The Mouth Of This Sound, Which I Called
Shark's Bay, Lies In About 25 Degrees South Latitude, And Our
Reckoning
Made its longitude from the Cape of Good Hope to be about
87 degrees, which is less by one hundred
And ninety-five leagues
than is usually laid down in our common draughts, if our reckoning
was right and our glasses did not deceive us. As soon as I came to
anchor in this bay, I sent my boat ashore to seek for fresh water,
but in the evening my men returned, having found none. The next
morning I went ashore myself, carrying pickaxes and shovels with me,
to dig for water, and axes to cut wood. We tried in several places
for water, but finding none after several trials, nor in several
miles compass, we left any further search for it, and spending the
rest of the day in cutting wood, we went aboard at night.
The land is of an indifferent height, so that it may be seen nine or
ten leagues off. It appears at a distance very even; but as you
come nigher you find there are many gentle risings, though none
steep or high. It is all a steep shore against the open sea; but in
this bay or sound we were now in, the land is low by the seaside,
rising gradually in with the land. The mould is sand by the
seaside, producing a large sort of samphire, which bears a white
flower. Farther in the mould is reddish, a sort of sand, producing
some grass, plants, and shrubs. The grass grows in great tufts as
big as a bushel, here and there a tuft, being intermixed with much
heath, much of the kind we have growing on our commons in England.
Of trees or shrubs here are divers sorts, but none above ten feet
high, their bodies about three feet about, and five or six feet high
before you come to the branches, which are bushy, and composed of
small twigs there spreading abroad, though thick set and full of
leaves, which were mostly long and narrow. The colour of the leaves
was on one side whitish, and on the other green, and the bark of the
trees was generally of the same colour with the leaves, of a pale
green. Some of these trees were sweet-scented, and reddish within
the bark, like sassafras, but redder. Most of the trees and shrubs
had at this time either blossoms or berries on them. The blossoms
of the different sorts of trees were of several colours, as red,
white, yellow, etc., but mostly blue, and these generally smelt very
sweet and fragrant, as did some also of the rest. There were also
besides some plants, herbs, and tall flowers, some very small
flowers growing on the ground, that were sweet and beautiful, and,
for the most part, unlike any I had seen elsewhere.
There were but few land fowls. We saw none but eagles of the larger
sorts of birds, but five or six sorts of small birds.
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