which we had hung round their necks by a ribband; and these
ribbands were so changed by smoke, that we could not easily distinguish
of what colour they had been: This incident led us more narrowly to
examine the colour of their skin. While these people were with us, we
saw two others on the point of land that lay on the opposite side of the
river, at the distance of about two hundred yards, and by our glasses
discovered them to be a woman and a boy; the woman, like the rest, being
stark naked. We observed, that all of them were remarkably clean-limbed,
and exceedingly active and nimble. One of these strangers had a necklace
of shells, very prettily made, and a bracelet upon his arm, formed of
several strings, so as to resemble what in England is called gymp: Both
of them had a piece of bark tied over the forehead, and were disfigured
by the bone in the nose. We thought their language more harsh than that
of the islanders in the South Sea, and they were continually repeating
the word _chercau_, which we imagined to be a term expressing
admiration, by the manner in which it was uttered: They also cried out,
when they saw any thing new, _Cher, tut, tut, tut, tut_! which probably
had a similar signification. Their canoe was not above ten feel long,
and very narrow, but it was fitted with an outrigger, much like those of
the islands, though in every respect very much inferior: When it was in
shallow water, they set it on with poles, and when in deep, they worked
it with paddles about four feet long: It contained just four people, so
that the people who visited us to-day went away at two turns. Their
lances were like those that we had seen in Botany Bay, except that they
had but a single point, which in some of them was the sting of the ray,
and barbed with two or three sharp bones of the same fish: It was indeed
a most terrible weapon, and the instrument which they used in throwing
it, seemed to be formed with more art than any we had seen before. About
twelve o'clock next day, the yawl returned, with another turtle, and a
large sting-ray, and in the evening, was sent out again.

The next morning, two of the Indians came on board, but after a short
stay, went along the shore, and applied themselves with great diligence
to the striking of fish. Mr Gore, who went out this day with his gun,
had the good fortune to kill one of the animals which had been so much
the subject of our speculation. This animal is called by the natives
_Kangaroo_. The next day it was dressed for dinner, and proved most
excellent meat; we might now indeed be said to fare sumptuously every
day, for we had turtle in great plenty, and we all agreed that they were
much better than any we had tasted in England, which we imputed to their
being eaten fresh from the sea, before their natural fat had been
wasted, or their juices changed by a diet and situation so different
from what the sea affords them, as garbage and a tub. Most of those that
we caught here, were of the kind called green turtle, and weighed from
two to three hundred weight, and when these were killed, they were
always found to be full of turtle-grass which our naturalists took to be
a kind of _conferva_: Two of them were loggerheads, the flesh of which
was much less delicious, and in their stomachs nothing was to be found
but shells.

In the morning of the 16th, while the people were employed as usual in
getting the ship ready for the sea, I climbed one of the hills on the
north side of the river, from which I had an extensive view of the
inland country, and found it agreeably diversified by hills, vallies,
and large plains, which in many places were richly covered with wood.
This evening, we observed an emersion of Jupiter's first satellite,
which gave 214 deg. 53' 45" of longitude. The observation which was made on
the 29th of June gave 214 deg. 42' 30"; the mean is 214 deg. 48' 7-1/2", the
longitude of this place west of Greenwich.

On the 17th, I sent the master and one of the mates in the pinnace to
look for a channel to the northward; and I went myself with Mr Banks and
Dr Solander into the woods on the other side of the water. Tupia, who
had been thither by himself, reported, that he had seen three Indians
who had given him some roots about as thick as a man's finger, in shape
not much unlike a radish, and of a very agreeable taste. This induced us
to go over, hoping that we should be able to improve our acquaintance
with the natives; in a very little time we discovered four of them in a
canoe, who, as soon as they saw us, came ashore, and, though they were
all strangers, walked up to us, without any signs of suspicion or fear.
Two of these had necklaces of shells, which we could not persuade them
to part with for any thing we could give them: We presented them however
with some beads, and after a short stay they departed. We attempted to
follow them, hoping that they would conduct us to some place where we
should find more of them, and have an opportunity of seeing their women;
but they made us understand, by signs, that they did not desire our
company.

At eight o'clock the next morning, we were visited by several of the
natives, who were now become quite familiar. One of them, at our desire,
threw his lance, which was about eight feet-long: It flew with a
swiftness and steadiness that surprised us, and though it was never more
than four feet from the ground, it entered deeply into a tree at fifty
paces distance. After this they ventured on board, where I left them, to
all appearance, much entertained, and went again with Mr Banks to take a
view of the country; but chiefly to indulge an anxious curiosity, by
looking round us upon the sea, of which our wishes almost persuaded us
we had formed an idea more disadvantageous than the truth. After having
walked about seven or eight miles along the shore to the northward, we
ascended a very high hill, and were soon convinced that the danger of
our situation was at least equal to our apprehensions; for in whatever
direction we turned our eyes, we saw rocks and shoals without number,
and no passage out to sea, but through the winding channels between
them, which could not be navigated without the last degree of difficulty
and danger. We returned therefore to the ship, not in better spirits
than when we left it: We found several natives still on board, and we
were told that the turtles, of which we had no less than twelve upon the
deck, had fixed their attention more than any thing else in the ship.

On the 19th in the morning, we were visited by ten of the natives, the
greater part from the other side of the river, where we saw six or seven
more, most of them women, and, like all the rest of the people we had
seen in this country, they were stark naked. Our guests brought with
them a greater number of lances than they had ever done before, and
having laid them up in a tree, they set a man and a boy to watch them:
The rest then came on board, and we soon perceived that they had
determined to get one of our turtle, which was probably as great a
dainty to them as to us. They first asked us by signs, to give them one;
and being refused, they expressed, both by looks and gestures, great
disappointment and anger. At this time we happened to have no victuals
dressed, but I offered one of them some biscuit, which he snatched and
threw overboard with great disdain. One of them renewed his request to
Mr Banks, and upon a refusal stamped with his foot, and pushed him from
him in a transport of resentment and indignation: Having applied by
turns to almost every person who appeared to have any command in the
ship, without success, they suddenly seized two of the turtles, and
dragged them towards the side of the ship where their canoe lay: Our
people soon forced them out of their hands, and replaced them with the
rest. They would not however relinquish their enterprise, but made
several other attempts of the same kind, in all which being equally
disappointed, they suddenly leaped into their canoe in a rage, and began
to paddle towards the shore. At the same time I went into the boat with
Mr Banks, and five or six of the ship's crew, and we got ashore before
them, where many more of our people were already engaged in various
employments; as soon as they landed, they seized their arms, and before
we were aware of their design, they snatched a brand from under a pitch
kettle which was boiling, and making a circuit to the windward of the
few things we had on shore, they set fire to the grass in their way,
with surprising quickness and dexterity: The grass, which was five or
six feet high, and as dry as stubble, burnt with amazing fury; and the
fire made a rapid progress towards a tent of Mr Banks's, which had been
set up for Tupia when he was sick, taking in its course a sow and pigs,
one of which it scorched to death. Mr Banks leaped into a boat, and
fetched some people from on board, just time enough to save his tent, by
hauling it down upon the beach; but the smith's forge, at least such
part of it as would burn, was consumed. While this was doing, the
Indians went to a place at some distance, where several of our people
were washing, and where our nets, among which was the seine, and a great
quantity of linen, were laid out to dry; here they again set fire to the
grass, entirely disregarding both threats and entreaties. "We were
therefore obliged to discharge a musquet, loaded with small shot, at one
of them, which drew blood at the distance of about forty yards, and this
putting them to flight, we extinguished the fire at this place before it
had made much progress; but where the grass had been first kindled, it
spread into the woods to a great distance. As the Indians were still in
sight, I fired a musquet, charged with ball, abreast of them among the
mangroves, to convince them that they were not yet out of our reach:
Upon hearing the ball they quickened their pace, and we soon lost sight
of them. We thought they would now give us no more trouble; but soon
after we heard their voices in the woods, and perceived that they came
nearer and nearer. I set out, therefore, with Mr Banks and three or four
more, to meet them: When our parties came in sight of each other, they
halted; except one old man, who came forward to meet us: At length he
stopped, and having uttered some words, which we were very sorry we
could not understand, he went back to his companions, and the whole body
slowly retreated. We found means however to seize some of their darts,
and continued to follow them about a mile: We then sat down upon some
rocks, from which we could observe their motions, and they also sat down
at about an hundred yards distance. After a short time, the old man
again advanced towards us, carrying in his hand a lance without a point:
He stopped several times, at different distances, and spoke; we answered
by beckoning and making such signs of amity as we could devise; upon
which the messenger of peace, as we supposed him to be, turned and spoke
aloud to his companions, who then set up their lances against a tree,
and advanced towards us in a friendly manner: When they came up, we
returned the darts or lances that we had taken from them, and we
perceived with great satisfaction that this rendered the reconciliation
complete. We found in this party four persons whom we had never seen
before, who as usual were introduced to us by name; but the man who had
been wounded in the attempt to burn our nets and linen, was not among
them; we knew however that he could not be dangerously hurt, by the
distance at which the shot reached him. We made all of them presents of
such trinkets as we had about us, and they walked back with us towards
the ship: As we went along, they told us, by signs, that they would not
set fire to the grass any more; and we distributed among them some
musquet balls, and endeavoured to make them understand their use and
effect. When they came abreast of the ship, they sat down, but could not
be prevailed upon to come on board; we therefore left them, and in about
two hours they went away, soon after which we perceived the woods on
fire at about two miles distance. If this accident had happened a very
little while sooner, the consequence might have been dreadful; for our
powder had been aboard but a few-days, and the store-tent, with many
valuable things which it contained, had not been removed many hours. We
had no idea of the fury with which grass would burn in this hot climate,
nor consequently of the difficulty of extinguishing it; but we
determined, that if it should ever again be necessary for us to pitch
our tents in such a situation, our first measure should be to clear the
ground round us.

In the afternoon we got every thing on board the ship, new-birthed her,
and let her swing with the tide; and at night the master returned, with
the discouraging account that there was no passage for the ship to the
northward.

The next morning, at low water, I went and sounded and buoyed the bar,
the ship being now ready for sea. We saw no Indians this day, but all
the hills round us for many miles were on fire, which at night made a
most striking and beautiful appearance.

The 21st past without our getting sight of any of the inhabitants, and
indeed without a single incident worth notice. On the 22d, we killed a
turtle for the day's provision, upon opening which we found a wooden
harpoon or turtle-peg, about as thick as a man's finger, near fifteen
inches long, and bearded at the end, such as we had seen among the
natives, sticking through both shoulders: It appeared to have been
struck a considerable time, for the wound had perfectly healed up over
the weapon.

Early in the morning of the 23d, I sent some people into the country to
gather a supply of the greens which have been before mentioned by the
name of Indian Kale; one of them having straggled from the rest,
suddenly fell in with four Indians, three men and a boy, whom he did not
see, till, by turning short in the wood, he found himself among them.
They had kindled a fire, and were broiling a bird of some kind, and part
of a Kangaroo, the remainder of which, and a cockatoo, hung at a little
distance upon a tree: The man, being unarmed, was at first greatly
terrified; but he had the presence of mind not to run away, judging very
rightly, that he was most likely to incur danger by appearing to
apprehend it; on the contrary, he went and sat down by them, and, with
an air of chearfulness and good humour, offered them his knife, the only
thing he had about him which he thought would be acceptable to them;
they received it, and having handed it from one to the other, they gave
it him again: He then made an offer to leave them; but this they seemed
not disposed to permit: Still however he dissembled his fears, and sat
down again; they considered him with great attention and curiosity,
particularly his clothes, and then felt his hands and face, and
satisfied themselves that his body was of the same texture with their
own. They treated him with the greatest civility, and having kept him
about half an hour, they made signs that he might depart: He did not
wait for a second dismission, but when he left them, not taking the
direct way to the ship, they came from their fire, and directed him; so
that they well knew whence he came.

In the mean time, Mr Banks, having made an excursion on the other side
of the river to gather plants, found the greatest part of the cloth that
had been given to the Indians lying in a heap together, probably as
useless lumber, not worth carrying away; and perhaps if he had sought
further, he might have found the other trinkets; for they seemed to set
very little value upon any thing we had, except our turtle, which was a
commodity that we were least able to spare.

The blowing weather, which prevented our attempt to get out to sea,
still continuing, Mr Banks and Dr Solander went out again on the 24th to
see whether any new plant could be picked up: They traversed the woods
all day without success; but as they were returning through a deep
valley, the sides of which, though almost as perpendicular as a wall,
were covered with trees and bushes; they found lying upon the ground
several marking nuts, the _Anacardium orientate_; these put them upon a
new scent, and they made a most diligent search after the tree that bore
them, which perhaps no European botanist ever saw; but to their great
mortification they could not find it: So that, after spending much time,
and cutting down four or five trees, they returned quite exhausted with
fatigue to the ship.

On the 25th, having made an excursion up the river, I found a canoe
belonging to our friends the Indians, whom we had not seen since the
affair of the turtle; they had left it tied to some mangroves, about a
mile distant from the ship, and I could see by their fires that they
were retired at least six miles directly inland.

As Mr Banks was again gleaning the country for his Natural History on
the 26th, he had the good fortune to take an animal of the _Opossum_
tribe: It was a female, and with, it he took two young ones: It was
found much to resemble the remarkable animal of the kind which Mons. de
Buffon has described in his Natural History by the name of _Phalanger_,
but it was not the same. Mons. Buffon supposes this tribe to be peculiar
to America, but in this he is certainly mistaken; and probably, as
Pallas has observed in his Zoology, the Phalanger itself is a native of
the East Indies, as the animal which was caught by Mr Banks resembled it
in the extraordinary conformation of the feet, in which it differs from
animals of every other tribe.

On the 27th, Mr Gore shot a kangaroo, which, with the skin, entrails,
and head, weighed eighty-four pounds. Upon examination, however, we
found that this animal was not at its full growth, the innermost
grinders not being yet formed. We dressed it for dinner the next day;
but to our great disappointment, we found it had a much worse flavour
than that we had eaten before.

The wind continued in the same quarter, and with the same violence,
till five o'clock in the morning of the 29th, when it fell calm; soon
after a light breeze sprung up from the land, and it being about two
hours ebb, I sent 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 sea. But when
the boat came back, the officer reported that there was only thirteen
feet water upon the bar, which was six inches less than the ship drew.
We were therefore obliged to come to, and the sea breeze setting in
again about eight o'clock; we gave up all hope of sailing that day.

We had fresh gales at S.E., with hazy weather and rain, till two in the
morning of the 31st, when the weather being something 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 success; sometimes taking a turtle, and
frequently bringing in from two to three hundred-weight of fish.

On the 1st of August, the carpenter examined the pumps, and to our great
mortification, found them all in a state of decay, owing, as he said, to
the sap's being left in the wood; one of them was so rotten, as, when
hoisted up, to drop to pieces, and the rest were little better; so that
our chief trust was now in the soundness of our vessel, which happily
did not admit more than one inch of water in an hour.

At six o'clock in the morning of Friday the 3d, we made another
unsuccessful 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 seven we got once more under sail, with a light air from the land,
which soon died away, and was followed by the sea breezes from S.E. by
S., with which we stood off to sea E. by N., having the pinnace a-head,
which was ordered to keep sounding continually. The yawl had been sent
to the turtle bank to take up the net which had been left there; but as
the wind freshened, we got out before her. A little before noon we
anchored in fifteen fathom water, with a sandy bottom, for I did not
think it safe to run in among the shoals till I had well viewed them at
low water from the mast head, which might determine me which way to
steer; for as yet I was in doubt whether I should beat back to the
southward, round all the shoals, or seek a passage 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 sailed bore
S. 70 W., distant about five leagues; the northermost point of the main
in sight, which I named _Cape Bedford_, and which lies in latitude 15 deg.
16' S. longitude 214 deg. 45' W., bore N. 20 W., distant three leagues and a
half; but to the N.E. of this cape we could see land which had the
appearance of two high islands: The turtle banks bore east, distant one
mile; our latitude by observation was 15 deg. 32' S., and our depth of water
in standing off from the land was from three and a half to fifteen
fathom.

SECTION XXXII.

_Departure from Endeavour River; a particular Description of the Harbour
there, in which the Ship was refitted, the adjacent Country, and several
Islands near the Coast; the Range from Endeavour River to the Northern
Extremity of the Country, and the Dangers of that Navigation_.

To the harbour which we had now left, I gave the name of _Endeavour
River_. It is only a small bar, 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 side; where the bank is so steep for near a quarter of a mile,
that a ship may lie afloat at low water, so near the shore as to reach
it with a stage, and the situation is extremely convenient for heaving
down; but at low water the depth upon the bar is not more than nine or
ten feet, nor more than seventeen or eighteen at the height of the tide;
the difference between high and low water, at spring 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 coast
is so barricaded with shoals, as to make the harbour still more
difficult of access; the safest approach is from the southward, keeping
the main land close upon the board all the way. Its situation may
always be found by the latitude, which has been very accurately laid
down. Over the south point is some high land, but the north point is
formed by a low sandy beach, which extends about three miles to the
northward, where the land begins again to be high.