1770- of water: the foil in thefe vallies, and in the plains» of
, .... ' t which there are many that are not overgrown with wood» is
in general light but fertile, and in the opinion of Mr. Banks
and Dr. Solander, as well as of every other gentleman on
board, every kind of European grain, plants, and fruit,
would flourifh here in the utmoft luxuriance: from the vegetables
that we found here, there is reafon to conclude,
that the winters are milder than thofe in England, and we
found the fummer not hotter, though it was more equally
warm; fo that if this country Ihould be fettled by people
from Europe, they would, with a little induftry, be; very
foon fupplied not only with the neceffaries, but the luxuries
of life in great abundance.
Quadrupeds. In this country there are no quadrupeds but dogs and rats,
at leaft we faw no other, and the rats are fo fcarce that many
of us never faw them. The dogs live with the people, who
breed them for no other purpofe than to eat: there might
indeed be quadrupeds that we did not fee, but this is not
probable, becaufe the chief pride o f the natives, with refpedt
to their drefs, is in the fkins and hair of fuch animals as they
have, and we never faw the ikin of any animal about them
but thofe of dogs and birds: there are indeed feals upon the
eoaft, and we once faw a fea lion, but we imagine they are
feldom caught,' for though we faw fome of their teeth
which were fafhioned into an ornament like a bodkin, and
worn by the natives at their bread, and highly valued, we
faw none of their fkins: there are whales alfo upon this
coaft, and though the people did not appear to have any art
or inftrument by which fuch an animal could be taken and
killed, we faw pattoo-pattoos in the pofieflion of fome of
them, which were made of the bone of a whale, or Of fome
other animal whofe bone had exactly the fame appearance.
Of
Of birds the fpecies are not many; I and of thefe none,
except perhaps the gannet, is the fame with thdfe of Eu- '—
rope: here are ducks indeed, and fhags of feveral kinds,
fufficiently refembling thofe o f Europe, to be called the
fame, by thofe who have not examined them very nicely.
Here are alfo hawks, owls, and quails, which differ but
little from thofe of Europe at firft fight; andTeveral fmall
birds, whofe fong, as has been remarked in the courfe of
the narrative, is much more melodious than any that we
had ever heard.
The fea coaft is alfo vifited by many oceanic birds, particularly
albatrofies, flieerwaters, pintados, and a few of the
birds which Sir John Narborough has called Penguins, and
which indeed are what the French call Nuance, and feem
to be a middle fpecies between bird and fifh; for their feathers,
efpecially thofe upon their wings, differ very little
from fcales; and their wings themfelves, which they ufe only
in diving, and not to accelerate their motion even upon the
furface of the water, may, perhaps With equal propriety, be
called fins.
Neither are infefts in greater plenty than birds: a few
butterflies and beetles, flefh flies, very like thofe in Europe,
and fome mufquitos and fand flies, perhaps exactly the fame
with thofe of North America, make up the whole catalogue.
Of mufquitos and fand flies, however, which are juftly accounted
the curfe o f every country where they abound, We
did not fee many; there were indeed a few in almoft every
place where we went on fhore, but they gave us fo little
trouble, that we did not make ufe of the fhades which we
had provided for the fecurity of cmr faces.
For this fcarcity of animals upon the land, the fea, however,
makes an abundant recompenfe; every cieek fwarm-
E 2 'ing