March declined the offer, and fcjon w ith d rew to his cottage. He
— > was defcribed as by fa r the oldeft perfon any o f the party had
ever feen, and ju d g ed to be, by thofe who computed his age
at the loweft, upward o f i oo years old.
As our people had ima gin ed the mountain not to be more
than ten or twe lve miles from the bay, and confequently,
that they lhould reach it w ith eafe early the nest morning,
aii error into w h ich its great h e igh t had probably led them,
they were n ow m u ch furprifed to find the diftance fcarce
perceptibly diminiihed. This circumftance, together w ith
the uninhabited Hate o f the country th e y were g o in g to
-• enter, made it neceffary to procure a fupply o f provifions;
and fo r that purpofe they difpatched one o f their guides
back to the villa g e . Whilit they were w a itin g his return,
the y were joined by fome o f Kaoo’s fervants, whom that
benevolent old man had fent after them, as foon as he heard
o f their journ e y, laden w ith refreihments, and authorized,
as their route la y throu gh his grounds, to demand and take
awa y whatever they m igh t have occafion for.
Our travellers were much aftonifhed to find the cold here
fo in ten fe ; but ha vin g no thermometer w ith them, could
ju d g e o f it only by their feelings ; w hich, from the warm
atmofphere the y had left, muft have been a v e ry fallacious
meafure. T h e y found it, however, fo cold, that they could ge t
but little'fleep, and the natives none at a ll; both parties being
difturbed, the whole n ight, by continued coughing. As they
could not, at this time, be at any very confiderable height,
the diftance from the fea being only fix or feven miles, and
part o f the road on a ve ry moderate afcent, this extraordinary
degree o f cold muft be afcribed to the eafterly wind blowin
g fre lh over the fnowy mountains.
... Early
Early on the 27th, they fet out again, and filled their ca- >779-
libaihes at an excellent w e ll about h a lf a mile from their . March~ ,
hut. H a vin g paffed the plantations, they came to a th ick Saturday 27‘
wood, w h ich they entered b y a path made fo r the convenience
o f the natives, w ho go thither tb fetch the w ild or
horfe-plantain; and to catch birds. T h e ir progrefs n ow ?be-
came very flow, and attended with much lab ou r; the ground
being either fwampy, or covered with large fiones ; the path
narrow, and frequen tly interrupted b y trees ly in g acrofs it,
w hich it was neceffary to c limb over, the thicknefs o f the
under-wood, on. both fides, m a k in g it impoflible to pafs
round them. In thefe woods they obferved, at fmall dif-
tances, pieces o f white cloth fixed on poles, w h ich ' they
fuppofed to be land-marks fo r the divifion o f property, as
they only met with them where the w jld plantains grew .
T h e trees, w hich are o f the fame kind with thofe we called
the fpice-tree at N ew Holland, .were lo fty and ftraight, and
from two to four feet in circumference. |
A fter they had advanced about ten miles in the wood,
they-had the mortification to find themfelves, on a fudden,
within fight o f the fea, and at no great diftance from i t ; the
path h a v in g turned imperceptibly to the Southward, and
carried them to the right o f the mountain, w hich it was •
their objeft to reach. T h e ir difappointment was grea tly in-
creafed by the uncertainty they were n ow under o f its true
bearings, fince they could not, at this time, ge t a view o f
it from the top o f the higheft trees. T h e y , therefore, found
themfelves obliged to w a lk back fix or feven miles to an •
unoccupied hut, where the y had le ft three o f the natives,
and two o f'th e ir own people, w ith the fmall ftock that remained
o f their provifions. Here th e y fpent the fecond
n ig h t ; and the air was fo v e ry lharp, and fo little to the
5 lik in g