[Footnote 78: As the natural history department of the account of this country will be filled up when we come to another voyage, little or no attention is paid to it at present. Dr Hawkesworth's labours, it may have been already observed by the intelligent reader, are satisfactory to any one more than to a student of that science.—E.]

In the afternoon we renewed our search after fresh water, but without success, and therefore I determined to make my stay here but short; however, having observed from an eminence that the inlet penetrated a considerable way into the country, I determined to trace it in the morning.

At sun-rise I went ashore, and climbing a considerable hill, I took a view of the coast and the islands that lie off it, with their bearings, having an azimuth compass with me for that purpose, but I observed that the needle differed very considerably in its position, even to thirty degrees, in some places more, in others less; and once I found it differ from itself no less than two points in the distance of fourteen feet. I took up some of the loose stones that lay upon the ground, and applied them to the needle, but they produced no effect, and I therefore concluded that there was iron ore in the hills, of which I had remarked other indications both here and in the neighbouring parts. After I had made my observations upon the hill, I proceeded with Dr Solander up the inlet; I set out with the first of the flood, and long before high water I had advanced above eight leagues. Its breadth thus far was from two to five miles, upon a S.W. by S. direction; but here it opened every way, and formed a large lake, which to the N.W. communicated with the sea; and I not only saw the sea in this direction, but found the tide of flood coming strongly in from that point: I also observed an arm of this lake extending to the eastward, and it is not improbable that it may communicate with the sea in the bottom of the bay, which lies to the westward of Cape Townshend. On the south side of the lake is a ridge of high hills which I was very desirous to climb; but it being high-water, and the day far spent, I was afraid of being bewildered among the shoals in the night, especially as the weather was dark and rainy; and therefore I made the best of my way to the ship. In this excursion I saw only two people, and they were at a distance; they followed the boat along the shore a good way, but the tide running strongly in my favour, I could not prudently wait for them: I saw however several fires in one direction, and smoke in another, but they also were at a distance. While I was tracing the inlet with Dr Solander, Mr Banks was endeavouring to penetrate into the country, where several of the people who had leave to go ashore were also rambling about. Mr Banks and his party found their course obstructed by a swamp, covered with mangroves, which, however, they resolved to pass; the mud was almost knee deep, yet they resolutely went on, but before they got half way, they repented of their undertaking: The bottom was covered with branches of trees interwoven with each other, sometimes they kept their footing upon them, sometimes their feet slipt through, and sometimes they were so entangled among them, that they were forced to free themselves by groping in the mud and slime with their hands. In about an hour, however, they crossed it, and judged it might be about a quarter of a mile over. After a short walk they came up to a place where there had been four small fires, and near them some shells and bones of fish, that had been roasted: They found also heaps of grass laid together, where four or five people appeared to have slept. The second lieutenant, Mr Gore, who was at another place, saw a little water lying in the bottom of a gully, and near it the track of a large animal: Some bustards were also seen, but none shot, nor any other bird except a few of the beautiful loriquets which we had seen in Botany Bay. Mr Gore, and one of the midshipmen, who were in different places, said that they had heard the voices of Indians near them, but had seen none. The country in general appeared sandy and barren, and being destitute of fresh water, it cannot be supposed to have any settled inhabitants. The deep gullies, which were worn by torrents from the hills, prove that at certain seasons the rains here are very copious and heavy.

The inlet in which the ship lay I called Thirsty Sound, because it afforded us no fresh water. It lies in latitude 22 deg. 10' S. and longitude 210 deg. 18' W. and may be known by a group of small islands lying under the shore, from two to five leagues distant, in the direction of N.W. and by another group of islands that lie right before it, between three and four leagues out at sea. Over each of the points that form the entrance is a high round hill, which on the N.W. is a peninsula that at high water is surrounded by the sea; they are bold to both the shores, and the distance between them is about two miles. In this inlet is good anchorage in seven, six, five, and four fathom; and places very convenient for laying a ship down, where, at spring-tides, the water does not rise less than sixteen or eighteen feet. The tide flows at the full and change of the moon about 11 o'clock. I have already observed that here is no fresh water, nor could we procure refreshment of any other kind. We saw two turtles, but we were not able to take either of them; neither did we catch either fish or wild-fowl, except a few small land-birds: We saw indeed the same sorts of water-fowl as in Botany Bay, but they were so shy that we could not get a shot at them.

As I had not therefore a single inducement to stay longer in this place, I weighed anchor at six o'clock in the morning of Thursday the 31st of May, and put to sea. We stood to the N.W. with a fresh breeze at S.S.E. and kept without the group of islands that lie in shore, and to the N.W. of Thirsty Sound, as there appeared to be no safe passage between them and the main: At the same time we had a number of islands without us, extending as far as we could see: During our run in this direction our depth of water was ten, eight, and nine fathom. At noon, the west point of Thirsty Sound, which I have called Pier Head, bore S. 36 E. distant five leagues; the east point of the other inlet, which communicates with the sound, bore S. by W. distant two leagues; the group of islands just mentioned lay between us and the point, and the farthest part of the main in sight, on the other side of the inlet, bore N.W. Our latitude by observation was 21 deg. 53'. At half an hour after twelve, the boat, which was sounding a-head, made the signal for shoal water, and we immediately hauled our wind to the N.E. At this time we had seven fathom, at the next cast five, and at the next three, upon which we instantly dropped an anchor that brought the ship up. Pier Head, the north-west point of Thirsty Sound, bore S.E. distant six leagues, being half-way between the islands which lie off the east point of the western inlet, and three small islands which lie directly without them. It was now the first of the flood, which we found to set N.W. by W. 1/2 W.; and having sounded about the shoal, upon which we had three fathom, and found deep water all round it, we got under sail, and having hauled round the three islands that have been just mentioned, came to an anchor under the lee of them, in fifteen fathom water; and the weather being dark, hazy, and rainy, we remained there till seven o'clock in the morning. At this time we got again under sail, and stood to the N.W. with a fresh breeze at S.S.E.; having the main land in sight, and a number of islands all round us, some of which lay out at sea as far as the eye could reach. The western inlet, which in the chart is distinguished by the name of Broad Sound, we had now all open; at the entrance, it is at least nine or ten leagues wide: In it, and before it, lie several islands, and probably shoals also; for our soundings were very irregular, varying suddenly from ten to four fathom. At noon, our latitude by observation was 21 deg. 29' S., a point of land which forms the north-west entrance into Broad Sound, and which I named Cape Palmerston, lying in latitude 21 deg. 30', longitude 210 deg. 54' W. bore W. by N. distant three leagues. Our latitude was 21 deg. 27', our longitude 210 deg. 57'. Between this Cape and Cape Townshend lies the bay which I called the Bay of Inlets. We continued to stand to the N.W. and N.W. by N. as the land lay, under an easy sail, having a boat a-head to sound: At first the soundings were very irregular, from nine to four fathom; but afterwards they were regular, from nine to eleven. At eight in the evening, being about two leagues from the main land, we anchored in eleven fathom, with a sandy bottom, and soon after we found the tide setting with a slow motion to the westward. At one o'clock it was slack, or low water; and at half an hour after two the ship tended to the eastward, and rode so till six in the morning, when the tide had risen eleven feet. We now got under sail, and stood away in the direction of the coast, N.N.W. From what we had observed of the tide during the night, it is plain that the flood came from the N.W., whereas the preceding day, and several days before, it came from the S.E.; nor was this the first or even second time that we had remarked the same thing. At sun-rise this morning, we found the variation to be 6 deg. 45' E.; and in steering along the shore, between the island and the main, at the distance of about two leagues from the main, and three or four from the island, our soundings were regular from twelve to nine fathom; but about eleven o'clock in the forenoon we were again embarrassed with shoal water, having at one time not more than three fathom, yet we got clear without casting anchor. At noon we were about two leagues from the main, and four from the islands without us. Our latitude by observation was 20 deg. 56', and a high promontory, which I named Cape Hillsborough, bore W. 1/2 N., distant seven miles. The land here is diversified by mountains, hills, plains, and valleys, and seems to be well clothed with herbage and wood: The islands which lie parallel to the coast, and from five to eight or ten miles distant, are of various height and extent; scarcely any of them are more than five leagues in circumference, and many are not four miles: Besides this chain of islands, which lies at a distance from the coast, there are others much less, which lie under the land, from which we saw smoke rising in different places. We continued to steer along the shore at the distance of about two leagues, with regular soundings from nine to ten fathom. At sun-set, the farthest point of the main bore N. 48 W. and to the northward of this lay some high land, which I took to be an island, and of which the north-west point bore 41 W.; but not being sure of a passage, I came to an anchor about eight o'clock in the evening, in ten fathom water, with a muddy bottom. About ten we had a tide setting to the northward, and at two it had fallen nine feet; after this it began to rise, and the flood came from the northward, in the direction of the islands which lay out to sea; a plain indication that there was no passage to the N.W. This however had not appeared at day-break, when we got under sail and stood to the N.W. At eight o'clock in the morning, we discovered low land quite across what we took for an opening, which proved to be a bay, about five or six leagues deep; upon this we hauled our wind to the eastward round the north point of the bay, which at this time bore from us N.E. by N. distant four leagues: From this point we found the land trend away N. by W. 1/2 W. and a streight or passage between it and a large island, or islands, lying parallel to it. Having the tide of ebb in our favour, we stood for this passage; and at noon were just within the entrance: Our latitude by observation was 20 deg. 26' S.; Cape Hillsborough bore S. by E. distant ten leagues; and the north point of the bay S. 19 W. distant four miles. This point, which I named Cape Conway, lies in latitude 26 deg. 36' S., longitude 211 deg. 28' W.; and the bay which lies between this Cape and Cape Hillsborough I called Repulse Bay. The greatest depth of water which we found in it was thirteen fathom, and the least eight. In all parts there was safe anchorage, and I believe, that upon proper examination, some good harbours would be found in it; especially at the north side within Cape Conway; for just within that Cape there lie two or three small islands, which alone would shelter that side of the bay from the southerly and southeasterly winds, that seem to prevail here as a Trade. Among the many islands that lie upon this coast, there is one more remarkable than the rest; it is of a small circuit, very high and peaked, and lies E. by S. ten miles from Cape Conway, at the south end of the passage. In the afternoon, we steered through this passage, which we found to be from three to seven miles broad, and eight or nine leagues in length, N. by W. 1/2 W., S. by E. 1/2 E. It is formed by the main on the west, and by the islands on the east, one of which is at least five leagues in length: Our depth of water in running through was from twenty to five-and-twenty fathom, with good anchorage everywhere, and the whole passage may be considered as one safe harbour, exclusive of the small bays and coves which abound on each side, where ships might lie as in a bason. The land both upon the main and islands is high, and diversified by hill and valley, wood and lawn, with a green and pleasant appearance. On one of the islands we discovered with our glasses two men and a woman, and a canoe with an outrigger, which appeared to be larger, and of a construction very different from those of bark tied together at the ends, which we had seen upon other parts of the coast; we hoped therefore that the people here had made some farther advances beyond mere animal life than those that we had seen before. At six o'clock in the evening, we were nearly the length of the north end of the passage; the north-westermost point of the main in sight bore N. 54.W., and the north end of the island N.N.E. with an open sea between the two points. As this passage was discovered on Whitsunday, I called it Whitsunday's Passage, and I called the islands that form it Cumberland Islands, in honour of his Royal Highness the Duke. We kept under an easy sail, with the lead going all night, being at the distance of about three leagues from the shore, and having from twenty-one to twenty-three fathom water. At daybreak, we were abreast of the point which had been the farthest in sight to the north-west the evening before, which I named Cape Gloucester. It is a lofty promontory, in latitude 19 deg. 59'S., longitude 211 deg. 49' W. and may be known by an island which lies out at sea N. by W. 1/2 W. at the distance of five or six leagues from it, and which I called Holborne Isle; there are also islands lying under the land between Holborne Isle and Whitsunday's Passage. On the west side of Cape Gloucester the land trends away S.W. and S.S.W. and forms a deep bay, the bottom of which I could but just see from the mast-head: It is very low, and a continuation of the low land which we had seen at the bottom of Repulse Bay. This bay I called Edgecumbe Bay, but without staying, to look into it, we continued our course to the westward, for the farthest land we could see in that direction, which bore W. by N. 1/2 N. and appeared very high. At noon, we were about three leagues from the shore, by observation in latitude 19 deg. 47' S., and Cape Gloucester bore S. 63 E. distant seven leagues and a half. At six in the evening, we were abreast of the westermost point just mentioned, at about three miles distance, and because it rises abruptly from the low lands which surround it, I called it Cape Upstart. It lies in latitude 19 deg. 39' S., longitude 212 deg. 32' W., fourteen leagues W.N.W. from Cape Gloucester, and is of a height sufficient to be seen at the distance of twelve leagues: Inland there are some high hills or mountains, which, like the Cape, afford but a barren prospect. Having passed this Cape, we continued standing to the W.N.W. as the land lay, under an easy sail, having from sixteen to ten fathom, till two o'clock in the morning, when we fell into seven fathom; upon which we hauled our wind to the northward, judging ourselves to be very near land: At day-break, we found our conjecture to be true, being within little more than two leagues of it. In this part of the coast the land, being very low, is nearer than it appears to be, though it is diversified with here and there a hill. At noon, we were about four leagues from the land, in fifteen fathom water, and our latitude, by observation, was 19 deg. 12' S. Cape Upstart bearing S. 32 deg. 30' E. distant twelve leagues. About this time some very large columns of smoke were seen rising from the low lands. At sun-set, the preceding night, when we were close under Cape Upstart, the variation was nearly 9 deg. E., and at sun-rise this day, it was no more than 5 deg. 35'.; I judged therefore that it had been influenced by iron-ore, or other magnetical matter, contained under the surface of the earth.

We continued to steer W.N.W. as the land lay, with twelve or fourteen fathom water, till noon on the 6th, when our latitude by observation was 19 deg. 1' S. and we had the mouth of a bay all open, extending from S. 1/2 E. to S.W. 1/2 S. distant two leagues. This bay, which I named Cleaveland Bay, appeared to be about five or six miles in extent every way: The east point I named Cape Cleaveland, and the west, which had the appearance of an island, Magnetical Isle, as we perceived that the compass did not traverse well when we were near it: They are both high, and so is the main-land within them, the whole forming a surface the most rugged, rocky, and barren of any we had seen upon the coast; it was not however without inhabitants, for we saw smoke in several parts of the bottom of the bay. The northermost land that was in sight at this time, bore N.W. and it had the appearance of an island, for we could not trace the main-land farther than W. by N. We steered W.N.W. keeping the main land on board, the outermost part of which, at sun-set, bore W. by N. but without it lay high land, which we judged not to be part of it. At day-break, we were abreast of the eastern part of this land, which we found to be a group of islands, lying about five leagues from the main: At this time, being between the two shores, we advanced slowly to the N.W. till noon, when our latitude, by observation, was 18 deg. 49' S. and our distance from the main about five leagues: The northwest part of it bore from us N. by W. 1/2 W. the islands extending from N. to E. and the nearest being distant about two miles: Cape Cleaveland bore S. 50 E. distant eighteen leagues. Our soundings, in the course that we had sailed between this time and the preceding noon, were from fourteen to eleven fathom.

In the afternoon, we saw several large columns of smoke upon the main; we saw also some people and canoes, and upon one of the islands what had the appearance of cocoa-nut trees: As a few of these nuts would now have been very acceptable, I sent Lieutenant Hicks ashore, and with him went Mr Banks and Dr Solander, to see what refreshment could be procured, while I kept standing in for the island with the ship. About seven o'clock in the evening they returned, with an account that what we had taken for cocoa-nut trees, were a small kind of cabbage-palm, and that, except about fourteen or fifteen plants, they had met with nothing worth bringing away. While they were ashore, they saw none of the people, but just as they had put off, one of them came very near the beach, and shouted with a loud voice; it was so dark that they could not see him, however they turned towards the shore, but when he heard the boat putting back, he ran away or hid himself, for they could not get a glimpse of him, and though, they shouted he made no reply. After the return of the boats, we stood away N. by W. for the northermost land in sight, of which we were abreast at three o'clock in the morning, having passed all the islands three or four hours before. This land, on account of its figure, I named Point Hillock: It is of a considerable height, and may be known by a round hillock, or rock, which joins to the Point, but appears to be detached from it. Between this Cape and Magnetical Isle the shore forms a large bay, which I called Halifax Bay: Before it lay the group of islands which has been just mentioned, and some others, at a less distance from the shore. By these islands the Bay is sheltered from all winds, and it affords good anchorage. The land near the beach, in the bottom of the Bay, is low and woody, but farther back it is one continued ridge of high land, which appeared to be barren and rocky. Having passed Point Hillock, we continued standing to the N.N.W. as the land trended, having the advantage of a light moon. At six, we were abreast of a point of land which lies N. by W. 1/2 W., distant eleven miles from Point Hillock, which I named Cape Sandwich. Between these two points the land is very high, and the surface is craggy and barren. Cape Sandwich may be known not only by the high craggy land over it, but by a small island which lies east of it; at the distance of a mile, and some others that lie about two leagues to the northward. From Cape Sandwich the land trends W. and afterwards N. forming a fine large bay, which I called Rockingham Bay, where there appears to be good shelter, and good anchorage, but I did not stay to examine it: I kept ranging along the shore to the northward, for a cluster of small islands, which lie off the northern point of the Bay. Between the three outermost of these islands, and those near the shore, I found a channel of about a mile broad, through which I passed, and upon one of the nearest islands we saw with our glasses about thirty of the natives, men, women, and children, all standing together, and looking with great attention at the ship; the first instance of curiosity we had seen among them: They were all stark naked, with short hair, and of the same complexion with those that we had seen before.[79] At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 17 deg. 59', and we were abreast of the north point of Rockingham Bay, which bore from us W. at the distance of about two miles. This boundary of the Bay is formed by an island of considerable height, which I distinguished by the name of Dunk Isle, and which lies so near the shore as not to be easily distinguished from it. Our longitude was 213 deg. 57' W. Cape Sandwich bore S. by E. 1/2 E. distant nineteen miles, and the northermost land in sight N. 1/2 W.: Our depth of water for the last ten hours had not been more than sixteen, nor less than seven fathom. At sun-set, the northern extremity of the land bore N. 25 W. and we kept our course N. by W. along the coast, at the distance of between three and four leagues, with an easy sail all night, having from twelve to fifteen fathom water.

[Footnote 79: Dampier was of opinion, from the inattention of the people of New Holland whom he fell in with, that they had some defect in vision, so that they could not see at the usual distance. But this opinion has been long abandoned. Other savages have occasionally exhibited as strong marks of indifference to objects, one should think, well fitted to attract their admiration and astonishment. A certain degree of civilization seems absolutely requisite to rouse the human mind to feelings of curiosity. Under this degree, man resembles a vegetable, much more than that animated and intelligent being he becomes in cultivated society.—E.]

At six o'clock in the morning, we were abreast of some small islands, which we called Frankland's Isles, and which lie about two leagues distant from the mainland. The most distant point in sight to the northward bore N. by W. 1/2 W. and we thought it was part of the main, but afterwards found it to be an island of considerable height, and about four miles in circuit. Between this island and a point on the main, from which it is distant about two miles, I passed with the ship. At noon, we were in the middle of the channel, and by observation in the latitude of 16 deg. 57' S. with twenty fathom water. The point on the main, of which we were now abreast, I called Cape Grafton: Its latitude is 16 deg. 57' S., and longitude 214 deg. 6' W., and the land here, as well as the whole coast for about twenty leagues to the southward, is high, has a rocky surface, and is thinly covered with wood: During the night we had seen several fires, and about noon some people. Having hauled round Cape Grafton, we found the land trend away N.W. by W., and three miles to the westward of the Cape we found a bay, in which we anchored about two miles from the shore, in four fathom water with an oozy bottom. The east point of the bay bore S. 74 E., the west point S. 83 W., and a low, green, woody island, which lies in the offing, N. 35 E. This island, which lies N. by E. 1/2 E. distant three or four leagues from Cape Grafton, I called Green Island.

As soon as the ship was brought to an anchor, I went ashore, accompanied by Mr Banks and Dr Solander. As my principal view was to procure some fresh water, and as the bottom of the bay was low land covered with mangroves, where it was not probable fresh water was to be found, I went out towards the Cape, and found two small streams, which however were rendered very difficult of access by the surf and rocks upon the shore: I saw also, as I came round the Cape, a small stream of water run over the beach, in a sandy cove, but I did not go in with the boat, because I saw that it would not be easy to land. When we got ashore, we found the country every where rising into steep rocky hills, and as no fresh water could conveniently be procured, I was unwilling to lose time by going in search of lower land elsewhere: We therefore made the best of our way back to the ship, and about midnight we weighed and stood to the N.W., having but little wind, with some showers of rain. At four in the morning, the breeze freshened at S. by E. and the weather became fair: We continued steering N.N.W. 1/2 W. as the land lay, at about three leagues distance, with ten, twelve, and fourteen fathom water. At ten, we hauled off north, in order to get without a small low island, which lay at about two leagues distance from the main, and great part of which at this time, it being high-water, was overflowed: About three leagues to the north-west of this island, close under the main land, is another island, the land of which rises to a greater height, and which at noon bore from us N. 55 W. distant seven or eight miles. At this time our latitude was 16 deg. 20' S. Cape Grafton bore S. 29 E. distant forty miles, and the northermost point of land in sight N. 20 W.; our depth of water was fifteen fathom. Between this point and Cape Grafton, the shore forms a large, but not a very deep bay, which being discovered on Trinity Sunday, I called Trinity Bay.

SECTION XXX.

Dangerous Situation of the Ship in her Course from Trinity Bay to Endeavour River.[80]

[Footnote 80: We have now to relate some of the most remarkable incidents in the history of nautical deliverances. These, however, the philosophical composure of Dr Hawkesworth's creed did not allow him to particularize, with that acknowledgment of providential interposition, which those who have actually been in such dangers, are, in general, strongly enough, and, it may be safely affirmed, sincerely inclined to offer. It would be unjust not to hear him in defence of his own opinions and conduct in the matter. It is given with all the candour that becomes a man who chuses to think for himself, and at the same time with as much boldness as entitles him to generous treatment from those who think themselves bound to oppose him. The passage may seem long for a note, but no one will object to it as such, who sets a value on correctness of sentiment on the subject of which it treats.

"I have now only to request," says he, "of such of my readers as may be disposed to censure me for not having attributed any of the critical escapes from danger that I have recorded, to the particular interposition of Providence, that they would, in this particular, allow me the right oL private judgment, which I claim with the greater confidence, as the very same principle which would have determined them to have done it, has determined me to the contrary. As I firmly believe the divine precept delivered by the Author of Christianity, 'there is not a sparrow falls to the ground without my Father,' and cannot admit the agency of chance in the government of the world, I must necessarily refer every event to one cause, as well the danger as the escape, as well the sufferings as the enjoyments of life: and for this opinion, I have, among other respectable authorities, that of the Bible. 'Shall we,' says Job, 'receive good from the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?' The Supreme Being is equally wise and benevolent in the dispensation of both evil and good, as means of effecting ultimate purposes worthy of his ineffable perfections; so that whether we consider ourselves as Christians or philosophers, we must acknowledge that he deserves blessing not more when he gives than when he takes away. If the fall of a sparrow, as well as its preservation, is imputed to Providence, why not the fall as well as the preservation of a man? And why should we attribute to Providence only what appears to be good in its immediate effect, when we suppose that the whole concatenation of events, whether the preservation or destruction of particular parts, tends ultimately to the good of the whole? The same voice commissions the winds to plough up the deep, which at the appointed time rebukes them, saying, 'Peace, be still.' If the adorable Author and Preserver of Nature was such a being as Baal is represented to have been by the prophet, when he derided his worshippers; if he was sometimes on a journey, and sometimes asleep, we might with propriety say that a fire happened to break out, or a storm to rise, but that by the interposition of Providence life was preserved, expressions which imply that the mischief had one origin, and the remedy another; but such language certainly derogates, from the honour of the great Universal Cause, who, acting through all duration, and subsisting in all space, fills immensity with his presence, and eternity with his power.

"It will perhaps be said, that in particular instances evil necessarily results from that constitution of things which is best upon the whole, and that Providence occasionally interferes, and supplies the defects of the constitution in these particulars; but this notion will appear not to be supported by those facts which are said to be providential; it will always be found that Providence interposes too late, and only moderates the mischief which it might have prevented. But who can suppose an extraordinary interposition of Providence to supply particular defects in the constitution of Nature, who sees those defects supplied but in part? It is true, that when the Endeavour was upon the rock off the coast of New Holland, the wind ceased, and that otherwise she must have been beaten to pieces; but either the subsiding of the wind was a mere natural event, If it was a natural event, Providence is out of the question, at least we can with no more propriety say that providentially the wind ceased, than that providentially the sun rose in the morning. If it was not a mere natural event, but produced by an extraordinary interposition, correcting a defect in the constitution of nature, tending to mischief, it will lie upon those who maintain the position, to shew, why an extraordinary interposition did not take place rather to prevent the ship's striking, than to prevent her being beaten to pieces after she had struck. A very slight impulse upon the ship's course would have caused her to steer clear of the rock; and if all things were not equally easy to Omnipotence, we should say that this might have been done with less difficulty than a calm could be produced by suspending the general laws of Nature, which had brought on the gale.

"I have, however, paid my homage to the Supreme Being, consonant to my own ideas of his agency and perfections; and those who are of opinion that my notions are erroneous, must allow, that he who does what he thinks to be right, and abstains from what he thinks to be wrong, acquits himself equally of moral obligation, whether his opinions are false or true."

Such are the concluding observations in Dr Hawkesworth's General Introduction to this work. That they have a most specious and rational aspect, cannot be denied, with the exception of scarcely any thing more than the last paragraph, in which it is implied, most erroneously, that the conviction of being right is a sufficient evidence that one is so,—a sentiment not more certainly the result of ignorance of human nature in its present condition, than it is the potential source of almost every immorality and mischief that have degraded or destroyed our species. But conceding entirely the principles contended for by Dr H., it may be demonstrated, that a directly contrary conclusion is their proper legitimate issue, and that too, independent of any consideration of other parts of our moral system, which, however, it will be found, in point of fact, are more concerned than even our reason in the influence exerted over our conduct. Neither time nor place admits the discussion of the topic; and to the intelligent reader, this will seem quite unnecessary, when he recollects a single principle, and follows it out into its just consequences, viz. That as the Supreme Being is the cause of all things, and is equally wise and benevolent in the dispensation of both evil and good, so is he entitled to the homage, the fear, and love of those whom he has created with faculties competent to the understanding, in any degree, of his ineffable perfections; and in consequence, his actions or dispensations become to them the proper indications of the qualities of mind with which they ought to adore him. It follows, that though alike proceeding from his benevolence or wisdom, good and evil must be differently accepted by them, as really intended for different, though perfectly consistent purposes. The humiliation therefore of affliction, and the fervour of joy, are alike becoming them on different occasions. We find accordingly, that in the constitution he has given us, there is ample provision made for both, and that he acts in perfect consistency with that constitution: And thus we may cordially join in the sentiment of Mr Gibbon (ay, Mr Gibbon!) on another occasion: "The satirist may laugh, the philosopher may preach; but reason herself will respect the prejudices and habits which have been consecrated by the experience of mankind." But Dr H., we see, is not content with the dictates of reason; he calls in another aid to maintain this exercise of private judgment. Has he appealed to Scripture? Then to Scripture he shall go. But perhaps it may be said to him, as a popish priest, defending the doctrine of purgatory, said to a protestant, who did not relish it, "He may go farther, and fare worse. The language of the Bible seems not to concur in the propriety of the Doctor's philosophic apathy in such occurrences. The Psalmist, it may be safely affirmed, knew as much of human nature as the Doctor, and was as well acquainted too with what was becoming worship. He, however, differs egregiously in opinion. In the 107th psalm, which so beautifully describes the manifold goodness, and yet the varying providences of the Most High, we find a passage which strikingly applies to such a case as we have been contemplating, and which, at the same time, points out the natural and highly proper emotions which result from it. "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to heaven, they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and all their wisdom is swallowed up. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!" Almost every word of this gives the lie to the practical consequences of our Doctor's theory. It would be invidious to oppress him with any other of the numerous such like instances which this book presents. He appears to make much of the obvious impropriety of using such terms as happened, in speaking of certain events. But this is childish; for every one knows that by such terms is expressed merely our ignorance of the series or train of operations by which those events are brought to pass. They are used in respect of ourselves, not by any means in reference to the Deity. But there is something vastly worse than childishness, in his insinuation as to what Omnipotence might do in preventing, not remedying evils. They breathe a spirit of malevolent disaffection, which is indeed but very imperfectly smothered in the decent language of conjectural propositions. A sounder philosophy than his own would have told Dr H. in the words of Bacon, that "the prerogative of God extendeth as well to the reason, as to the will of man;" and that therefore it became him humbly to contemplate what God has done, rather than to speculate as to what he might have done. In nothing, however, has he so monstrously blundered, as in hinting, that if an event is natural, therefore Providence is out of the question in effecting it; and that, on the other hand, if it is not natural, therefore even a benevolent Providence, that has interposed to remedy the evils of it, is faulty in not having been earlier at work to prevent its occurrence altogether. This is sophistry of the worst kind. A single remark may be sufficient to silence it. Nature is the regular operation of an intelligent Providence; and natural events are the individual instances of it; but it does not follow, either that events which to us seem irregular, are therefore uninfluenced by the same Agent, or that the addition of the word mere to the word natural, can signify any thing else than the presumption of him, who chuses to exercise his right of private judgment in using it, to exclude entirely the consideration of a Providence. This is the more extraordinary in Dr H, because in his letter to Mr Dalrymple, who had taxed him with some errors on this subject, he affirms his belief to be "that the Supreme Being is perpetually operating," and "that he is the cause of all events,"—propositions certainly not very reconcileable with what he says here as to mere natural events. It is, however, very like the inconsistencies of a man who esteems his own conviction of consciousness of the rectitude of his opinions, so highly, as to make him comparatively indifferent whether they are false or true. Taking the view of the subject, then, which such an admission offers, the question is readily solved, but not to the credit of Dr H.'s judgment. If the Supreme Being is continually operating, and is the cause of all things, then the Supreme Being is the only providence, and providence is concerned in every event. But according to the constitution which this providence has given us, different events produce different effects on us, and these, on the same principle, are also in the order of providence; and besides, we have the advice of an inspired writer to this purport. "In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider." It will be difficult to shew that any prosperity is so blissful to the human heart as redemption from death, in whatever sense we take the word; or that any joy is so rational as that which expresses itself in gratitude to God, the author of the blessing enjoyed. The converse of the text may be similarly applied. That is the greatest adversity that most threatens life (for all that a man hath will he give for it); and that is the most suitable consideration that teaches to acknowledge the hand that smites, and produces humble submission to the blow,—that leads a man, to say with Job of old, "I have heard of thee (0 Lord) by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee: Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."—E.]

Hitherto we had safely navigated this dangerous coast, where the sea in all parts conceals shoals that suddenly project from the shore, and rocks that rise abruptly like a pyramid from the bottom, for an extent of two-and-twenty degrees of latitude, more than one thousand three hundred miles; and therefore hitherto none of the names which distinguish the several parts of the country that we saw, are memorials of distress; but here we became acquainted with misfortune, and we therefore called the point which we had just seen farthest to the northward, Cape Tribulation. This cape lies in latitude l6 deg. 6' S. and longitude 214 deg. 39' W. We steered along the shore N. by W. at the distance of between three and four leagues, having from fourteen to twelve, and ten fathom water: In the offing we saw two islands, which lie in latitude 16 deg. S. and about six or seven leagues from the main. At six in the evening, the northermost land in sight bore N. by W. 1/2 W. and two low woody islands, which some of us took to be rocks above water, bore N. 1/2 W. At this time we shortened sail and hauled off shore E.N.E. and N.E. by E. close upon a wind; for it was my design to stretch off all night, as well to avoid the danger we saw a-head, as to see whether any islands lay in the offing, especially as we were now near the latitude assigned to the islands which were discovered by Quiros, and which some geographers, for what reason I know not, have thought fit to join to this land. We had the advantage of a fine breeze, and a cleat moonlight night, and in standing off from six till near nine o'clock, we deepened our water from fourteen to twenty-one fathom; but while we were at supper it suddenly shoaled, and we fell into twelve, ten, and eight fathom, within the space of a few minutes. I immediately ordered every body to their station, and all was ready to put about and come to an anchor; but meeting at the next cast of the lead with deep water again, we concluded that we had gone over the tail of the shoals which we had seen at sun-set, and that all danger was past. Before ten, we had twenty and one-and-twenty fathom, and this depth continuing, the gentlemen left the deck in great tranquillity, and went to bed; but a few minutes before eleven, the water shallowed at once from twenty to seventeen fathom, and before the lead could be cast again, the ship struck, and remained immoveable, except by the heaving of the surge, that beat her against the crags of the rock upon which she lay. In a few moments every body was upon the deck, with countenances which sufficiently expressed the horrors of our situation. We had stood off the shore three hours and a half, with a pleasant breeze, and therefore knew that we could not be very near it, and we had too much reason to conclude that we were upon a rock of coral, which is more fatal than any other, because the points of it are sharp, and every part of the surface so rough as to grind away whatever is rubbed against it, even with the gentlest motion. In this situation all the sails were immediately taken in, and the boats hoisted out to examine the depth of water round the ship. We soon discovered that our fears had not aggravated our misfortune, and that the vessel had been lifted over a ledge of the rock, and lay in a hollow within it: In some places there was from three to four fathom, and in others not so many feet. The ship lay with her head to the N.E.; and at the distance of about thirty yards on the starboard side, the water deepened to eight, ten, and twelve fathom. As soon as the long-boat was out, we struck our yards and topmasts, and carried out the stream anchor on the starboard bow, got the coasting anchor and cable into the boat, and were going to carry it out the same way; but upon sounding a second time round the ship, the water was found to be deepest astern: the anchor therefore was carried out from the starboard quarter instead of the starboard bow, that is, from the stern instead of the head, and having taken ground, our utmost force was applied to the capstern, hoping that if the anchor did not come home, the ship would be got off; but, to our great misfortune and disappointment, we could not move her. During all this time she continued to beat with great violence against the rock, so that it was with the utmost difficulty that we kept upon our legs; and to complete the scene of distress, we saw by the light of the moon the sheathing-boards from the bottom of the vessel floating away all round her, and at last her false keel, so that every moment was making way for the sea to rush in which was to swallow us up. We had now no chance but to lighten her, and we had lost the opportunity of doing that to the greatest advantage, for unhappily we went on shore just at high water, and by this time it had considerably fallen, so that after she should be lightened so as to draw as much less water as the water had sunk, we should be but in the same situation as at first; and the only alleviation of this circumstance was, that as the tide ebbed the ship settled to the rocks, and was not beaten against them with so much violence. We had indeed some hope from the next tide, but it was doubtful whether she would hold together so long, especially as the rock kept grating her bottom under the starboard bow with such force as to be heard in the fore store-room. This, however, was no time to indulge conjecture, nor was any effort remitted in despair of success. That no time might be lost, the water was immediately started in the hold, and pumped up; six of our guns, being all we had upon the deck, our iron and stone ballast, casks, hoop staves, oil jars, decayed stores, and many other things that lay in the way of heavier materials, were thrown overboard with the utmost expedition, every one exerting himself with an alacrity almost approaching to cheerfulness, without the least repining or discontent; yet the men were so far imprest with a sense of their situation, that not an oath was heard among them, the habit of profaneness, however strong, being instantly subdued by the dread of incurring guilt when death seemed to be so near.

While we were thus employed, day broke upon us, and we saw the land at about eight leagues distance, without any island in the intermediate space, upon which, if the ship should have gone to pieces, we might have been set ashore by the boats, and from which they might have taken us by different turns to the main: The wind however gradually died away, and early in the forenoon it was a dead calm; if it had blown hard, the ship must inevitably have been destroyed. At eleven in the forenoon we expected high water, and anchors were got out, and every thing made ready for another effort to heave her off if she should float; but, to our inexpressible surprise and concern, she did not float by a foot and a half, though we had lightened her near fifty ton, so much did the day tide fall short of that in the night. We now proceeded to lighten her still more, and threw overboard every thing that it was possible for us to spare: Hitherto she had not admitted much water, but as the tide fell, it rushed in so fast, that two pumps, incessantly worked, could scarcely keep her free. At two o'clock, she lay heeling two or three streaks to starboard, and the pinnace, which lay under her bows, touched the ground; we had now no hope but from the tide at midnight, and to prepare for it we carried out our two bower anchors, one on the starboard quarter, and the other right a-stern, got the blocks and tackle which were to give us a purchase upon the cables in order, and brought the falls, or ends of them, in abaft, straining them tight, that the next effort might operate upon the ship, and by shortening the length of the cable between that and the anchors, drew her off the ledge upon which she rested, towards the deep water. About five o'clock in the afternoon, we observed the tide begin to rise, but we observed at the same time that the leak increased to a most alarming degree, so that two, more pumps were manned, but unhappily only one of them, would work; three of the pumps, however, were kept going, and at nine o'clock the ship righted, but the leak had gained upon us so considerably, that it was imagined she must go to the bottom as soon as she ceased to be supported by the rock: This was a dreadful circumstance, so that we anticipated the floating of the ship not as an earnest of deliverance, but as an event that would probably precipitate our destruction. We well knew that our boats were not capable of carrying us all on shore, and that when the dreadful crisis should arrive, as all command and subordination would be at an end, a contest for preference would probably ensue, that would increase even the horrors of shipwreck, and terminate in the destruction of us all by the hands of each other; yet we knew that if any should be left on board to perish in the waves, they would probably suffer less upon the whole than those who should get on shore, without any lasting or effectual defence against the natives, in a country where even nets and fire-arms would scarcely furnish them with food; and where, if they should find the means of subsistence, they must be condemned to languish out the remainder of life in a desolate wilderness, without the possession, or even hope, of any domestic comfort, and cut off from all commerce with mankind, except the naked savages who prowled the desert, and who perhaps were some of the most rude and uncivilized upon the earth.

To those only who have waited in a state of such suspense, Death has approached in all his tenors; and as the dreadful moment that was to determine our fate came on, every one saw his own sensations pictured in the countenances of his companions: However, the capstan and wind-lace were manned with as many hands as could be spared from the pumps, and the ship floating about twenty minutes after ten o'clock, the effort was made, and she was heaved into deep water. It was some comfort to find that she did not now admit more water than she had done upon the rock; and though by the gaining of the leak upon the pumps, there was no less than three feet nine inches water in the hold, yet the men did not relinquish their labour, and we held the water as it were at bay; but having now endured excessive fatigue of body and agitation of mind for more than four-and-twenty hours, and having but little hope of succeeding at last, they began to flag: None of them could work at the pump more than five or six minutes together, and then, being totally exhausted, they threw themselves down upon the deck, though a stream of water was running over it from the pumps between three and four inches deep; when those who succeeded them had worked their spell, and were exhausted in their turn, they threw themselves down in the same manner, and the others started up again, and renewed their labour; thus relieving each other till an accident was very near putting an end to their efforts at once. The planking which lines the inside of the ship's bottom is called the ceiling, and between this and the outside planking there is a space of about eighteen inches: The man who till this time had attended the well to take the depth of water, had taken it only to the ceiling, and gave the measure accordingly; but he being now relieved, the person who came in his stead reckoned the depth to the outside planking, by which it appeared in a few minutes to have gained upon the pumps eighteen inches, the difference between the planking without and within. Upon this even the bravest was upon the point of giving up his labour with his hope, and in a few minutes every thing would have been involved in all the confusion of despair. But this accident, however dreadful in its first consequences, was eventually the cause of our preservation. The mistake was soon detected, and the sudden joy which every man felt upon finding his situation better than his fears had suggested, operated like a charm, and seemed to possess him with a strong belief that scarcely any real danger remained. New confidence and new hope, however founded, inspired new vigour; and though our state was the same as when the men first began to slacken in their labour, through weariness and despondency, they now renewed their efforts with such alacrity and spirit, that before eight o'clock in the morning the leak was so far from having gained upon the pumps, that the pumps had gained considerably upon the leak. Every body now talked of getting the ship into some harbour, as a thing not to be doubted, and as hands could be spared from the pumps, they were employed in getting up the anchors: The stream anchor and best bower we had taken on board; but it was found impossible to save the little bower, and therefore it was cut away at a whole cable; we lost also the cable of the stream anchor among the rocks; but in our situation these were trifles which scarcely attracted our notice. Our next business was to get up the fore top-mast, and fore-yard, and warp the ship to the south-east, and at eleven, having now a breeze from the sea, we once more got under sail and stood for the land.

It was however impossible long to continue the labour by which the pumps had been made to gain upon the leak, and as the exact situation of it could not be discovered, we had no hope of stopping it within. In this situation, Mr Monkhouse, one of my midshipmen, came to me and proposed an expedient that he had seen used on board a merchant ship, which sprung a leak that admitted above four feet water an hour, and which by this expedient was brought safely from Virginia to London; the master having such confidence in it, that he took her out of harbour, knowing her condition, and did not think it worth while to wait till the leak could be otherwise stopped. To this man, therefore, the care of the expedient, which is called fothering the ship, was immediately committed, four or five of the people being appointed to assist him, and he performed it in this manner: He took a lower studding sail, and having mixed together a large quantity of oakum and wool, chopped pretty small, he stitched it down in handfuls upon the sail, as lightly as possible, and over this he spread the dung of our sheep and other filth; but horse dung, if we had had it, would have been better. When the sail was thus prepared, it was hauled under the ship's bottom by ropes, which kept it extended, and when it came under the leak, the suction which carried in the water, carried in with it the oakum and wool from the surface of the sail, which in other parts the water was not sufficiently agitated to wash off.[81] By the success of this expedient, our leak was so far reduced, that instead of gaining upon three pumps, it was easily kept under with one. This was a new source of confidence and comfort; the people could scarcely have expressed more joy if they had been already in port; and their views were so far from being limited to running the ship ashore in some harbour, either of an island or the main, and building a vessel out of her materials to carry us to the East Indies, which had so lately been the utmost object of our hope, that nothing was now thought of but ranging along the shore in search of a convenient place to repair the damage she had sustained, and then prosecuting the voyage upon the same plan as if nothing had happened. Upon this occasion I must observe, both in justice and gratitude to the ship's company, and the gentlemen on board, that although in the midst of our distress every one seemed to have a just sense of his danger, yet no passionate exclamations, or frantic gestures, were to be heard or seen; every one appeared to have the perfect possession of his mind, and everyone exerted himself to the uttermost, with a quiet and patient perseverance, equally distant from the tumultuous violence of terror, and the gloomy inactivity of despair.[82]

[Footnote 81: A somewhat different account of the operation called fothering a vessel, is given in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. The expedient does not appear to be adopted. The importance of the benefit intended by it is so great, as to justify the most sedulous care to bring the principle within the range of a seaman's professional studies. It is somewhat singular that Cook was not acquainted with it.—E.]

[Footnote 82: With the modesty of real worth, Cook expends his eulogium on his companions in danger, without seeming to reserve the smallest consideration for his own dignified behaviour in such extreme peril. Who can doubt, that the conduct of the crew was in unison with the fortitude and intelligence of their commander? It is on such occasions that the effects of discipline are most conspicuous. In common occurrences, the mere attention to rules is amply sufficient to call forth our esteem. What shall we say of their merit, who, in such untoward emergencies, extend the influence of beneficial authority beyond the force of some of the strongest passions that agitate our frame?—E.]

In the mean time, having light airs at E.S.E. we got up the main top-mast, and main-yard, and kept edging in for the land, till about six o'clock in the evening, when we came to an anchor in seventeen fathom water, at the distance of seven leagues from the shore, and one from the ledge of rocks upon which we had struck.

This ledge or shoal lies in latitude 15 deg. 45' S., and between six and seven leagues from the main. It is not however the only shoal on this part of the coast, especially to the northward; and at this time we saw one to the southward, the tail of which we passed over, when we had uneven soundings about two hours before we struck. A part of this shoal is always above water, and has the appearance of white sand: A part also of that upon which we had lain is dry at low water, and in that place consists of sand stones, but all the rest of it is a coral rock.

Whilst we lay at anchor for the night, we found that the ship made about fifteen inches water an hour, from which no immediate danger was to be apprehended; and at six o'clock in the morning we weighed and stood to the N.W., still edging in for the land with a gentle breeze at S.S.E. At nine we passed close without two small islands that lie in latitude 15 deg. 41' S., and about four leagues from the main: To reach these islands had, in the height of our distress, been the object of our hope, or perhaps rather of our wishes, and therefore I called them Hope Islands. At noon we were about three leagues from the land, and in latitude 15 deg. 37' S.; the northermost part of the main in sight bore N. 30 W.; and Hope Islands extended from S. 30 E. to S. 40 E. In this situation we had twelve fathom water, and several sand banks without us. At this time the leak had not increased; but that we might be prepared for all events, we got the sail ready for another fothering. In the afternoon, having a gentle breeze at S.E. by E., I sent out the master with two boats, as well to sound a-head of the ship as to look out for a harbour where we might repair our defects, and put the ship in a proper trim. At three o'clock we saw an opening that had the appearance of an harbour, and stood off and on while the boats examined it, but they soon found that there was not depth of water in it sufficient for the ship. When it was near sun-set, there being many shoals about us, we anchored in four fathom, at the distance of about two miles from the shore, the land extending from N. 1/2 E. to S. by E. 1/2 E. The pinnace was still out with one of the mates; but at nine o'clock she returned, and reported, that about two leagues to leeward she had discovered just such a harbour as we wanted, in which there was a sufficient rise of water, and every other convenience that could be desired, either for laying the ship ashore, or heading her down.

In consequence of this information, I weighed at six o'clock in the morning, and having sent two boats a-head, to lie upon the shoals that we saw in our way, we ran down to the place; but notwithstanding our precaution, we were once in three fathom water. As soon as these shoals were passed, I sent the boats to lie in the channel that led to the harbour, and by this time it began to blow. It was happy for us that a place of refuge was at hand; for we soon found that the ship would not work, having twice missed stays: Oar situation, however, though it might have been much worse, was not without danger; we were entangled among shoals, and I had great reason to fear being driven to leeward before the boats could place themselves so as to prescribe our course. I therefore anchored in four fathom, about a mile from the shore, and then made the signal for the boats to come on board. When this was done, I went myself and buoyed the channel, which I found very narrow; the harbour also I found smaller than I expected, but most excellently adapted to our purpose; and it is remarkable, that in the whole course of our voyage we had seen no place which, in our present circumstances, could have afforded us the same relief. At noon, our latitude was 15 deg. 26' S. During all the rest of this day, and the whole night, it blew too fresh for us to venture from our anchor and run into the harbour; and for our farther security, we got down the top-gallant yards, unbent the main-sail and some of the small sails; got down the fore-top-gallant-mast, and the jibb-boom, and sprit-sail, with a view to lighten the ship forwards as much as possible, in order to come at her leak, which we supposed to be somewhere in that part; for in all the joy of our unexpected deliverance, we had not forgot that at this time there was nothing but a lock of wool between us and destruction. The gale continuing, we kept our station all the 15th. On the 16th, it was somewhat more moderate; and about six o'clock in the morning we hove the cable short, with a design to get under sail, but were obliged to desist, and veer it out again. It is remarkable that the sea-breeze, which blew fresh when we anchored, continued to do so almost every day white we stayed here; it was calm only while we were upon the rock, except once; and even the gale that afterwards wafted us to the shore, would then certainly have beaten us to pieces. In the evening of the preceding day, we had observed a fire near the beach over against us; and, as it would be necessary for us to stay some time in this place, we were not without hope of making an acquaintance with the people. We saw more fires upon the hills to-day, and with our glasses discovered four Indians going along the shore, who stopped and made two fires; but for what purpose it was impossible we should guess.

The scurvy now began to make its appearance among us, with many formidable symptoms. Our poor Indian, Tupia, who had some time before complained that his gums were sore and swelled, and who had taken plentifully of our lemon juice by the surgeon's direction, had now livid spots upon his legs, and other indubitable testimonies that the disease had made a rapid progress, notwithstanding all our remedies, among which the bark had been liberally administered. Mr Green, our astronomer, was also declining; and these, among other circumstances, embittered the delay which prevented our going ashore.

In the morning of the 17th, though the wind was still fresh, we ventured to weigh, and push in for the harbour; but in doing this we twice run the ship aground: The first time she went off without any trouble, but the second time she stuck fast. We now got down the fore-yard, fore top-masts, and booms, and taking them overboard, made a raft of them alongside of the ship. The tide was happily rising, and about one o'clock in the afternoon she floated. We soon warped her into the harbour, and having moored her alongside of a steep beach to the south, we got the anchors, cables, and all the hawsers on shore before night.

SECTION XXXI.

Transactions while the Ship was refitting in Endeavour River: A Description of the adjacent Country, its Inhabitants and Productions.



In the morning of Monday the 18th, a stage was made from the ship to the shore, which was so bold that she floated at twenty feet distance: Two tents were also set up, one for the sick, and the other for stores and provisions, which were landed in the course of the day. We also landed all the empty water-casks, and part of the stores. As soon as the tent for the sick was got ready for their reception, they were sent ashore to the number of eight or nine, and the boat was dispatched to haul the seine, in hopes of procuring some fish for their refreshment; but she returned without success. In the mean time, I climbed one of the highest hills among those that overlooked the harbour, which afforded by no means a comfortable prospect: The low land near the river is wholly over-run with mangroves, among which the salt water flows every tide; and the high land appeared to be everywhere stoney and barren. In the mean time, Mr Banks had also taken a walk up the country, and met with the frames of several old Indian houses, and places where they had dressed shell-fish; but they seemed not to have been frequented for some months. Tupia, who had employed himself in angling, and lived entirely upon what he caught, recovered in a surprising degree; but Mr Green still continued to be extremely ill.

The next morning I got the four remaining guns out of the hold, and mounted them upon the quarter-deck; I also got a spare anchor and anchor-stock ashore, and the remaining part of the stores and ballast that were in the hold; set up the smith's forge, and employed the armourer and his mate to make nails and other necessaries for the repair of the ship. In the afternoon, all the officers' stores and ground tier of water were got out, so that nothing remained in the fore and main hold but the coals, and a small quantity of stone ballast. This day Mr Banks crossed the river to take a view of the country on the other side; he found it consist principally of sand-hills, where he saw some Indian houses, which appeared to have been very lately inhabited. In his walk he met with vast flocks of pigeons and crows: Of the pigeons, which were exceedingly beautiful, he shot several; but the crows, which were exactly like those in England, were so shy that he could not get within reach of them.

On the 20th, we landed the powder and got out the stone ballast and wood, which brought the ship's draught of water to eight feet ten inches forward, and thirteen feet abaft; and this I thought, with the difference that would be made of trimming the coals aft, would be sufficient; for I found that the water rose and fell perpendicularly eight feet at the spring-tides: But as soon as the coals were trimmed from over the leak, we could hear the water rush in a little abaft the foremast, about three feet from the keel; this determined me to clear the hold entirely. This evening Mr Banks observed that in many parts of the inlet there were large quantities of pumice-stones, which lay at a considerable distance above high-water mark, whither they might have been carried either by the freshes or extraordinary high tides, for there could be no doubt but that they came from the sea.

The next morning we went early to work, and by four o'clock in the afternoon had got out all the coals, cast the moorings loose, and warped the ship a little higher up the harbour to a place which I thought most convenient for laying her ashore in order to stop the leak. Her draught of water forward was now seven feet nine inches, and abaft thirteen feet six inches. At eight o'clock, it being high water, I hauled her bow close ashore, but kept her stern afloat, because I was afraid of neiping her; it was however necessary to lay the whole of her as near the ground as possible.

At two o'clock in the morning of the 22d, the tide left her, and gave us an opportunity to examine the leak, which we found to be at her floor-heads, a little before the starboard fore-chains. In this place the rocks had made their way through four planks, and even into the timbers; three more planks were much damaged, and the appearance of these breaches was very extraordinary: There was not a splinter to be seen, but all was so smooth as if the whole had been cut away by an instrument: The timbers in this place were happily very close, and if they had not, it would have been absolutely impossible to have saved the ship. But after all, her preservation depended upon a circumstance still more remarkable: One of the holes, which was big enough to have sunk us, if we had had eight pumps instead of four, and been able to keep them incessantly going, was in great measure plugged up by a fragment of the rock, which, after having made the wound, was left sticking in it, so that the water which at first had gained upon our pumps was what came in at the interstices, between the stone and the edges of the hole that received it. We found also several pieces of the fothering, which had made their way between the timbers, and in a great measure stopped those parts of the leak which the stone had left open. Upon further examination, we found that, besides the leak, considerable damage had been done to the bottom; great part of the sheathing was gone from under the larboard bow; a considerable part of the false keel was also wanting, and these indeed we had seen swim away in fragments from the vessel, while she lay beating against the rock: The remainder of it was in so shattered a condition, that it had better have been gone; and the fore foot and main keel were also damaged, but not so as to produce any immediate danger: What damage she might have received abaft could not yet be exactly known, but we have reason to think it was not much, as but little water made its way into her bottom, while the tide kept below the leak which has already been described. By nine o'clock in the morning the carpenters got to work upon her, while the smiths were busy in making bolts and nails. In the mean time, some of the people were sent on the other side of the water to shoot pigeons for the sick, who at their return reported that they had seen an animal as large as a greyhound, of a slender make, a mouse-colour, and extremely swift; they discovered also many Indian houses, and a fine stream of fresh water.

The next morning I sent a boat to haul the seine; but at noon it returned with only three fish, and yet we saw them in plenty leaping about the harbour. This day the carpenter finished the repairs that were necessary on the starboard side; and at nine o'clock in the evening we heeled the ship the other way, and hauled her off about two feet for fear of neiping. This day almost every body had seen the animal which the pigeon-shooters had brought an account of the day before; and one of the seamen, who had been rambling in the woods, told us at his return that he verily believed he had seen the devil: We naturally enquired in what form he had appeared, and his answer was in so singular a style, that I shall set down his own words: "He was," says John, "as large as a one gallon keg and very like it; he had horns and wings, yet he crept so slowly through, the grass, that if I had not been afeard I might have touched him." This formidable apparition we afterwards discovered to have been a batt; and the batts here must be acknowledged to have a frightful appearance, for they are nearly black, and full as large as a partridge; they have indeed no horns, but the fancy of a man who thought he saw the devil, might easily supply that defect.

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:—