Being once more all together, we made the best of our way for the island before-mentioned, to which the blacks had advised us to steer, and about eleven o’clock at night we reached it. We immediately secured the canoe, and made a good fire, which was scarcely done when it began to rain, and continued to pour incessantly during the night.
The next morning, the rain having cleared off, we proceeded to the opposite side of the island with the canoe, where we procured some fern-root, with which we pushed off for the other side of the bay. The tide being strong, we did not reach the shore till after dark, when we found six or seven huts and some fire. We could hear the natives, who appeared to have just left this place, making much noise, a little to the southward, where they were fishing, but they did not come near us that night.
The next morning we went up to a rising ground at the back of the huts, from which we could command a good view of the country. From this place we saw another point far to the northward, but the distance appeared so great, and the shore appeared to recede so far, that we were afraid to venture across in our canoe; we therefore returned to the huts, and having drawn up our canoe on the beach, we set out to walk round the bay. The mangroves were so thick that we could not long keep the shore, but followed a native path which seemed to lead in the direction we wished to proceed in.