SECOND VOYAGE 127 



which Captain Cook did not recollect to have anywhere 

 seen before. The largest was as big as a Muscovy duck, 

 with a very beautiful variegated plumage, on which account 

 they called it the Painted Duck. 



For three or four days after they arrived, and were clear- 

 ing the woods to set up their tents, a four-footed animal was 

 seen by three or four of the sailors, but as no two gave the 

 same description of it, it is not easy to say of what kind it 

 was. All, however, agreed that it was about the size of a 

 cat, with short legs, and of a mouse colour. One of the 

 seamen, and he who had the best view of it, said it had a 

 bushy tail and was the most like a jackal of any animal he 

 knew. 



The most mischievous animals here were the small black 

 sand flies, which were very numerous, and exceedingly 

 troublesome. Wherever they bite they are said to cause a 

 swelling, and intolerable itching, which at last brings on 

 ulcers like the small-pox. 



The inhabitants of this bay were of the same race of 

 people with those in the other parts of this country, speaking 

 the same language, and observing nearly the same customs. 

 What could induce three or four families (for there does not 

 appear to have been more) to separate themselves so far 

 from the society of the rest of their fellow-creatures, is not 

 easy to guess. Few as they were, they did not seem to live 

 in perfect amity one with another. 



After leaving Dusky Bay,* they steered for Queen Char- 

 lotte's Sound, where they expected to find the Adventure. 

 In this passage they met with nothing remarkable, or 

 worthy of notice, till the afternoon of the 17th, when the sky 

 became suddenly obscured by dark dense clouds, and 

 seemed to forbode much wind. Presently after six water- 

 spouts were seen. Four rose and spent themselves between 

 them and the land ; the fifth was without them ; the sixth 

 first appeared at the distance of two or three miles from 

 them. Its progressive motion was not in a straight, but in 

 a crooked line, and passed within fifty yards of the stern, 

 without their feeling any of its effects. The diameter of the 



" The frequent and heavy rains here render it very disagreeable 

 at times : however, this IB my third trip round the world, and I 

 cannot recollect any place I ever was at but had some disagreeable 

 quality or other attending it ; and I do think that Dusky Bay, for H 

 set of hungry fellows, after a long passage at sea, is as good as any 

 place I've ever yet met with. Our people are all in perfect health 

 and spirits, owing, I believe, in a great measure, to the strict attention 

 of Captain Cook to their cleanliness, and every other article that 

 respects their welfare." Extract from Lieutenant Clerke'e Log, 

 Admiralty Records, Whitehall. 



