"May 5, 1770—Stingerray Bay lies in Latd 34·06 S & Longd Wt of Longd on 20·43. It is form'd by two Low Pts between which their is a passage of one mile with 12 fms water on the Et side lies a Little Island and off ye So end of it is a Shore where the Sea some times Breaks after you are in the Bay spreads and tends to ye wt ward for about 6 or 7 Miles and then ends in two large Lagoons off the So shores lies large flats with only 6 & 7 feet water upon them is a great Quantity of Stingerrays the Bay is very Shole but there is a Channel which lies open to ye entrance with 5 and 6 fm water, but after you are two miles within it sholes to 3 the Bay is about 4 Miles Broad and has a regular tide. The Country is very rich and fertile and has a fine appearce we saw a large tree which grows allone and yealds a Gum like Dragons Blood this we found in great Quantitys sticking to ye Bark the Tree on which it grows is very large & spreads, but does not grow Stright nor tall besides we saw a wood which has a grain like oak and would be very durable if used for Building the leaves are like a Pine leaf the Soil is a light sandy black earth mix'd but is very shallow upon digging we found vast Quantitys of Oyster Shells which seem'd to have been underground a great while We also found a Tree which bore a red berry about ye size of a Cherry, but they grew only in one Place—the inhabitants are so shy that we had no kind of Intercous with them they us'd to come down every evening arm'd with Lances and wooden Swords they appeard very thin and had their faces Daub'd over with some thing white one day as the Surgeon was walking in the woods which is all clear of under wood he had a Lance hove at him out of a tree but the man made of this was all we saw of them except when they were fishing off in their canoes which are very small & made of Bark they carry one man who paddles with two small pieces of wood they use them in striking fish on ye flats their Houses are several Pieces of Bark sett up against an other & open at each end and are the worst I ever saw the people have nothing to cover themselves but go quite naked men & women, and are the most wretched sett I ever beheld or heard of."
Green's Log is by the astronomer of the expedition. He heads his page "Coasting New Holland northward." Though he puts April 28 for 29, his Botany Bay visit is thus recorded:—
"Hoisted out the boats at 3 the Captn &c. with Marines and boat's crew arm'd attempted landing but were opposed on the rocks of Sandy beach by 2 Indians with 4 prong'd wooden fish gigs tipt at the ends with 4 fish bones and fastened to ye wood with a gummy resinous substance; one of them under cover of a shield approach'd the boats and threw his Gig and in return was wounded with small shot. They now fled & with them a woman and 6 or 7 boys.
"On the beach they found 3 or 4 canoes made of the bark of a tree gather'd up at either end and stuck open with a few sticks for thwarts—the houses too (about 5) were no more than angular Kennels made by binding a piece of bark in the middle and resting either end on the ground encreasing the No of the pieces of bark according to ye length desired."
An unnamed log has the same account of the Bay.
The Log signed Cha Clerke is, like others of the early Cook age, wholly innocent of a reference to Botany Bay.
This is its treatment of April 29th:—
"Moored in Sting Rea bay. Little wind and fair. ½ past 1 came too with ye B.B. in 6½ fa sandy ground hoisted ye boats out. The Cap &c. attempting to Land was opposed by a few natives who dispersed on being wounded by small shot, in ye evening they returned having found a watering place."
On Saturday, May 5, we read:—
"Moored in Sting Rea Bay."
The Wilkinson's Log ranges from June 22, 1768, to August 3, 1770. Under April 29 we have this report:—