Joseph Banks

“ The weather here has been very uncertain tho in general extreemly bad: every day since the first more or less snow has fallen and yet the glass has never been below 38: unseasonable as this weather seems to be in the middle of summer I am inclind to think it is generaly so here, for none of the plants appear at all affected by it, and the insects who hide themselves during the time a snow blast lasts are the instant it is fair again as lively and nimble as the finest weather could make them. ”

“ Scurvy grass is found plentifully in damp places near springs, in general every where near the beach especialy at the watering place in the Bay of Good Success; when young and in its greatest perfection it lays flat on the ground, having many bright green leaves standing in pairs opposite each other with an odd one at the end which makes in general the 5th on a footstalk ”

“ The hills within land seemd to be high and on them were many patches of snow, but the sea coast appeard fertile especialy the trees of a bright verdure, except in places exposd to SW wind which were distinguishable by their brown appearance; the shore itself sometimes beach and sometimes rock. ”

“ Among other things the bay affords there is plenty of winters bark, easy to be known by its broad leaf like a laurel of a light green colour and blueish underneath, the bark is easily stripd off with a bone or stick as ours are barkd in England ”

“ Quadrupeds I saw none in the Island, exept the Seals and Sea lions which we often saw swimming about in the bay might be calld such, but Dr Solander and myself when we were on the top of the highest hill we were upon observ'd the footsteps of a large beast imprinted on the surface of a bog, but could not with any probability guess of what kind it might be.
Land birds there are very Few. I saw none larger than an English blackbird except hawks and a vulture, but water fowl are much more plentyfull ”

“ In this dress there is no distinction between men and women, except that the latter have their cloak tied round their middle with a kind of belt or thong and a small flap of leather hanging like Eve's fig leaf over those parts which nature teaches them to hide; which precept tho she has taught to them she seems intirely to have omitted with the men, for they continualy expose those parts to the view of strangers with a carelessness which thoroughly proves them to have no regard to that kind of decency. ”

“ This morn very early Dr Solander and myself with our servants and two Seamen to assist in carrying baggage, accompanied by Msrs Monkhouse and Green, set out from the ship to try to penetrate into the countrey as far as we could, and if possible gain the tops of the hills where alone we saw places not overgrown with trees. We began to enter the woods at a small sandy beach a little to the westward of the watering place and continued pressing through pathless thickets, always going up hill, till 3 o'Clock before we gaind even a near view of the places we intended to go to. ”

“ Clouds to the westward appear so like land this morn that even our first Lieutenant who prided himself on His judgement in this particular was deceivd. Wind vereable and calmer, many seals and some Albatrosses but none of those whitish birds which we saw in the gale of wind.
1769 January 10. Fine weather: Seals plentifully today and a kind of birds different from any we have before seen, they were black and a little larger than pidgeons, plump like them and easily known by their flapping their wings quick as they fly contrary to the custom of sea birds in general. ”

“ In the other we shot some but probably the Indians in the neighbourhood had made them shy as well as much less plentiful, at least so we found them.
Fish we saw few nor could with our hooks take any fit to eat. Shell fish however are in the greatest abundance, limpits, muscles, Clams etc. none of them delicate yet such as they were we did not despise them.
Insects there are very few and not one species either hurtfull or troublesome; all the time we have been here we have seen neither gnat nor musqueto a circumstance which few if any uncleard countrey but this can boast of. ”

“ Of the former we found some very scarce and fine particularly limpits of several species: of these we observd as well as the shortness of our time would permit that the limpit with a longish hole at the top of his shell is inhabited by an animal very different from those which have no such holes. ”

“ Their ornaments of which they are extreemly fond consist of necklaces or rather Solitaires of shells and braceletts which the women wear both on their wrists and legs, the men only on their wrists, but to compensate for the want of the other they have a kind of wreath of brown worsted which they wear over their Foreheads so that in reality they are more ornamented than the women. ”

“ When we were nearest in we could plainly discover with our glasses spots in which the colour of white and yellow were predominant which we judg'd to be flowers, the white were in large clusters almost every where, the yellow in small spots or patches on the side of a hill coverd with a beautifull verdure; the trees could now be distinguishd very plainly and seemd to be 30 or 40 feet high with flat bushy tops, their trunks in many places were bare and resembled rocks a good deal till the glasses cleard up the deception. ”

“ They probably travel and stay but a short time at a place, so at least it should seem from the badness of their houses which seem intirely built to stand but for a short time; from their having no kind of household furniture but what has a handle adapted to it either to be carried in the hand or on the back ”

“ Both these herbs we us'd plentifully while we stayd here putting them in our soup etc., and found the benefit from them which seamen in general find from vegetable diet after having been long deprivd of it.
The inhabitants we saw here seemd to be one small tribe of Indians consisting of not more than 50 of all ages and sexes. They are of a reddish Colour nearly resembling that of rusty iron mixd with oil: the men large built but very clumsey, their hight from 5 ft 8 to 5 ft 10 nearly and all very much of the same size, the women much less seldom exceeding 5 ft. ”

“ This morn at day break we were at the streights mouth and stood in a little way, but the tide turning against us soon set us out again; at 1⁄2 past 8 tide again turnd in our favour but soon after wind came foul so were forcd to turn to windward; the wind soon freshning made us pitch most violently, so much that our Gib netting was quite under water. At 12 today Lat: 54:42. Staten land is much more craggy than Terra del Fuego tho the view of it in Ld Ansons Voyage is exaggerated. About 4 it blew very hard and the tide turning against us quickly drove us out of the streights the second time. ”

“ In these few hutts and with this small share or rather none at all of what we call the nescessaries and conveniences of life livd about 50 men women and children, to all appearance contented with what they had nor wishing for any thing we could give them except beads ”

“ Dr Solander was the first who felt it, he said he could not go any fa [r] ther but must lay down, tho the ground was coverd with snow, and down he laid notwithstanding all I could say to the contrary. Richmond a black Servant now began also to lag and was much in the same way as the dr: at this Juncture I dispatchd 5 forwards of whom Mr Buchan was one to make ready a fire at the very first convenient place they could find, while myself with 4 more staid behind to persuade if possible the dr and Richmond to come on. ”