We Proceeded Up The South Side, And Without Meeting
With Any Thing Remarkable, Got To The Head Of The Bay By Sun-Set; Where We
Took Up Our Lodging For The Night, At The First Place We Could Land Upon;
For The Flats Hindered Us From Getting Quite To The Head.
At day-light in the morning, I took two men in the small boat, and with Mr
Forster went to take a view of the flat land at the head of the bay, near
to where we spent the night.
We landed on one side, and ordered the boat to
meet us on the other side; but had not been long on shore before we saw
some ducks, which, by their creeping through the bushes, we got a shot at,
and killed one. The moment we had fired, the natives, whom we had not
discovered before, set up a most hideous noise in two or three places close
by us. We hallooed in our turn; and, at the same time, retired to our boat,
which was full half a mile off. The natives kept up their clamouring noise,
but did not follow us. Indeed we found afterwards that they could not,
because of a branch of the river between us and them, nor did we find their
numbers answerable to the noise they made. As soon as we got to our boat,
and found that there was a river that would admit us, I rowed in, and was
soon after joined by Mr Cooper in the other boat. With this reinforcement I
proceeded up the river, shooting wild ducks, of which there were great
numbers; as we went along, now and then hearing the natives in the woods.
At length two appeared on the banks of the river, a man and a woman; and
the latter kept waving something white in her hand, as a sign of
friendship. Mr Cooper being near them, I called to him to land, as I wanted
to take the advantage of the tide to get as high up as possible, which did
not much exceed half a mile, when I was stopped by the strength of the
stream and great stones which lay in the bed of the river.
On my return, I found that as Mr Cooper did not land when the natives
expected him, they had retired into the woods, but two others now appeared
on the opposite bank. I endeavoured to have an interview with them, but
this I could not effect. For as I approached the shore, they always retired
farther into the woods, which were so thick as to cover them from our
sight. The falling tide obliged me to retire out of the river to the place
where we had spent the night. There we breakfasted, and afterwards
embarked, in order to return on board; but, just as we were going, we saw
two men on the opposite shore, hallooing to us, which induced me to row
over to them.
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