86 cook's first voyage may, 



scribed already, but the soil was much richer ; for, 

 instead of sand. I found a deep black mould, which I 

 thought very fit for the production of grain of any 

 kind. In the woods we found a tree which bore fruit 

 that in colour and shape resembled a cherry : the 

 juice had an agreeable tartness, though but little fla- 

 vour. We found also interspersed some of the finest 

 meadows in the world : some places, however, were 

 rocky, but these were comparatively few : the stone 

 is sandy, and might be used with advantage for build- 

 ing. When we returned to the boat, we saw some 

 smoke upon another part of the coast, and went thi- 

 ther in hopes of meeting with the people, but at our 

 approach, these also ran away. We found six small 

 canoes, and six fires very near the beach, with some 

 muscles roasting upon them, and a few oysters lying 

 near : by this we judged that there had been one 

 man in each canoe, who having picked up some shell 

 fish, had come ashore to eat it, and made his separate 

 fire for that purpose. We tasted of their cheer, and 

 left them in return some strings of beads, and other 

 things which we thought would please them. At the 

 foot of a tree in this place we found a small well of 

 fresh water, supplied by a spring ; and the day being 

 now far spent, we returned to the ship. In the even- 

 ing, Mr. Banks made a little excursion with his gun, 

 and found such a number of quails, resembling those 

 in England, that he might have shot as many as he 

 pleased ; but his object was variety and not number. 

 The next morning, as the wind would not permit 

 me to sail, I sent out several parties into the country 

 to try again whether some intercourse could not be 

 established with the natives. A midshipman, who 

 belonged to one of these parties, having straggled a 

 long way from his companions, met with a very old 

 man and woman, and some little children ; they 

 were sitting under a tree by the water side, and 

 neither party saw the other till they were close toge- 

 ther. The Indians showed signs of fear, but did not 



