We had fresh gales at S.E., with hazy weather and rain, till two in the morning of the 31st, when the weather being something more moderate, I had thoughts of trying to warp the ship out of the harbour; but upon going out myself first in the boat, I found it still blow too fresh for the attempt. During all this time the pinnace and yawl continued to ply the net and hook with tolerable success; sometimes taking a turtle, and frequently bringing in from two to three hundred-weight of fish.
On the 1st of August, the carpenter examined the pumps, and to our great mortification, found them all in a state of decay, owing, as he said, to the sap's being left in the wood; one of them was so rotten, as, when hoisted up, to drop to pieces, and the rest were little better; so that our chief trust was now in the soundness of our vessel, which happily did not admit more than one inch of water in an hour.
At six o'clock in the morning of Friday the 3d, we made another unsuccessful attempt to warp the ship out of the harbour; but at five o'clock in the morning of the 4th, our efforts had a better effect, and about seven we got once more under sail, with a light air from the land, which soon died away, and was followed by the sea breezes from S.E. by S., with which we stood off to sea E. by N., having the pinnace a-head, which was ordered to keep sounding continually. The yawl had been sent to the turtle bank to take up the net which had been left there; but as the wind freshened, we got out before her. A little before noon we anchored in fifteen fathom water, with a sandy bottom, for I did not think it safe to run in among the shoals till I had well viewed them at low water from the mast head, which might determine me which way to steer; for as yet I was in doubt whether I should beat back to the southward, round all the shoals, or seek a passage to the eastward or the northward, all which at present appeared to be equally difficult and dangerous. When we were at anchor, the harbour from which we sailed bore S. 70 W., distant about five leagues; the northermost point of the main in sight, which I named Cape Bedford, and which lies in latitude 15° 16' S. longitude 214° 45' W., bore N. 20 W., distant three leagues and a half; but to the N.E. of this cape we could see land which had the appearance of two high islands: The turtle banks bore east, distant one mile; our latitude by observation was 15° 32' S., and our depth of water in standing off from the land was from three and a half to fifteen fathom.
SECTION XXXII.
Departure from Endeavour River; a particular Description of the Harbour there, in which the Ship was refitted, the adjacent Country, and several Islands near the Coast; the Range from Endeavour River to the Northern Extremity of the Country, and the Dangers of that Navigation.
To the harbour which we had now left, I gave the name of Endeavour River. It is only a small bar, harbour, or creek, which runs in a winding channel three or four leagues inland, and at the head of which there is a small brook of fresh water: There is not depth of water for shipping above a mile within the bar, and at this distance only on the north side; where the bank is so steep for near a quarter of a mile, that a ship may lie afloat at low water, so near the shore as to reach it with a stage, and the situation is extremely convenient for heaving down; but at low water the depth upon the bar is not more than nine or ten feet, nor more than seventeen or eighteen at the height of the tide; the difference between high and low water, at spring tides, being about nine feet. At the new and full of the moon it is high water between nine and ten o'clock: It must also be remembered, that this part of the coast is so barricaded with shoals, as to make the harbour still more difficult of access; the safest approach is from the southward, keeping the main land close upon the board all the way. Its situation may always be found by the latitude, which has been very accurately laid down. Over the south point is some high land, but the north point is formed by a low sandy beach, which extends about three miles to the northward, where the land begins again to be high.
The chief refreshment that we procured here was turtle, but as they were not to be had without going five leagues out to sea, and the weather was frequently tempestuous, we did not abound with this dainty: What we caught, as well as the fish, was always equally divided among us all by weight, the meanest person on board having the same share as myself; and I think every commander, in such a voyage as this, will find it his interest to follow the same rule. In several parts of the sandy beaches, and sand hills near the sea, we found purslain, and a kind of bean that grows upon a stalk, which creeps along the ground: The purslain we found very good when it was boiled, and the beans are not to be despised, for we found them of great service to our sick: The best greens, however, that could be procured here, were the tops of the coccos, which have been mentioned already, as known in the West Indies by the name of Indian kale: These were, in our opinion, not much inferior to spinnage, which in taste they somewhat resemble; the roots indeed are not good, but they might probably be meliorated by proper cultivation. They are found here chiefly in boggy ground. The few cabbage palms that we met with were in general small, and yielded so little cabbage that they were not worth seeking.
Besides the kanguroo and the opossum that have been already mentioned, and a kind of pole-cat, there are wolves upon this part of the coast, if we were not deceived by the tracks upon the ground, and several species of serpents; some of the serpents are venomous, and some harmless: There are no tame animals here except dogs, and of these we saw but two or three, which frequently came about the tents to pick up the scraps and bones that happened to lie scattered near them. There does not indeed seem to be many of any animal except the kanguroo; we scarcely saw any other above once, but this we met with almost every time we went into the woods. Of land-fowls we saw crows, kites, hawks, cockatoos of two sorts, one white and the other black, a very beautiful kind of loriquets, some parrots, pigeons of two or three sorts, and several small birds not known in Europe. The water-fowls are herns, whistling ducks, which perch, and, I believe, roost upon trees, wild geese, curlieus, and a few others, but these do not abound. The face of the country, which has been occasionally mentioned before, is agreeably diversified by hill and valley, lawn and wood. The soil of the hills is hard, dry, and stony, yet it produces coarse grass besides wood: The soil of the plains and vallies is in some places sand, and in some clay; in some also it is rocky and stony, like the hills; in general, however, it is well clothed, and has at least the appearance of fertility. The whole country, both hill and valley, wood and plain, abounds with anthills, some of which are six or eight feet high, and twice as much in circumference. The trees here are not of many sorts; the gum tree, which we found on the southern part of the coast, is the most common, but here it is not so large: On each side of the river, through its whole course, there are mangroves in great numbers, which in some places extend a mile within the coast. The country is in all parts well watered, there being several fine rivulets at a small distance from each other, but none in the place where we lay, at least not during the time we were there, which was the dry season; we were, however, well supplied with water by springs, which were not far off.
In the afternoon of the 4th, we had a gentle breeze at S.E., and clear weather, but as I did not intend to sail till the morning, I sent all the boats to the reef to get what turtle and shell-fish they could. At low water I went up to the mast-head and took a view of the shoals, which made a very threatening appearance: I could see several at a remote distance, and part of many of them was above water. The sea appeared most open to the north-east of the turtle reef, and I came to a resolution to stretch out that way close upon a wind, because, if we should find no passage, we could always return the way we went. In the evening, the boats brought in a turtle, a sting-ray, and as many large cockles as came to about a pound and a half a man, for in each of them there was not less than two pounds of meat: In the night also we caught several sharks, which, though not a dainty, were an acceptable increase of our fresh provision.
In the morning I waited till half ebb before I weighed, because at that time the shoals begin to appear, but the wind then blew so hard that I was obliged to remain at anchor: In the afternoon, however, the gale becoming more moderate, we got under sail, and stood out upon a wind N.E. by E., leaving the turtle reef to windward, and having the pinnace sounding a-head: We had not kept this course long before we discovered shoals before us, and upon both the bows; and at half an hour after four, having run about eight miles, the pinnace made the signal for shoal water, where we little expected it: Upon this we tacked, and stood on and off, while the pinnace stretched farther to the eastward, and night approaching, I came to an anchor in twenty fathom water, with a muddy bottom. Endeavour River then bore S. 52 W.; Cape Bedford W. by N. 1/2 N., distant five leagues; the northermost land in sight, which had the appearance of an island, N.; and a shoal, a small sandy part of which appeared above water, bore N.E., distant between two and three miles: In standing off from turtle reef to this place, we had from fourteen to twenty fathom water, but when the pinnace was about a mile farther to the E.N.E., there was no more than four or five feet water, with rocky ground, and yet this did not appear to us in the ship. In the morning of the 6th, we had a strong gale, so that instead of weighing, we were obliged to veer away more cable, and strike our top-gallant yards. At low water, myself, with several of the officers, kept a look-out at the mast-head to see if any passage could be discovered between the shoals, but nothing was in view except breakers, extending from the S. round by the E. as far as N.W., and out to sea beyond the reach of our sight; these breakers, however, did not appear to be caused by one continued shoal, but by several which lay detached from each other: On that which lay farthest to the eastward, the sea broke very high, which made me think it was the outermost, for upon many of these within, the breakers were inconsiderable, and from about half ebb to half flood, they were not to be seen at all, which makes sailing among them still more dangerous, especially as the shoals here consist principally of coral rocks, which are as steep as a wall; upon some of them, however, and generally at the north end, there are patches of sand, which are covered only at high water, and which are to be discerned at some distance. Being now convinced that there was no passage to sea but through the labyrinth formed by these shoals, I was altogether at a loss which way to steer, when the weather should permit us to get under sail. It was the master's opinion that we should beat back the way we came, but this would have been an endless labour, as the wind blew strongly from that quarter, almost without intermission; on the other hand, if no passage could be found to the northward, we should be compelled to take that measure at last. These anxious deliberations engaged us till eleven o'clock at night, when the ship drove, and obliged us to veer away to a cable and one third, which brought her up; but in the morning, the gale increasing, she drove again, and we therefore let go the small bower, and veered away to a whole cable upon it, and two cables on the other anchors, yet she still drove, though not so fast; we then got down top gallant-gallant-masts, and struck the yards and topmasts close down, and at last had the satisfaction to find that she rode. Cape Bedford now bore W.S.W. distant three leagues and a half, and in this situation we had shoals to the eastward, extending from the S.E. by S. to the N.N.W., the nearest of which was about two miles distant. As the gale continued, with little remission, we rode till seven o'clock in the morning of the 10th, when it being more moderate, we weighed and stood in for the land, having at length determined to seek a passage along the shore to the northward, still keeping the boat a-head: During our run in we had from nineteen to twelve fathom: After standing in about an hour, we edged away for three small islands that lay N.N.E. 1/2 E., three leagues from Cape Bedford, which the master had visited while we were in port. At nine o'clock we were a-breast of them, and between them and the main: Between us and the main there was another low island, which lies N.N.W. four miles from the three islands; and in this channel we had fourteen fathom water. The northermost point of land in sight now bore N.N.W. 1/2 W., distant about two leagues. Four or five leagues to the north of this head-land we saw three islands, near which lay some that were still smaller, and we could see the shoals and reefs without us, extending to the northward, as far as these islands: Between these reefs and the headland we directed our course, leaving to the eastward a small island, which lies N. by E., distant four miles from the three islands. At noon, we were got between the headland and the three islands: From the head-land we were distant two leagues, and from the islands four; our latitude by observation was 14° 51'. We now thought we saw a clear opening before us, and hoped that we were once more out of danger; in this hope, however, we soon found ourselves disappointed, and for that reason I called the head-land Cape Flattery. It lies in latitude 14° 56' S., longitude 214° 43' W., and is a lofty promontory, making next the sea in two hills, which have a third behind them, with low sandy ground on each side: It may, however, be still better known by the three islands out at sea: The northermost and largest lies about five leagues from the cape, in the direction of N.N.E. From Cape Flattery the land trends away N.W. and N.W. by W. We steered along the shore N.W. by W. till one o'clock, for what we thought the open channel; when the potty officer at the mast-head cried-out that he saw land a-head, extending quite round to the islands that lay without us, and a large reef between us and them: Upon this I ran up to the mast-head myself, from whence I very plainly saw the reef, which was now so far to windward, that we could not weather it, but the land a-head, which he had supposed to be the main, appeared to me to be only a bluster of small islands. As soon as I got down from the mast-head, the master and some others went up, who all insisted that the land a-head was not islands, but the main; and, to make their report still more alarming, they said that they saw breakers all round us. In this dilemma, we hauled upon a wind in for the land, and made the signal for the boat that was sounding a-head to come on board, but as she was far to leeward, we were obliged to edge away to take her up, and soon after we came to an anchor, under a point of the main, in somewhat less than five fathom, and at about the distance of a mile from the shore. Cape Flattery now bore S.E. distant three leagues and a half. As soon as the ship was at anchor, I went ashore upon the point, which is high, and afforded me a good view of the sea coast, trending away N.W. by W. eight or ten leagues, which, the weather not being very clear, was as far as I could see. Nine or ten small low islands, and some shoals, appeared off the coast; I saw also some large shoals between the main and the three high islands, without which, I was clearly of opinion there were more islands, and not any part of the main. Except the point I was now upon, which I called Point Lookout, and Cape Flattery, the main-land, to the northward of Cape Bedford, is low, and chequered with white sand and green bushes, for ten or twelve miles inland, beyond which it rises to a considerable height. To the northward of Point Lookout, the coast appeared to be shoal and flat for a considerable distance, which did not encourage the hope that the channel we had hitherto found in with the land would continue. Upon this point, which was narrow, and consisted of the finest white sand we had ever seen, we discovered the footsteps of people, and we saw also smoke and fire at a distance up the country.