COASTS OF AUSTRALIA 
231 
were canoes of the natives, of similar construe- ^ 
tion to that seen on the beach at Endeavour Jlll y 14 * 
River. In one of them was the apparatus for 
striking turtles, which has been noticed by Cap- 
tain Cook*. At the end of this chapter a wood- 
cut is inserted, descriptive of the instrument and 
of the manner in which it is used. 
On the branch of a tree near at hand were three 
turtles’ heads ; and since they had been placed 
there, the young branches had expanded, causing 
us to wonder at first how the heads could have 
passed over them. These remains of a turtle 
feast did not assimilate with our ideas of the cha- 
racter of the Aborigines of this country, and it 
was then thought much more probable to be a 
relic of the crew of the wrecked vessel ; we have, 
however, since frequently noticed the same thing, 
which could only have been left by the natives. 
After examining the canoes, we proceeded round 
the bay towards the wreck ; in our way to it we 
passed over a long coral flat, which had been left 
dry by the ebbing tide. 
On arriving at the wreck a melancholy scene 
presented itself. It would appear that she was 
thrown upon the rocks before she went to pieces ; 
the upper part of her stern and hull as far forward 
as her rnizen chains were entire and lying on 
* Hawkesworth, Coll . vol. in. p. 232. 
