1

sea-bream. At eleven, a light breeze sprung up from the west, and we made sail to the southward. We continued to steer S. by W. and S.S.W. along the shore, at the distance of about four leagues, with gentle breezes from between N.W. and N.N.E. At seven in the evening, we saw the top of the peak to the southward, above the clouds, which concealed it below. And at this time, the southermost land in sight bore S. by W.; the variation, by several azimuths which were taken both in the morning and the evening, appeared to be 14° 15′ easterly.

At noon on the 12th, we were distant about three leagues from the shore which lies under the peak, but the peak itself was wholly concealed by clouds: We judged it to bear about S.S.E.; and some very remarkable peaked islands, which lay under the shore, bore E.S.E. distant three or four leagues. At seven in the evening we sounded, and had forty-two fathom, being distant from the shore between two and three leagues: We judged the peak to bear east; and after it was dark, we saw fires upon the shore.

At five o'clock in the morning we saw, for a few minutes, the summit of the peak, towering above the clouds, and covered with snow. It now bore N.E.; it lies in latitude 39° 16′ S. longitude 185° 15′ W.; and I named it Mount Egmont, in honour of the Earl. It seems to have a large base, and to rise with a gradual ascent. It lies near the sea, and is surrounded by a flat country of a pleasant appearance, being clothed with verdure and wood, which renders it the more conspicuous, and the shore under it forms a large cape, which I have named Cape Egmont. It lies S.S.W. W. twenty-seven leagues distant from Albetross Point, and on the north side of it are two small islands, which lie near a remarkable point on the main, that rises to a considerable height in the form of a sugar-loaf. To the southward of the Cape, the land trends away S.E. by E. and S.S. E. and seems to be every where a bold shore. At noon, Cape Egmont bore about N.E.; and in this direction, at about four leagues from the shore, we had forty fathom of water. The wind, during the rest of the day was from W. to N.W. by W. and we continued to steer along the shore S.S.E. and S.E. by E. keeping at the distance of between two and three leagues. At half an hour after seven, we had another transient view of Mount Edgecoinbe, which bore N. 17 W. distant about ten leagues.

At

At five the next morning, we steered S.E. by S. the coast inclining more southerly; and in about half an hour, we saw land bearing S.W. by S. for which we hauled up. At noon the north-west extremity of the land in sight bore S. 63 W. and some high land, which had the appearance of an island lying under the main, bore S.S.E. distant five leagues. We were now in a bay, the bottom of which bearing south we could not see, though it was clear in that quarter. Our latitude by observation was 40° 27′ S. longitude 184° 39′ W. At eight in the evening, we were within two leagues of the land which we had discovered in the morning, having run ten leagues since noon: The land which then bore S. 63 W. now bore N. 49 W. at the distance of seven or eight leagues, and had the appearance of an island. Between this land and Cape Egmont lies the bay, the west side of which was our situation at this time, and the land here is of a considerable height, and diversified by hill and valley.

1

SECTION XXVI.

Transactions in Queen Charlotte's Sound: Passage through the Streight which divides the two Islands, and back to Cape Turnagain : Horrid Custom of the Inhabitants: Remarkable Melody of Birds: A Visit to a Heppah, and many other Particulars.

THE shore at this place seemed to form several bays, into one of which I proposed to carry the ship, which was become very foul, in order to careen her, and at the same time repair some defects, and recruit our wood and water.

With this view I kept plying on and off all night, having from eighty to sixty-three fathom. At day-break the next morning, I stood for an inlet which runs in S.W.; and at eight I got within the entrance, which may be known by a reef of rocks, stretching from the north-west point, and some rocky islands which lie off the south-east point. At nine o'clock, there being little wind, and what there was being variable, we were carried by the tide or current within two cables' length of the north-west shore, where we had fifty-four fathom water, but by the help of our boats we got clear. Just at this time we saw a sea-lion rise twice

near the shore, the head of which exactly resembled that of the male which has been described in the account of Lord Anson's voyage. We also saw some of the natives in a canoe cross the bay, and a village situated upon the point of an island which lies seven or eight miles within the entrance. At noon, we were the length of this island, but there being little wind, the boats were ordered a-head to tow. About one o'clock we hauled close round the southwest end of the island; and the inhabitants of the village which was built upon it, were immediately up in arms. About two, we anchored in a very safe and convenient cove, on the north-west side of the bay, and facing the southwest end of the island, in eleven fathom water, with soft ground, and moored with the stream anchor.

We were about four long cannon-shot distant from the village or Heppah, from which four canoes were immediately dispatched, as we imagined to reconnoitre, and, if they should find themselves able, to take us. The men were all well armed, and dressed nearly as they are represented in the figure published by Tasman; two corners of the cloth which they wrapped round the body were passed over the shoulders from behind, and being brought down to the upper edge of it before, were made fast to it just under the breast; but few, or none, had feathers in their hair.

They rowed round the ship several times, with their usual tokens of menace and defiance, and at last began the assault, by throwing some stones: Tupia expostulated with them, but apparently to very little purpose; and we began to fear that they would oblige us to fire at them, when a very old man in one of the boats expressed a desire of coming on board. We gladly encouraged him in his design, a rope was thrown into his canoe, and she was immediately alongside of the ship: The old man rose up, and prepared to come up the ship's side, upon which all the rest expostulated with great vehemence against the attempt, and at last laid hold of him, and held him back: He adhered, however, to his purpose, with a calm but steady perseverance, and having at length disengaged himself, he came on board. We received him with all possible expressions of friendship and kindness, and after some time dismissed him, with many presents, to his companions. As soon as he was returned on board his canoe, the people in all the rest began to dance, but whether as a token of enmity or friendship we would not certainly determine, for we had seen them dance in a disposition both for peace and war. In a short time, however, they retired to their fort, and soon after I went on shore, with most of the gentlemen, at the bottom of the cove, a-breast of the ship.

We found a fine stream of excellent water, and wood in the greatest plenty, for the land here was one forest, of vast extent. As we brought the seine with us, we hauled it once or twice, and with such success, that we caught near three hundred weight of fish, of different sorts, which was equally distributed among the ship's company.

At day-break, while we were busy in careening the ship, three canoes came off to us, having on board above a hundred men, besides several of their women, which we were pleased to see, as in general it is a sign of peace; but they soon afterwards became very troublesoine, and gave us reason to apprehend some mischief from them to the people that were in our boats alongside the ship. While we were in this situation, the long-boat was sent ashore with some water-casks, and some of the canoes attempting to follow her, we found it necessary to intimidate them, by firing some small shot: We were at such a distance, that it was impossible to hurt them, yet our reproof had its effect, and they desisted from the pursuit. They had some fish in their canoes, which they now offered to sell, and which, though it stunk, we consented to buy: For this purpose a man in a small boat was sent among them, and they traded for some time very fairly. At length, however, one of them, watching his opportunity, snatched at some paper which our market-man held in his hand, and missing it, immediately put himself in a posture of defence, flourishing his patoo-patoo, and making show as if he was about to strike; some small-shot were then fired at him from the ship, a few of which struck him upon the knee: This put an end to our trade, but the Indians still continued near the ship, rowing round her many times, and conversing with Tupia, chiefly concerning the traditions they had among them with respect to the antiquities of their country. To this subject they were led by the enquiries which Tupia had been directed to make, whether they had ever seen such a vessel as ours, or had ever heard that any such had been upon their coast. These enquiries were all answered in the negative, so that tradition has preserved among them no memorial memorial of Tasman; though, by an observation made this day, we find that we are only fifteen miles south of Murderer's bay, our latitude being 41° 5' 32", and Murderer's bay, according to his account, being 40° 50′.

The women in these canoes, and some of the men, had a head-dress which we had not before seen. It consisted of a bunch of black feathers, made up in a round form, and tied upon the top of the head, which it entirely covered, and made it twice as high, to appearance, as it was in reality.

After dinner, I went in the pinnace with Mr Banks, Dr Solander, Tupia, and some others, into another cove, about two miles distant from that in which the ship lay: In our way we saw something floating upon the water, which we took for a dead seal, but upon rowing up to it, found it to be the body of a woman, which to all appearance had been dead some days. We proceeded to our cove, where we went on shore, and found a small family of Indians, who appeared to be greatly terrified at our approach, and all ran away except one. A conversation between this person and Tupia soon brought back the rest, except an old man and a child, who still kept aloof, but stood peeping at us from the woods. Of these people, our curiosity naturally led us to enquire after the body of the woman, which we had seen floating upon the water: And they acquainted us, by Tupia, that she was a relation, who had died a natural death; and that, according to their custom, they had tied a stone to the body, and thrown it into the sea, which stone, they supposed, had by some accident been disengaged.

This family, when we came on shore, was employed in dressing some provisions: The body of a dog was at this time buried in their oven, and many provision baskets stood near it. Having cast our eyes carelessly into one of these as we passed it, we saw two bones pretty cleanly picked, which did not seem to be the bones of a dog, and which, upon a nearer examination, we discovered to be those of a human body. At this sight we were struck with horror, though it was only a confirmation of what we had heard many times since we arrived upon this coast. As we could have no doubt but the bones were human, neither could we have any doubt that the flesh which covered them had been eaten. They were found in a provision basket; the flesh that remained appeared manifestly to have been dressed by fire, and in the gristles at the end, were the marks of the teeth