was, they could better endure than the stings of these
insects, which were an intolerable torment. The fire, the flies, and the
want of a better bed than the ground, rendered the night extremely
uncomfortable, so that they passed it not in sleep, but in restless
wishes for the return of day. With the first dawn they set out in search
of game, and in a walk of many miles, they saw four animals of the same
kind, two of which Mr Banks's greyhound fairly chaced, but they threw
him out at a great distance, by leaping over the long thick grass, which
prevented his running: This animal was observed not to run upon four
legs, but to bound or hop forward upon two, like the _Jerbua_, or _Mus
Jaculus_. About noon, they returned to the boat, and again proceeded up
the river, which was soon contracted into a fresh-water brook, where,
however, the tide rose to a considerable height. As evening approached,
it became low water, and it was then so shallow that they were obliged
to get out of the boat and drag her along, till they could find a place
in which they might, with some hope of rest, pass the night. Such a
place at length offered, and while they were getting the things out of
the boat, they observed a smoke at the distance of about a furlong: As
they did not doubt but that some of the natives, with whom they had so
long and earnestly desired to become personally acquainted, were about
the fire, three of the party went immediately towards it, hoping that so
small a number would not put them to flight: When they came up to the
place, however, they found it deserted, and therefore they conjectured,
that before they had discovered the Indians, the Indians had discovered
them. They found the fire still burning, in the hollow of an old tree
that was become touch-wood, and several branches of trees newly broken
down, with which children had been playing: They observed also many
footsteps upon the sand, below high-water mark, which were certain
indications that the Indians had been recently upon the spot. Several
houses were found at a little distance, and some ovens dug in the
ground, in the same manner as those of Otaheite, in which victuals
appeared to have been dressed since the morning; and scattered about
them, lay some shells of a kind of clamm, and some fragments of roots,
the refuse of the meal. After regretting their disappointment, they
repaired to their quarters, which was a broad sand-bank, under the
shelter of a bush. Their