On the 28th, Mr. Banks went with some of the seamen up the country, to shew them the plant which in the West Indies is called Indian kalc, and which served us for greens. Tupia had much meliorated the root of the coccos, by giving them a long dressing in his country oven, but they were so small that we did not think them an object for the ship. In their walk they found one tree which had been notched for the convenience of climbing it, in the same manner with those we had seen in Botany Bay: they saw also many nests of white ants, which resemble those of the East Indies, the most pernicious insects in the world. The nests were of a pyramidical figure, from a few inches to six feet high, and very much resembled the stones in England, which are said to be monuments of the Druids. Mr. Gore, who was also this day four or five miles up the country, reported that he had seen the footsteps of men, and tracked animals of three or four different sorts, but had not been fortunate enough to see either man or beast.

At two o’clock in the morning of the 29th, I observed, in conjunction with Mr. Green, an emersion of Jupiter’s first satellite; the time here was 2h 18’ 53", which gave the longitude of this place 214° 42’ 30" W.: its latitude is 15° 26’ S. At break of day, I sent the boat out again with the seine, and in the afternoon, it returned with as much fish as enabled me to give every man a pound and an half. One of my midshipmen, an American, who was this day abroad with his gun, reported that he had seen a wolf, exactly like those which he had been used to see in his own country, and that he had shot at it, but did not kill it.

Voyaging Accounts