A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 12: Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the; Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea; and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present TimeKerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 12: Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the; Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea; and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
While we lay here, we sent out the boats, as usual, in search of
anchoring-places, and having been ten leagues to the westward, they
found but two: One was to the westward of Cape Upright, in the Bay of
Islands, but was very difficult to enter and get out of; the other was
called Dolphin Bay, at ten leagues distance, which was a good harbour,
with even ground in all parts. They saw several small coves, which were
all dangerous, as in them it would be necessary to let go the anchor
within half-a-cable's length of the lee-shore, and steady the ship with
hawsers fastened to the rocks. The people belonging to one of the boats
spent a night upon an island, upon which, while they were there, six
canoes landed about thirty Indians. The Indians ran immediately to the
boat, and were carrying away every thing they found in her: Our people
discovered what they were doing just time enough to prevent them. As
soon as they found themselves opposed they went to their canoes, and
armed themselves with long poles, and javelins pointed with the bones of
fish. They did not begin an attack, but stood in a threatening manner:
Our people, who were two-and-twenty in number, acted only on the
defensive, and by parting with a few trifles to them, they became
friends, and behaved peaceably the rest of the time they staid.
For many days we had hail, lightning, rain, and hard gales, with a heavy
sea, so that we thought it impossible for the ship to hold, though she
had two anchors a-head, and two cables an-end. The men, however, were
sent frequently on shore for exercise, which contributed greatly to
their health, and procured an almost constant supply of mussels and
greens. Among other damages that we had sustained, our fire-place was
broken to pieces; we therefore found it necessary to set up the forge,
and employ the armourers to make a new back; we also made lime of burnt
shells, and once more put it into a useful condition.
On Monday the 30th we had the first interval of moderate weather, and we
improved it in drying the sails, which, though much mildewed, we had not
before been able to loose, for fear of setting the ship adrift: We also
aired the spare sails, which we found much injured by the rats, and
employed the sail-makers to mend them. Captain Carteret having
represented that his fire-place, as well as ours, had been broken to
pieces, our armourers made him also a new back, and set it up with lime
that we made upon the spot, in the same manner as had been done on board
our own ship. This day we saw several canoes, full of Indians, put to
shore on the east side of the bay, and the next morning several of them
came on board, and proved to be the same that our people, who were out
in the boat, had met with on shore. They behaved very peaceably, and we
dismissed them with a few toys, as usual.
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