A MOMEXTOUS DECISION : DISCOVERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 1 7 
looked whitish, and some thought shining, insomuch that they were almost of 
opinion that they were made of some kind of metal ; but I thought they were only 
wood smeared over with the white pigment with which they paint their bodies. 
These two seemed to talk earnestly together, at times brandishing their crooked 
weapons at us, in token of defiance. By noon we were within the mouth of the 
inlet,* which appeared to be very good. Under the south head of it were four 
small canoes, each containing one man, who held in his hand a long pole, with 
which he struck fish, venturing with his Uttle embarkation almost into the surf. 
These peojile seemed to be totally engaged in what they were about; the ship 
passed within a quarter of a mile of them, and yet they scarcely hfted their eyes 
from their employment. I was almost inchned to think that, attentive to their 
business and deafened by the noise of the surf, they neither saw nor heard her 
go past. 
We came to an anchor abreast of a small village consisting of six or eight houses. 
Soon after this an old woman, followed by three cliildren, came out of the wood ; 
she carried several pieces of stick, ami the children also had their little burthens. 
When she came to the houses, three younger children came out of one of them 
to meet her. She often lookeil at the ship, but expressed neither surprise nor 
concern; she then Ughted a fire, and the four canoes came in from fishing, tlie 
people landed, hauled up their boats, and began to dress their dirmer, to all appear- 
ances totally unmoved by us, though we were within little more than half a mile 
of them. On all these people whom we had seen so distinctly through our glasses, 
we had been unable to observe the least signs of clothing; myself, to the best of 
my judgment, plainly discerned that the women did not copy our mother Eve 
even in the fig-leaf. 
-A.fter dinner the boats were manned, and we set out from the ship, intending 
to land at the place where we saw these [)eople, hoping that as they regarded the 
ship’s coming into the bay so little, they would as little regartl our landing. We 
were in this, however, mistaken ; for as soon as we approached the rocks two of 
the men came down, each armed with a lance about 10 feet long, and a short stick, 
which he seemed to handle as though it were a machine to throw a lance. They 
called to us very loudly in a harsh soimding language, of which neither we nor 
Tupiat understood a word, shaking their lances and menacing; in all appearance 
resolved to dispute our landing to the utmost, though they werejbut two, and we 
thirty or forty at least. In this manner we parleyed with them for about a quarter 
of an hour, they waving to us to be gone; we again signing that we wanted water, 
and that we meant them no harm. They remained resolute, so a musket was 
fixed on them, the effect of which was that the younger of the two dropped a bundle 
of lances on the rock the instant he heard the report. He. however, snatched 
them up again, and both renewed their threats and opposition. A musket loaded 
with small shot was now fired at the elder of the two, who was about 40 yards 
from the boat ; it struck him on the legs, but he minded it very little, so another 
was immediately fireil at him. On this he ran up to the house, about a hundred 
yards distant, and soon returned with a shield. In the meantime we had landed 
on the rock. The man immediately threw a lance at us and the young man another, 
which fell among the thickest of us, but hurt nobody; two more muskets with 
small shot were then fired at them, whereupon the elder threw one more lance 
and ran away, as chd the other. We went up to the houses, in one of which we 
foimtl the children hidden behind the shield, and a piece of bark. 
We were concious, from the distance the people had been from us when we 
fired, that the shot could have done them no material harm ; we, therefore, resolved 
• Botany Bay. It was Banks who, on his return to England, recommended the Government 
to form a penal settlement at this spot. (Hooker’s note). 
+ The native of Tahiti who came on board the “ Endeavour ” and completed the voyage at 
Banks’ expense. See Banks’ Journal, pp. 96, 108, &c. 
B 
