We Also Found That About A Mile Higher Up The
River, A Branch From It Joined That Which We Last Crossed About Two
Miles Back, Making An Island Of The Ground We Were Upon.
The main
branch continued to run to the north-north-west, and north-west.
We therefore lost no time in returning part of the way to the entrance
into the haven, (which we named after Lord Camden), where we proposed
to construct a canoe.
The natives seem very numerous, but are shy:
we saw many large canoes on the lake, one of which would be quite
sufficient for our purposes.
October 18. - On Friday we returned to the entrance of the haven, and
immediately commenced our endeavours to construct a canoe: our first
essays were unsuccessful, but by Saturday night we had a bark one
completed, which we hoped would answer our purpose; though I think if the
natives saw it they would ridicule our rude attempts. This morning, the
ebb tide answering, we commenced transporting our luggage, and in three
hours every thing was safe over. A very serious misfortune however
occurred in swimming the horses across: two of them were seized with the
cramp near the middle of the channel, one with difficulty gained the
shore, the other sank instantly and was seen no more; he was one of our
best and strongest horses, and even now their weak state can ill afford a
diminution in their number. This haven appears to have a perfectly safe
entrance for boats and small craft at all times of tide, except at dead
low water with a strong surge from the eastward, when it slightly breaks,
but is still quite safe for boats if not for larger vessels.
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