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[…] We continued in the same course, with from twelve fathoms to seven, till five in the evening, when we were abreast of the south point (Round Hill Head) of a large open bay, in which I intended to anchor.

During this course we discovered with our glasses that the land was covered with palm-nut-trees, which we had not seen from the time of our leaving the islands within the Tropics: we also saw two men walking along the shore, who did not condescend to take the least notice of us. […]

 

[…] Early next morning I went ashore, with a party of men, in order to examine the country. […] We landed a little within the south point of the bay, where we found a channel leading into a

large lagoon. […] We found several bogs and swamps of salt water, upon which and by the sides of the lagoon, grows the true mangrove, such as is found in the West Indies […] In the branches of these mangroves there were many nests of a remarkable kind of ant, that was as green as grass: when the branches were disturbed they came out in great numbers, and punished the offender by a much sharper bite than ever we had felt before. Upon the mangroves we also saw small green caterpillars in great numbers: their bodies were thick set with hairs, and they were ranged upon the leaves side by side like a file of soldiers, to the number of twenty to thirty together: when we touched them, we found the hair on their bodies had the quality of a nettle, and gave us much more acute but less durable pain. The country here is manifestly worse than about Botany Bay: the soil is dry and sandy, but the hills are covered with trees, which grow separately without underwood. We found here a tree that yields gum […] different to the trees of the same kind which we had seen before, for the leaves are longer and hang down like the weeping willow. […] Among the shoals and sandbanks we saw many large birds, some in particular of the same kind we had seen in Botany Bay, much bigger than swans, that we judged to be pelicans; but they were so shy we could not get within gun-shot of them. Upon the shore we saw a species of the bustard, one of which we shot, it was as large as a turkey and weighed seventeen pounds and a half. We all agreed that this was the best bird we had eaten since we left England; and in honour of it we called this inlet Bustard Bay. It lies in latitude 24.4S, longitude 151.42E.

[…] We found ten small fires still burning within a few paces of each other; but the people were gone: we saw near them several vessels of bark, which we supposed to have contained water, and some shells and fishbones, the remains of a recent meal. We saw also, lying upon the ground, several pieces of soft bark, about the length and breadth of a man, which we imagined might be

their beds. […] The place seemed to be much trodden, and as we saw no house, nor remains of a house, we were inclined to believe that as these people had no clothes, they had no dwelling: but spent their nights, among the other commoners of Nature, in the open air […].

 

 

 

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