overlooked the harbour, which afforded by no means a comfortable prospect:  The low land near the river is wholly over-run with mangroves, among which the salt water flows every tide; and the high land appeared to be everywhere stoney and barren.  In the mean time, Mr Banks had also taken a walk up the country, and met with the frames of several old Indian houses, and places where they had dressed shell-fish; but they seemed not to have been frequented for some months.  Tupia, who had employed himself in angling, and lived entirely upon what he caught, recovered in a surprising degree; but Mr Green still continued to be extremely ill.

The next morning I got the four remaining guns out of the hold, and mounted them upon the quarter-deck; I also got a spare anchor and anchor-stock ashore, and the remaining part of the stores and ballast that were in the hold; set up the smith’s forge, and employed the armourer and his mate to make nails and other necessaries for the repair of the ship.  In the afternoon, all the officers’ stores and ground tier of water were got out, so that nothing remained in the fore and main hold but the coals, and a small quantity of stone ballast.  This day Mr Banks crossed the river to take a view of the country on the other side; he found it consist principally of sand-hills, where he saw some Indian houses, which appeared to have been very lately inhabited.  In his walk he met with vast flocks of pigeons and crows:  Of the pigeons, which were exceedingly beautiful, he shot several; but the crows, which were exactly like those in England, were so shy that he could not get within reach of them.

On the 20th, we landed the powder and got out the stone ballast and wood, which brought the ship’s draught of water to eight feet ten inches forward, and thirteen feet abaft; and this I thought, with the difference that would be made of trimming the coals aft, would be sufficient; for I found that the water rose and fell perpendicularly eight feet at the spring-tides:  But as soon as the coals were trimmed from over the leak, we could hear the water rush in a little abaft the foremast, about three feet from the keel; this determined me to clear the hold entirely.  This evening Mr Banks observed that in many parts of the inlet there were large quantities of pumice-stones, which lay at a considerable distance above high-water mark, whither they might have been carried either by the freshes or extraordinary high tides, for there could be no doubt but that they came from the sea.

The next morning we went early to work, and by four o’clock in the afternoon had got out all the coals, cast the moorings loose, and warped the ship a little higher up the harbour to a place which I thought most convenient for laying her ashore in order to stop the leak.  Her draught of water forward was now seven feet nine inches, and abaft thirteen feet six inches.  At eight o’clock, it being high water, I hauled her bow close ashore, but kept her stern afloat, because I was afraid of neiping her; it was however necessary to lay the whole of her as near the ground as possible.