The blowing weather, which prevented our attempt to get out to sea, still continuing, Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander went out again on the 24th to see whether any new plant could be picked up: they traversed the woods all day without success; but as they were returning through a deep valley, the sides of which, though almost as perpendicular as a wall, were covered with trees and bushes, they found lying upon the ground several marking nuts, the anacardium orientale; these put them upon a new scent, and they made a most diligent search after the tree that bore them, which perhaps no European botanist ever saw; but to their great mortification they could not find it: so that, after spending much time, and cutting down four or five trees, they returned quite exhausted with fatigue to the ship.
On the 25th, having made an excursion up the river, I found a canoe belonging to our friends the Indians, whom we had not seen since the affair of the turtle; they had left it tied to some mangroves, about a mile distant from the ship, and I could see by their fires that they were retired at least six miles directly inland.
As Mr. Banks was again gleaning the country for his Natural History, on the 26th he had the good fortune to take an animal of the Opossum tribe: it was a female, and with it he took two young ones: it was found much to resemble the remarkable animal of the kind, which Mons. de Buffon has described in his Natural History by the name of Phalanger, but it was not the same. Mons. Buffon supposes this tribe to be peculiar to America, but in this he is certainly mistaken; and, probably, as Pallas has observed in his Zoology, the Phalanger itself is a native of the East Indies, as the animal which was caught by Mr. Banks resembled it in the extraordinary conformation of the feet, in which it differs from animals of every other tribe.
On the 27th Mr. Gore shot a kanguroo, which, with the skin, entrails, and head, weighed eighty-four pounds. Upon examination, however, we found that this animal was not at its full growth, the innermost grinders not being yet formed. We dressed it for dinner the next day, but to our great disappointment, we found it had a much worse flavour than that we had eaten before.
The wind continued in the same quarter, and with the same violence, till five o’clock in the morning of the 29th, when it fell calm; soon after a light breeze sprung up from the land, and it being about two hours’ ebb, I sent a boat to see what water was upon the bar; in the mean time we got the anchor up, and made all ready to put to sea. But when the boat came back, the officer reported that there was only thirteen feet water upon the bar, which was six inches less than the ship drew. We were therefore obliged to come to, and the sea-breeze setting in again about eight o’clock, we gave up all hope of sailing that day.
We had fresh gales at S. E., with hazy weather and rain, till two in the morning of the 31st, when the weather being something more moderate, I had thoughts of trying to warp the ship out of the harbour; but upon going out myself first in the boat, I found it still blow too fresh for the attempt. During all this time the pinnace and yawl continued to ply the net and hook with tolerable success; sometimes taking a turtle, and frequently bringing in from two to three hundred weight of fish.
On the 1st of August the carpenter examined the pumps, and, to our great mortification, found them all in a state of decay, owing, as he said, to the sap having been left in the wood; one of them was so rotten, as, when hoisted up, to drop to pieces, and the rest were little better; so that our chief trust was now in the soundness of our vessel, which happily did not admit more than one inch of water in an hour.
At six o’clock in the morning of Friday, the 3d, we made another unsuccessful attempt to warp the ship out of the harbour; but at five o’clock in the morning of the 4th, our efforts had a better effect, and about seven we got once more under sail, with a light air from the land, which soon died away, and was followed by the sea-breezes from S. E. by S., with which we stood off to sea E. by N., having the pinnace ahead, which was ordered to keep sounding continually. The yawl had been sent to the turtle bank, to take up the net which had been left there; but as the wind freshened, we got out before her. A little before noon we anchored in fifteen fathom water, with a sandy bottom; for I did not think it safe to run in among the shoals till I had well viewed them at low water from the mast-head, which might determine me which way to steer; for, as yet, I was in doubt whether I should beat back to the southward, round all the shoals, or seek a passage to the eastward or the northward, all which at present appeared to be equally difficult and dangerous. When we were at anchor, the harbour from which we sailed bore S. 70 W., distant about five leagues; the northernmost point of the main in sight, which I named Cape Bedford, and which lies in latitude 15° 16ʹ S., longitude 214° 45ʹ W., bore N. 20 W., distant three leagues and a half; but to the N. E. of this cape we could see land which had the appearance of two high islands: the turtle banks bore east, distant one mile: our latitude, by observation, was 15° 32ʹ S., and our depth of water in standing off from the land was from three and a half to fifteen fathom.
CHAP. V.
DEPARTURE FROM ENDEAVOUR RIVER; A PARTICULAR DESCRIPTION OF THE HARBOUR THERE, IN WHICH THE SHIP WAS REFITTED, THE ADJACENT COUNTRY, AND SEVERAL ISLANDS NEAR THE COAST: THE RANGE FROM ENDEAVOUR RIVER TO THE NORTHERN EXTREMITY OF THE COUNTRY, AND THE DANGERS OF THAT NAVIGATION.
To the harbour which we had now left, I gave the name of Endeavour River. It is only a small bar harbour, or creek, which runs in a winding channel three or four leagues inland, and at the head of which there is a small brook of fresh water. There is not depth of water for shipping above a mile within the bar, and at this distance only on the north side, where the bank is so steep for near a quarter of a mile, that a ship may lie afloat at low water, so near the shore as to reach it with a stage, and the situation is extremely convenient for heaving down; but at low water, the depth upon the bar is not more than nine or ten feet, nor more than seventeen or eighteen at the height of the tide; the difference between high and low water, at spring tides, being about nine feet. At the new and full of the moon it is high water between nine and ten o’clock. It must also be remembered, that this part of the coast is so barricaded with shoals, as to make the harbour still more difficult of access; the safest approach is from the southward, keeping the main land close upon the board all the way. Its situation may always be found by the latitude, which has been very accurately laid down. Over the south point is some high land, but the north point is formed by a low sandy beach, which extends about three miles to the northward, where the land begins again to be high.