1770. ROUND THE WORLD. 153 



medy for itself, and though every man at twenty 

 deprecates fourscore, almost every man is as tenacious 

 of life at fourscore as at twenty ; and if he does not 

 suffer under any painful disorder, loses as little of the 

 comforts that remain by reflecting that he is upon 

 the brink of the grave, where the earth already crum- 

 bles under his feet, as he did of the pleasures of his 

 better days, when his dissolution, though certain, was 

 supposed to be at a distance. 



Our travellers having slept, without once awaking, 

 till the morning, examined the river, and finding the 

 tide favoured their return, and the country promised 

 nothing worthy of a farther search, they reimbarked 

 in their boat, and made the best of their way to the 

 ship. 



Soon after the arrival of this party, the master also 

 returned, having been seven leagues out to sea, and 

 he was now of opinion that there was no getting out 

 where before he thought there had been a passage ; 

 his expedition, how T ever, was by no means without its 

 advantage, for having been a second time upon the 

 rock where he had seen the large cockles, he met 

 with a great number of turtle, three of which he 

 caught, that together weighed seven hundred and 

 ninety-one pounds, though he had no better instru- 

 ment than a boat-hook. 



The next morning, therefore, I sent him out again, 

 with proper instruments for taking them, and Mr. 

 Banks went with him, but the success did not at all 

 answer our expectations, for, by the unaccountable 

 conduct of the officer, not a single turtle was taken, 

 nor could he be persuaded to return : Mr. Banks, 

 however, went ashore upon the reef, where he saw 

 several of the large cockles, and having collected 

 many shells, and marine productions, he returned at 

 eleven o'clock at night, in his own small boat, the 

 master still continuing with the large one upon the 

 rock. In the afternoon, seven or eight of the natives 

 had appeared on the south side of the river, and two 



