May.' blew frefh, and we found it fp cold, that being at fome
r7''7— ' diftance from the fhore, we took our cloaks as a neceffarv
equipment for the voyage. We landed a little within the
fouth point of the bay, where we found a channel leading
into a large lagoon: this channel I proceeded to examine,
and found three fathom water till I got about a mile up it,
where 1 met with a fhoal, upon which there was little more
than one fathom,, but having paired over it, I had three fa-
thorn again. The entrance of this channel lies clofe to the
fouth point of the bay, being formed by the fhore on the
eaft, and on the well by a large fpit of fand: • it is about a
quarter of a mile broad, and lies, in S. by W. In this
place there is room for a few fhips to lie in great fecurity,
and a fmall ftream of frefli water; I would have rowed into
the lagoon, but was prevented by fhallows. We found
feveral bogs, and fwamps of fait water, upon which, and
by the lides of the lagoon, grows the true mangrove, fuch
as. is found in the Weft Indies, and the firft of the kind that
we had met with. In the branches: of thefe man groves there
were many nefts of a remarkable kind of ant, that was as
green as grafs: when the branches were difturbed they came
out in great numbers, and puniflied the offender by a much
fharper bite than ever we had felt from the fame kind of
animal before. Upon thefe mangroves alfo we faw fmall
green caterpillars in great numbers: their bodies were thick
fet with hairs, and they were ranged upon the leaves fide by
fide like a file of foldiers, to the number of twenty or thirty
together: when we touched them, we found that the hair
on their bodies had the quality of a nettle, and gave us a
much more acute, though lefs durable pain. The country
here is manifeftly worfe than about Botany Bay: the foil is
dry and fandy, but the fides of the hills are covered with
trees, which grow feparately, without underwood. We
found
found here the tree that yields a gum like the fanguis draco- i?7°-
nis; but it is fomewhat different from the trees of the fame .— _i
kind which we had feen before, for the leaves are longer, Wcdne' Z3‘
and hang down like thofe of the weeping willow. We found
alfo much lefs gum upon them, which is contrary to the
eftablifhed opinion, that the hotter the climate, the more
gums exude. Upon a plant alfo, which yielded a yellow
guin, there was lefs than upon the fame kind of plant in-.
Botany Bay., Among the fhoals and fand-banks we faw
many large birds, fome in particular of the fame kind that
we had feen in Botany Bay, much bigger than fwanS, which
we judged to be pelicans; but they were fo fhy that we
could not get within gun-lhot of them. Upon the lhore we
faw a fpecies of the buftard, one of which we fhot, it was
as large as a turkey, and weighed feventeen pounds and an
half. We all agreed that this was the beft bird we had eaten
fince we left England; and in honour of it we called this,
inlet B u s t a r d B a y . It lies in latitude 2 4 0 4', longitude.
208° 18', The fea feemed to abound with filh ; but unhappily,
we tore our feine all to pieces at the firft haul: upon
the mud-banks, under the mangroves, we found innumerable
oyfters of various kinds ; among others the hammer-
oyfter, and a large proportion of fmall pearl-oyfters: if in
deeper water there is equal plenty of fuch oyfters at their
full growth, a pearl fifhery might certainly be eftablifhed
here to very great advantage.
The people who were left on board the fliip faid, that while-
we were in the woods about twenty of the natives came
down to the beach, abreaft of her, and having looked at her
fometime, went away; but we that were afhore,' though we
faw fmoke in many places, faw no people: the fmoke’was
at places too diftant for us to get to them, by land, except one,,
to