1769- ROUND THE WORLD. 337 



in five and four fathom, bringing a high tower or 

 rock, which lies without the head, in one with the 

 head, or just shut in behind it. This place is very 

 convenient both for wooding and watering, and in 

 the river there is an immense quantity of oysters and 

 other shell-fish : I have for this reason given it the 

 name of Oyster River. Bat for a ship that wants 

 to stay here any time, the best and safest place is in 

 the river at the head of the bay ; which, from the 

 number of mangrove trees about it, I have called 

 Mangrove River. To sail into this river, the south 

 shore must be kept all the way on board. The 

 country on the east side of the river and bay, is very 

 barren, its only produce being fern, and a few other 

 plants that will grow in a poor soil. The land on the 

 north-west side is covered with wood, and the soil 

 being much more fertile would doubtless produce 

 all the necessaries of life with proper cultivation : it 

 is not however so fertile as the lands that we have 

 seen to the southward, nor do the inhabitants, though 

 numerous, make so good an appearance : they have 

 no plantations ; their canoes are mean, and without 

 ornament ; they sleep in the open air ; and say, that 

 Teratu, whose sovereignty they do not acknowledge, 

 if he was to come among them, would kill them. 

 This favoured our opinion of their being out-laws j 

 yet they told us, that they had Heppahs, or strong- 

 holds, to which they retired in time of imminent 

 danger. 



We found, thrown upon the shore, in several parts 

 of this bay, great quantities of iron sand, which is 

 brought down by every little rivulet of fresh water 

 that finds its way from the country ; which is a de- 

 monstration that there is ore of that metal not far 

 inland : yet neither the inhabitants of this place, or 

 any other part of the coast that we have seen, know 

 the use of iron, or set the least value upon it ; all of 

 them preferring the most worthless and useless trifle, 

 not only to a nail, but to any tool of that metal. 



VOL. I. z 



