200 NEW ZEALAND CHAP. VIII 
more than one or two houses, others twelve or fourteen. 
Every one of these was enclosed by its own palisade, though 
not so high and strong as the general one; in these were 
vast heaps of dried fish and fern roots piled up, so much so 
that if they had had water, I should have thought them 
well prepared for a siege, but that had to be fetched from 
a brook below; so that they probably do not besiege a town 
as we do in Europe. Without the fence were many houses 
and large nets, the latter, I suppose, being brought in upon 
any alarm; there was also about half an acre planted with 
gourds and sweet potatoes, the only cultivation we have. 
seen in this bay. 
14th. As we were resolved to stay no longer here, we all 
went ashore, the boats to get as much celery and oysters as 
possible, Dr. Solander and myself to get as many green plants 
as possible, in order to finish the sketches, etc., while at sea; 
so an enormous number of all these articles came on board. 
Dr. Solander, who was to-day in a cove different from 
that I was in, saw the natives catch many lobsters in a very 
simple manner; they walked among the rocks at low water, 
about waist-deep in water, and moved their feet about till 
they felt one, on which they dived down, and constantly 
brought him up. I do not know whether I have before 
mentioned these lobsters, but we have had them in tolerable 
plenty in almost every place we have been in, and they are 
certainly the largest and best I have ever eaten. 
20th. We had yesterday resolved to employ this day in 
examining a bay we saw, so at daybreak we set out in the 
boats. A fresh breeze of wind soon carried us to the 
bottom of the bay, where we found a very fine river, broad 
as the Thames at Greenwich, though not quite so deep; 
there was, however, water enough for vessels of more than a 
middling size, and a bottom of mud so soft that nothing 
could possibly take damage by running ashore. 
About a mile up this was an Indian town built upon a 
small bank of dry sand, but totally surrounded by deep mud, 
so much so that I believe they had purposely built it there 
as a defence, The people came out in flocks upon the banks, 
