, several of the party went on shore. Thirty or forty Indians
soon made their appearance, but, distrustful of the strangers, quickly
retreated to a distance. On this, Mr Banks and Dr Solander advanced,
when two of the Indians approached them and sat down. As the Englishmen
drew near, the savages rose and each threw away from him a stick which
he had in his hand, returning immediately to their companions and making
signs to the white men to follow. This they did, and friendly relations
were at once established between the two parties. Three of them were
induced to go on board, and were chiefly remarkable for the entire want
of interest with which they regarded all the novelties by which they
were surrounded. One of them, who was conjectured to be a priest, did
little else than shout all the time he was on board. He was supposed,
by this, to be engaged in the performance of some heathenish
incantation. When these three men were landed, their fellow-savages
showed great eagerness to learn what they had seen in the strange big
canoe, as they would probably have termed the English ship.

On December 16, Mr Banks and Dr Solander, with Mr Green, Mr
Monkhouse the surgeon, and several attendants, landed, with the
intention of ascending a mountain seen in the distance, and penetrating
as far as they could into the country. The atmosphere when they set out
was like that of a warm spring day in England. It being the middle of
summer, the day was one of the longest in the year. Nothing could have
been more favourable for their expedition. They had gone through a
wood, and were about to pass over what at a distance they had taken to
be a plain, but which proved to be a swamp covered thickly with tangled
bushes three feet high. Still they pushed across it, and reached the
mountain, on which Mr Banks and Dr Solander commenced collecting
specimens. Most of the party were greatly fatigued, and Mr Buchan, the
draughtsman, was seized with a fit. He was therefore left with some of
the party while the rest went forward. The weather, however, changed--
the cold became intense, and snow fell very thickly. Dr Solander had
warned his companions not to give way to the sensation of sleepiness
which intense cold produces, yet he was one of the first to propose to
lie down and rest. Mr Banks, however, not without the greatest
difficulty, urged him on, but the two black servants lay down and were
frozen to death, and a seaman who rem