1773. belt Teamen, the ftouteft and m olt healthy people in the Ihip_
,Decemb£r'. Mr. B urney’s party bro ugh t on board two hands, one belong-
Saturiiay 18. i n g 4 Mr< R o w e > know n by a h u rt he had received on i t ;
the other to Thom as Hill, as before-m entioned ; and the
head o f the captain’s fervant. Thefe, w ith m ore of the te-
m ains, w ere tied in a ham m ock, and throw n over-board,
•with ballaft and fliot fufficient to fink it. None of their
arm s nor cloaths were found, except part of a pair o f trow -
fers, a frock, and fix flioes, no two of them being fellows.
I am not inclined to th in k this was any prem editated plan
of thefe favages; for, the m orn ing Mr. Rowe left the Ihip,
h e m et two canoes, w hich cam e dow n and Hayed all the
forenoon in Ship Cove. It m ig ht probably happen from
fome quarrel w hich was decided on the f p o t o r the fairnefs
o f the opportunity m ight tem pt them , ou r people being fo incautious,
and thin kin g them felves too fecure. A nother thin g
w hich encouraged the New Z ealanders, was, they were fen-
fible that a g u n was not infallible, th at they fometimes
miffed, and that, w hen difcharged, they m ull be loaded before
they could be ufed again, w hich time th ey knew how
to take advantage of. After their fuccefs, I im agine there
was a general m eeting oft the Haft fide of the Sound. T he
Indians of Shag Cove w ere there ; this we kn ew by a cock
w hich was in one of the canoes, and by a long fingle canoe,
w hich fome o f ou r people had feen four days before in
Shag Cove, w here they had been w ith Mr. Rowe in the
cutter.
W e w ere detained in the Sound by contrary w inds four
days after this m elancholy affair happened, d u rin g w hich
tim e we faw none of the inhabitants. W hat is very rem
arkable,
m arkabje, I had been feveral tim es up in the fame Cove D(^ , , r.
w ith Captain Cook, and never faw the leaft fign of an inha- — '
bitant, except fome deferred towns, w hich appeared as it
they had not been occupied for feveral y e ars; and yet, w hen
Mr. Burney entered the Cove, he was of opinion there could
not be left than fifteen hundred o r two thoufand people. I
doubt not, had they been apprized of his com ing, they w ould
have attacked him . From thefe confiderations, I thought it
im p rudent to fend a boat up again ; as we were convinced
there was not the leaft probability o f any of ou r people
being alive.
On the-23d, we w eighed and m ade-fail out of the Sound; Thurflay ZJ
and flood to the eaftward to get clear o f the Straits ; w hich
w e accompliflied the fame evening, b u t were baffled Tor two
or three days w ith lig h t w inds, before we could clear the
coaft. We then flood to the S. S. E. till.we got into the latitude
o f 56° South, w itho ut any th in g rem arkable happening,
having a great fwell from the Southward. At this tim e the
winds began to blow ftrong from the S. W., and the w eather
to be very cold ; and as the ih ip was low and deep laden, the
fea m ade a continual b reach o v er her, w hich kept us alw ays ,
wet r and by her ftraining, very few of the people were dry
in bed or on deck, having no fflelter to k eep the fea from
them ..
The birds w ere the only com panions we had in this vaft
ocean; except, now and then, w e faw a w hale or porpoife;
and fom etim es a feal or two, and a few penguins. In thelatitude
of 58° I longitude 213-* Eaft, we fell in with fome.