Tuesday, 22nd May, 1770
In the PM had a gentle breeze at SE with which we stood in for the land SW until 4 o’clock when being in the Latitude of 24° 36′ S and about 2 leagues from land in 9 fathom water, we bore away along shore NW by W.
At the same time, we could see the land extending to the South-South-East about 8 leagues. Near the sea, the land is very low, but inland are some moderately high hills and the whole appeared to be thickly clothed with wood.
In running along shore, we shoaled in our water from 9 to 7 fathoms and at one time had but 6 fathoms, which determined me to anchor for the night. Accordingly, at 8 o’clock, we came to in 8 fathom water, a fine gravelly bottom about 5 miles from the land. This evening we saw a water snake and 2 or 3 evenings ago, one lay under the ship’s stern some time. This was about a yard and a half in length and was the first we had seen.
At 6 o’clock in the AM, we weighed with a gentle breeze southerly and steered NW¼W edging in for the land until we got within 2 miles of it, having from 7 to 11 fathom water. We then steered NNW as the land lay. At noon, we were by observation in the Latitude of 24° 19′ S, Longitude made from Sandy Cape 1° 14′ West.
Wednesday, 23rd May, 1770
Continued our course along shore at the distance of about 2 miles off having from 12 to 9, 8, and 7 fathom water until 5 o’clock, at which time we were abreast of the south point of a large open bay wherein I intended to anchor. Accordingly, we hauled in close upon a wind and sent a boat ahead to sound. After making some trips, we anchored at 8 o’clock in 5 fathom water, a sandy bottom. The south point of the bay bore E¾ South, distance 2 miles, and the north point NW¼N, and about 2 miles from the shore in the bottom of the bay.
Last night sometime in the middle watch a very extraordinary affair happened to Mr Orton, my clerk. He had been drinking in the evening, and some malicious person or persons in the ship took advantage of his being drunk and cut off all the clothes from off his back. Not being satisfied with this, they sometime after went into his cabin and cut off a part of both his ears as he lay asleep in his bed. The person whom he suspected to have done this was Mr Magra, one of the midshipmen, but this did not appear to me upon inquiry. However, as I knew Magra had once or twice before this in their drunken frolics cut off his clothes and had been heard to say, as I was told, that if it was not for the law, he would murder him, these things considered induced me to think that Magra was not altogether innocent. I therefore, for the present, dismissed him from the quarterdeck and suspended him from doing any duty in the ship. He was one of those gentlemen frequently found on board King’s ships that can very well be spared, or to speak more plainly, good for nothing. Besides, it was necessary for me to show my immediate resentment against the person on whom the suspicion fell, lest they should not have stopped here.
With respect to Mr Orton, he is a man not without faults. Yet, from all the inquiry I could make, it evidently appeared to me that, far from deserving such treatment, he had not designedly injured any person in the ship. So, I do and shall always look upon him as an injured man. Some reasons might, however, be given why this misfortune came upon him in which he himself was in some measure to blame. But as this is only conjecture and would tend to fix it upon some people in the ship whom I would fain believe would hardly be guilty of such an action, I shall say nothing about it unless I shall hereafter discover the offenders, which I shall take every method in my power to do. For I look upon such proceedings as highly dangerous in such voyages as this and the greatest insult that could be offered to my authority in this ship, as I have always been ready to hear and redress every complaint that has been made against any person in the ship.
In the AM, I went ashore with a party of men in order to examine the country, accompanied by Mr Banks and the other gentlemen. We landed a little within the south point of the bay where there is a channel leading into a large lagoon. The first thing I did was to sound and examine this channel in which I found 3 fathom water until I got about a mile up it where I met with a shoal whereon was little more than one fathom. Being over this, I had 3 fathom again. The entrance into this channel lies close to the south point of the bay, being formed on the east by the shore and on the west by a large spit of sand. It is about a quarter of a mile broad and lies in a south by west direction. Here is room for a few ships to lay very secure and a small stream of fresh water.
After this, I made a little excursion into the woods while some hands made 3 or 4 hauls with the seine but caught not above a dozen very small fish. By this time the flood was made, and I embarked in the boat in order to row up the lagoon but in this, I was hindered by meeting everywhere with shoal water. As yet, we had seen no people but saw a great deal of smoke up and on the west side of the lagoon which was all too far off for us to go by land excepting one. This we went to and found 10 small fires in a very small compass and some cockle shells laying by them but the people were gone.
On the windward or south side of one fire was stuck up a little bark about a foot and a half high and some few pieces lay about in other places. These we concluded were all the covering they had in the night, and many of them I firmly believe have not this but naked as they are, sleep and lay in the open air. Tupia, who was with us, observed that they were Taata Eno’s, that is bad or poor people. The country is visibly worse than at the last place we were at. The soil is dry and sandy, and the woods are free from underwood of every kind. Here are of the same sort of trees as we found in Stingray Harbour (Botany Bay) with a few other sorts.
One sort, which is by far the most numerous of any in the woods, grows something like birch. The bark at first sight looks like birch bark but upon examination, I found it to be very different, and so I believe is the wood, but this I could not examine as I had no axe or anything with me to cut down a tree. About the skirts of the lagoon grows the true mangrove such as is found in the West Indies and which we have not seen during the voyage before. Here is likewise a sort of palm tree which grows on low barren and sandy places in the South Sea Islands. All or most of the same sorts of land and sea waterfowl as we saw at Botany Bay, we saw here. Besides these black and white ducks, we saw some bustards such as we have in England, one of which we killed that weighed 17½ pounds, and which occasioned my giving this place the name of Bustard Bay /Lat 24.4. Long 208.22.
Here are plenty of small oysters sticking to the rocks, stones, and some to the mangrove trees, and some few other shellfish such as large mussels, pearl oysters, cockles, etc. I measured the perpendicular height of the last tide and found it to be 8 feet above low-water mark, and from the time of low-water today, I found that it must be high water at the full and change of the moon at 8 o’clock. From observation, I have made of the tides upon the coast, I find that the flood comes from the northward.