Chap. I. 
Captain William D AmpUR, 
Tail ; and, at the Rump, where a Tail fhould have been 
placed, there appeared fomething refembling an Head ; but 
without Mouth or Eyes. Their Legs alfo differed from 
ether Creatures of the fame Kind, by their appearing to be 
fo made, as to carry the Body either way ; which, with 
the Particular before-mentioned, might make a common 
Spectator apprehend this Creature had two Heads. They 
were fpeckled black and yellow, like Toads; and had Scales 
on their Backs, like Crocodiles. They are very flow in 
Motion ; and, when a Man comes nigh them, they will 
Hand ftock-ftill, and hifs, without endeavouring to get 
away ; and the Body, when opened, hath a very unfavoury 
Smell. I never faw fuch ugly Creatures any-where, but 
here. The Guanas, in other Parts, I have obferved to be 
very good Meat, and have often eat of them with great 
Satisfaction ; but tho 5 I have eaten of Snakes, Crocodiles, 
and Alligators, yet, I believe, the quickeft Senfe of Hun- 
ger would not have tempted me to tafte the Guana of New 
Holland. The Sea-fifh we faw here, (for there was no 
Frefh-water of any kind to be feen) are chiefly Sharks. 
There are abundance of them in this Sound ; which was the 
Reafon I called it Sharks Bay. There were alfo Skates, 
Thornbacks, and other Fifh of the Prey-kind, (one Sort 
efpecially like the Sea-devil) and Guardfifli, Bonatos, &c. 
Of Shell-fifh we got alfo there Muflels, Periwinkles, Lim- 
pits, Oyfters, both of the Pearl-kind, and of fuch as were 
eatable, befides Cockles, &c. The Shore was lined thick 
with many other Sorts of very Arrange and beautiful Shells, 
of Variety of Colour and Shape, moft finely fpotted with 
red, yellow, &c. fuch as I have not feen any-where, but at 
this Place. I brought away a great many of them ; but 
loft all, except a very few, and thofe not of the belt. 
There are alfo fome green Turtles, weighing about 200 lb. 
Of thefe we caught two, which the Water ebbing had 
left behind a Ledge of Rocks, which they could not creep 
over. Thefe ferved all my Company two Days, and they 
were indifferent fweet Meat. Of the Sharks we caught a 
great many, which our Men eat very favourily. Among 
thefe we caught one, that was eleven Feet long. The Space 
between its two Eyes was twenty Inches, and eighteen 
Inches from one Corner of its Mouth to the other. Its Maw 
was like a Leather-fack, very thick, and fo tough, that a 
fharp Knife could fcarce cut it ; in which we found the 
Head and Bones of an Hippopotamus, the hairy Lips of 
which were ftill found, and not putrefied ; and the Jaw 
was alfo firm, out of which we plucked -a great many Teeth, 
two of them eight Inches long, and as big as a Man’s 
Thumb, fmall at one End, and a little crooked ; the reft 
not above half fo long. The Maw was full of Jelly, which 
flunk extremely ; however, I faved for awhile the Teeth, 
and the Shark’s Jaw. The Flefii of it was divided among 
my Men, and they took care that no Wafte fhould be made 
of it, but thought it, as things flood, good Entertainment. 
10. We anchored at three feveral Places in this Bay • 
Auguji 7. at the Weft Side. Here we ftaid till the 10th. 
We iearched for frefli Water ; but found none : However, 
we got fome Wood for Fuel. The 1 ith, we fleered farther 
m ; towards Afternoon faw the Land, that makes the South 
of the Bay ; but, meeting with Sholes, I fleered away to the 
Eaft ; and, the 12th, paffed the North Point of the Land, 
and flood farther into the Bay, to fee what Land we could 
pbferve to the Eaft, which we faw right a-head ; but, hav- 
ing but flioal Water, I made the beft of my way to return 
to the Weft Entrance. The 14th, I failed again out of 
this Bay to the North-eaft, coafting along the Shore. The 
15th, we were m 24 0 41' 5 and, the 16th, at 230 22 '. 
e 1.7th, . we faw Land again. The 18th, we faw abun- 
dance of Whales near a flioal Point, in 22 0 22' ; and, the 
19th, in 210 42'; the 20th, at 19° 37'. The 21ft, we 
faw abundance of Sea-fnakes, of two different Sorts and 
onapes. At Noon, bearing in South-eaft by Eaft, the 
Lana appeared like a Cape ; but, anchoring about five 
Leagues from the Bluff -point, it proved the Eaft End of 
an lfle, fix Leagues in Length, and one in Breadth, being 
furrounded on all Sides with many other fmall rocky Ifies^ 
which, in all Appearance, are a Range of Hands, firetch- 
ing from North North-eaft to Weft South-weft, perhaps as 
far as Sharks Bay, and nine or ten Leagues in Breadth to- 
wards New Holland. The Tides I me? with a little while 
IN U M B. IA, 
117 
after gave me a Suspicion, that there might be a kind of 
Archipelago of Ifles, and a Paffage to the South of New 
Holland and New Guiney into the great South Sea Eaft ward ; 
but, being in want of Water, I would not attempt the 
Difcovery ot it. This Place is in 20° 21' 5 whereas T af~ 
man, in his Draught, has laid it clown in i9°5o', and has 
reprefented the Land as joining in one Ridge to the Conti* 
nent. We went aft) ore in the He of Bluff -point, where we 
found two or three Shrubs, one like Rofemary ; whence I 
called it Rofemary lfle ; and two Sorts of Grain, like Beans, 
one growing on Buflies, the other on a kind of creeping 
Vine. We faw alfo fome Cormorants, Gulls, Crabcatchers, 
&c. as alfoLimpits, Periwinkles, Oyfters, on the Rocks, fome 
green Tortoifes, Sharks, and Water-fnakes. The 23d, we 
ran out again ; and, the 25th, we ftill coafted along. The 
27th and 28th, we faw no Land; but, the 30th, in 18 0 
2P, made the Land, and anchored in eight Fathom Wa- 
ter, thirty Leagues from the Shore. 
11. Auguji 30. being in 18° 21', we made the Land 
' again, and faw many great Smokes near the Shore ; and, 
having fair Weather, and moderate Breezes, I fleered in to- 
wards it. At lour in the Afternoon, I anchored in eight 
Fathom Water, clear Sand, about three Leagues and an half 
from the Shore. I prefently fent my Boat to found nearer 
in, and they found ten Fathom about a Mile nearer the 
Shore, and, from thence ftili farther in, the Water decreafed 
gradually to nine, eight, feven, and, at two Miles Diftance, 
to fix Fathom. This Evening, we faw an Eclipfe of the 
Moon ; but it was abating before the Moon appeared to 
us ; for the Horizon was very hazy, fo that we could not 
fee the Moon, till Ihe had been half an Hour above the 
Horizon ; and, at two Hours twenty-two Minutes after 
Sun-fet, by the Reckoning of our Glaffes, the Eclipfe was 
quite gone, which was not of many Digits. The Moon’s 
Centre was then 33 0 4' high. The 31ft betimes in the 
Morning, I went afhore with ten or eleven Men, to fearch 
for Water. We went all of us armed with Mufquets and 
Cutlaffes for our Defence, expeding to fee People there, 
and carried alfo Shovels and Pickaxes to dig Wells. When 
we came near the Shore, we faw three tall, black, naked 
Men on the fandy Bay a-head of us ; but, as we rowed in, 
they went away. When we were landed, I fent the Boat, 
with two Men in her, to lie a little from the Shore at An- 
chor, to prevent her being feized, while the reft of us went 
after the three black Men, who were now got up to the Top 
of a fmall Hill, about a quarter of a Mile from us, with 
eight or nine more Men in their Company. They, feeing 
us come, ran away. When we came on the Top of the 
Hill where they firft flood, we faw a plain Savanna about 
half a Mile from us. Farther in from the Sea, there were 
feveral things like Haycocks Handing in the Savanna, which, 
at a Diftance, we thought were Houles, looking juft like 
the Hottentots Houfes at the Cape of Good Hope ; but we 
found them to be fo many Rocks. We fearched about thefe 
for Water ; but could find none, nor any Houfe, nor 
People ; for they were all gone. Then we turned again to 
the Place where we landed, and there we duo- for Water. 
While we were at work, there came nine or ten of the 
Natives to a fmall Hill a little Way from us, and Hood 
there menacing and threatening us, and making a great 
Noife. At laft one of them came towards us, and the reft 
followed at a Diftance. I went out to meet him, and came 
within fifty Yards of him, making to him all the Signs of 
Peace and Friendlhip I could ; but then he ran away, nei- 
ther would any of them ftay for us to come nigh them, tho® 
we tried three or four times. At laft, I took two Men 
with me, and went in the Afternoon along by the Sea-fide, 
on purpofe to catch one of them, if I could, of whom I 
might learn where they got their liefh Water. There were 
ten or twelve of the Natives a little Way off, who, feeing 
us three going away from the reft of our Men, followed lis 
at a Diftance. I thought they would follow us ; but, there 
being foi awhile a Sand-bank between us and them, that 
they could not tnen fee us, we made an Halt, and hid our- 
felves in a Bending of the Sand-bank. They knew we mult 
be thereabouts ; and, being three or four times our Num- 
ber, thought to feize us : So they difperfed themfelves, 
fome going to the Sea-fhore, and others beating about the 
Sand-hills. We knew,, by what Rencounter we had had 
2 H t with 
