[Footnote 71: Beads and ribbons, and all other niceties in ornament, could be of little or no value in the estimation of those, who with difficulty could procure the necessaries of life. The love of such trifles does not seem to be excited, till the physical wants are so far supplied, as to leave the mind free to the discursive recreations of fancy. Their excellence or superiority in attire becomes distinctive of affluence and ease, and of course procures respect, which, by a principle inherent in human nature, all persons seek to obtain.--E.]
Having sent some empty water-casks on shore, and left a party of men to cut wood, I went myself in the pinnace to sound, and examine the bay; during my excursion I saw several of the natives, but they all fled at my approach. In one of the places where I landed, I found several small fires, and fresh mussels broiling upon them; here also I found some of the largest oyster-shells I had ever seen.
As soon as the wooders and waterers came on board to dinner, ten or twelve of the natives came down to the place, and looked with great attention and curiosity at the casks, but did not touch them: They took away however the canoes which lay near the landing-place, and again disappeared. In the afternoon, when our people were again ashore, sixteen or eighteen Indians, all armed, came boldly within about an hundred yards of them, and then stopped: Two of them advanced somewhat nearer; and Mr Hicks, who commanded the party on shore, with another, advanced to meet them, holding out presents to them as he approached, and expressing kindness and amity by every sign he could think of, but all without effect; for before he could get up with them they retired, and it would have answered no purpose to pursue. In the evening, I went with Mr Banks and Dr Solander to a sandy cove on the north side of the bay, where, in three or four hauls with the seine, we took above three hundred-weight of fish, which was equally divided among the ship's company.
The next morning, before day-break, the Indians came down to the houses that were abreast of the ship, and were heard frequently to shout very loud. As soon as it was light, they were seen walking along the beach; and soon after they retired to the woods, where, at the distance of about a mile from the shore, they kindled several fires.
Our people went ashore as usual, and with them Mr Banks and Dr Solander; who, in search of plants, repaired to the woods. Our men, who were employed in cutting grass, being the farthest removed from the main body of the people, a company of fourteen or fifteen Indians advanced towards them, having sticks in their hands, which, according to the report of the serjeant of the marines, shone like a musquet. The grass-cutters, upon seeing them approach, drew together, and repaired to the main body. The Indians, being encouraged by this appearance of a flight, pursued them; they stopped however when they were within about a furlong of them, and after shouting several times went back into the woods. In the evening they came again in the same manner, stopped at the same distance, shouted and retired. I followed them myself, alone and unarmed, for a considerable way along the shore, but I could not prevail upon them to stop.
This day Mr Green took the sun's meridian altitude a little within the south entrance of the bay, which gave the latitude 34° S., the variation of the needle was 11° 3' E.
Early the next morning, the body of Forby Sutherland, one of our seamen, who died the evening before, was buried near the watering-place; and from this incident I called the south point of this bay Sutherland Point. This day we resolved to make an excursion into the country. Mr Banks, Dr Solander, myself, and seven others, properly accoutred for the expedition, set out, and repaired first to the huts, near the watering-place, whither some of the natives continued every day to resort; and though the little presents which we had left there before had not yet been taken away, we left others of somewhat more value, consisting of cloth, looking-glasses, combs, and beads, and then went up into the country. We found the soil to be either swamp or light sand, and the face of the country finely diversified by wood and lawn. The trees are tall, straight, and without underwood, standing at such a distance from each other, that the whole country, at least where the swamps do not render it incapable of cultivation, might be cultivated without cutting down one of them: Between the trees the ground is covered with grass, of which there is great abundance, growing in tufts about as big as can well be grasped in the hand, which stand very close to each other. We saw many houses of the inhabitants, and places where they had slept upon the grass without any shelter; but we saw only one of the people, who the moment he discovered us ran away. At all these places we left presents, hoping that at length they might produce confidence and good-will. We had a transient and imperfect view of a quadruped about as big as a rabbit: Mr Banks's grey-hound, which was with us, got sight of it, and would probably have caught it, but the moment he set off he lamed himself, against a stump which lay concealed in the long grass. We afterwards saw the dung of an animal which fed upon grass, and which we judged could not be less than a deer; and the footsteps of another, which was clawed like a dog, and seemed to be about as big as a wolf; we also tracked a small animal, whose foot resembled that of a polecat or weasel. The trees over our head abounded with birds of various kinds, among which were many of exquisite beauty, particularly loriquets and cockatoos, which flew in flocks of several scores together. We found some wood which had been felled by the natives with a blunt instrument, and some that had been barked. The trees were not of many species; among others there was a large one which yielded a gum not unlike the Sanguis draconis; and in some of them steps that had been cut at about three feet distance from each other, for the convenience of climbing them.
From this excursion we returned between three and four o'clock, and having dined on board, we went ashore again at the watering-place, where a party of men were filling casks. Mr Gore, the second lieutenant, had been sent out in the morning with a boat to dredge for oysters at the head of the bay; when he had performed this service, he went ashore, and having taken a midshipman with him, and sent the boat away, set out to join the waterers by land. In his way he fell in with a body of two-and-twenty Indians, who followed him, and were often not more than twenty yards distant; when Mr Gore perceived them so near, he stopped, and faced about, upon which they stopped also; and when he went on again, continued their pursuit: They did not however attack him, though they were all armed with lances, and he and the midshipman got in safety to the watering-place. The Indians, who had slackened their pursuit when they came in sight of the main body of our people, halted at about the distance of a quarter of a mile, where they stood still. Mr Monkhouse and two or three of the waterers took it into their head to march up to them; but seeing the Indians keep their ground till they came pretty near them, they were seized with a sudden fear very common to the rash and fool-hardy, and made a hasty retreat: This step, which insured the danger that it was taken to avoid, encouraged the Indians, and four of them running forward discharged their lances at the fugitives, with such force, that flying no less than forty yards, they went beyond them. As the Indians did not pursue, our people, recovering their spirits, stopped to collect the lances when they came up to the place where they lay; upon which the Indians, in their turn, began to retire. Just at this time I came up, with Mr Banks, Dr Solander, and Tupia; and being desirous to convince the Indians that we were neither afraid of them, nor intended them any mischief, we advanced towards them, making signs of expostulation and entreaty, but they could not be persuaded to wait till we could come up. Mr Gore told us, that he had seen some of them up the bay, who had invited him by signs to come on shore, which he, certainly with great prudence, declined.
The morning of the next day was so rainy, that we were all glad to stay on board. In the afternoon, however, it cleared up, and we made another excursion along the sea-coast to the southward: We went ashore, and Mr Banks and Dr Solander gathered many plants; but besides these we saw nothing worthy of notice. At our first entering the woods, we met with three of the natives, who instantly ran away: More of them were seen by some of the people, but they all disappeared, with great precipitation, as soon as they found that they were discovered. By the boldness of these people at our first landing, and the terror that seized them at the sight of us afterwards, it appears that they were sufficiently intimidated by our fire-arms: Not that we had any reason to think the people much hurt by the small-shot which we were obliged to fire at them, when they attacked us at our coming out of the boat; but they had probably seen the effects of them, from their lurking-places, upon the birds that we had shot. Tupia, who was now become a good marksman, frequently strayed from us to shoot parrots; and he had told us, that while he was thus employed, he had once met with nine Indians, who, as soon as they perceived he saw them, ran from him, in great confusion and terror.
The next day, twelve canoes, in each of which was a single Indian, came towards the watering-place, and were within half a mile of it a considerable time: They were employed in striking fish, upon which, like others that we had seen before, they were so intent, that they seemed to regard nothing else. It happened, however, that a party of our people were out a-shooting near the place, and one of the men, whose curiosity might at length perhaps be roused by the report of the fowling-pieces, was observed by Mr Banks to haul up his canoe upon the beach, and go towards the shooting party: In something more than a quarter of an hour he returned, launched his canoe, and went off in her to his companions. This incident makes it probable that the natives acquired a knowledge of the destructive power of our fire-arms, when we knew nothing of the matter; for this man was not seen by any of the party whose operations he had reconnoitred.