"May 5, 1770--_Stingerray Bay_ lies in Lat^d 34·06 S & Long^d W^t
of Long^d on 20·43. It is form'd by two Low P^ts between which
their is a passage of one mile with 12 f^ms water on the E^t side
lies a Little Island and off y^e S^o end of it is a Shore where the
Sea some times Breaks after you are in the Bay spreads and tends to
y^e w^t ward for about 6 or 7 Miles and then ends in two large
Lagoons off the S^o shores lies large flats with only 6 & 7 feet
water upon them is a great Quantity of Stingerrays the Bay is very
Shole but there is a Channel which lies open to y^e entrance with 5
and 6 f^m water, but after you are two miles within it sholes to 3
the Bay is about 4 Miles Broad and has a regular tide. The Country
is very rich and fertile and has a fine appear^ce we saw a large
tree which grows allone and yealds a Gum like Dragons Blood this we
found in great Quantitys sticking to y^e Bark the Tree on which it
grows is very large & spreads, but does not grow Stright nor tall
besides we saw a wood which has a grain like oak and would be very
durable if used for Building the leaves are like a Pine leaf the
Soil is a light sandy black earth mix'd but is very shallow upon
digging we found vast Quantitys of Oyster Shells which seem'd to
have been underground a great while We also found a Tree which bore
a red berry about y^e size of a Cherry, but they grew only in one
Place--the inhabitants are so shy that we had no kind of Intercous
with them they us'd to come down every evening arm'd with Lances
and wooden Swords they appeard very thin and had their faces Daub'd
over with some thing white one day as the Surgeon was walking in
the woods which is all clear of under wood he had a Lance hove at
him out of a tree but the man made of this was all we saw of them
except when they were fishing off in their canoes which are very
small & made of Bark they carry one man who paddles with two small
pieces of wood they use them in striking fish on y^e flats their
Houses are several Pieces of Bark sett up against an other & open
at each end and are the worst I ever saw the people have nothing to
cover themselves but go quite naked men & women, and are the most
wretched sett I ever beheld or heard of."
Green's Log is by the astronomer of the expedition. He heads his page
"Coasting New Holland northward." Though he puts April 28 for 29, his
Botany Bay visit is thus recorded:--
"Hoisted out the boats at 3 the Cap^tn &c with Marines and boat's
crew arm'd attempted landing but were opposed on the rocks of Sandy
beach by 2 Indians with 4 prong'd wooden fish gigs tipt at the ends
with 4 fish bones and fastened to y^e wood with a gummy resinous
substance; one of them under cover of a shield approach'd the boats
and threw his Gig and in return was wounded with small shot. They
now fled & with them a woman and 6 or 7 boys.
"On the beach they found 3 or 4 canoes made of the bark of a tree
gather'd up at either end and stuck open with a few sticks for
thwarts--the houses too (about 5) were no more than angular Kennels
made by binding a piece of bark in the middle and resting either
end on the ground encreasing the N^o of the pieces of bark
according to ye length desired."
An _unnamed_ log has the same account of the Bay.
The _Log_ signed _Cha Clerke_ is, like others of the early Cook age,
wholly innocent of a reference to _Botany Bay_.