The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World. Vol. VI. Being the Second of the Third VoyageCook, James
History
The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World. Vol. VI. Being the Second of the Third Voyage
Cook, James
Cook, James, 1728-1779 -- Travel; Explorers -- Great Britain -- Biography; Voyages around the world -- History -- 18th century
May we not, from these circumstances, reasonably infer, that these
people are unacquainted with fire-arms? For certainly, if they had known
any thing of their effect, they never would have dared to attempt taking
a boat from under a ship’s guns, in the face of above a hundred men; for
most of my people were looking at them, at the very instant they made
the attempt. However, after all these tricks, we had the good fortune to
leave them as ignorant, in this respect, as we found them. For they
neither heard nor saw a musket fired, unless at birds.
Just as we were going to weigh the anchor, to proceed farther up the
bay, it began to blow and to rain as hard as before; so that we were
obliged to bear away the cable again, and lay fast. Toward the evening,
finding that the gale did not moderate, and that it might be some time
before an opportunity offered to get higher up, I came to a resolution
to heel the ship where we were; and with this view, moored her with a
kedge-anchor and hawser. In heaving the anchor out of the boat, one of
the seamen, either through ignorance or carelessness, or both, was
carried overboard by the buoy-rope, and followed the anchor to the
bottom. It is remarkable, that, in this very critical situation, he had
presence of mind to disengage himself, and come up to the surface of the
water, where he was taken up, with one of his legs fractured in a
dangerous manner.
Early the next morning we gave the ship a good heel to port, in order to
come at and stop the leak. On ripping off the sheathing, it was found to
be in the seams, which were very open, both in and under the wale; and,
in several places, not a bit of oakum in them. While the carpenters were
making good these defects, we filled all our empty water-casks at a
stream hard by the ship. The wind was now moderate, but the weather was
thick and hazy, with rain.
The natives, who left us the preceding day, when the bad weather came
on, paid us another visit this morning. Those who came first were in
small canoes; others afterward arrived in large boats; in one of which
were twenty women and one man, besides children.
In the evening of the 16th, the weather cleared up; and we then found
ourselves surrounded on every side by land. Our station was on the east
side of the sound, in a place which in the chart is distinguished by the
name of _Snug Corner Bay_; and a very snug place it is. I went,
accompanied by some of the officers, to view the head of it; and we
found that it was sheltered from all winds; with a depth of water from
seven to three fathoms over a muddy bottom. The land near the shore is
low; part clear and part wooded. The clear ground was covered, two or
three feet thick, with snow; but very little lay in the woods. The very
summits of the neighbouring hills were covered with wood; but those
farther inland seemed to be naked rocks, buried in snow.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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