The next day, our kanguroo was dressed for dinner, and proved most excellent meat; we might now indeed be said to fare sumptuously every day, for we had turtle in great plenty, and we all agreed that they were much better than any we had tasted in England, which we imputed to their being eaten fresh from the sea, before their natural fat had been wasted, or their juices changed by a diet and situation so different from what the sea affords them, as garbage and a tub. Most of those that we caught here, were of the kind called green turtle, and weighed from two to three hundred weight, and when these were killed, they were always found to be full of turtle grass, which our naturalists took to be a kind of _conferva_: two of them were logger-heads, the flesh of which was much less delicious, and in their stomachs nothing was to be found but shells. In the morning of the 16th, while the people were employed as usual in getting the ship ready for the sea, I climbed one of the hills on the north side of the river, from which I had an extensive view of the inland country, and found it agreeably diversified by hills, vallies, and large plains, which in many places were richly covered with wood. This evening, we observed an emersion of Jupiter’s first satellite, which gave 214° 53ʹ 45ʺ of longitude. The observation which was made on the 29th of June gave 214° 42ʹ 30ʺ, the mean is 214° 48ʹ 7-½ʺ, the longitude of this place west of Greenwich. On the 17th, I sent the master and one of the mates in the pinnace to look for a channel to the northward; and I went myself with Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander into the woods on the other side of the water. Tupia, who had been thither by himself, reported, that he had seen three Indians who had given him some roots about as thick as a man’s finger, in shape not much unlike a radish, and of a very agreeable taste. This induced us to go over, hoping that we should be able to improve our acquaintance with the natives; in a very little time we discovered four of them in a canoe, who as soon as they saw us come ashore, and, though they were all strangers, walked up to us, without any signs of suspicion or fear. Two of these had necklaces of shells, which we could not persuade them to part with for any thing we could give them: we presented them, however, with some beads, and after a short stay they departed. We attempted to follow them, hoping that they would conduct us to some place where we should find more of them, and have an opportunity of seeing their women; but they made us understand, by signs, that they did not desire our company.