1773.
April.
black lines. The third sort was a bluish grey whistling duck, about the size of a wigeon; its bill had a remarkable membranaceous substance at the extremity on both sides, probably because the bird is intended to live by sucking the worms, &c, in the mud, when the tide retires from the beaches. Its breast was sprinkled with ferruginous feathers, and on the wings it had a large white spot. The fourth and most common sort is a small brown duck, which is nearly the same as the English gadwall. A little before dark, the captain, having examined all the harbours which lay in his way, shot a number of wild fowl, and caught fish sufficient for all our party, arrived at our rendezvous, where we had erected a tent, by means of the sails and oars. Our keen appetites dispensed with the arts of cookery, and our fish broiled a l'Indienne, over a strong fire, on a bit of a stick, tasted as deliciously as we could desire. With this supper, and a draught of spruce-beer, of which we had carried a small keg with us, we composed ourselves to sleep, and contrived to pass the night, though not quite so comfortably as in our beds. The next morning a boat went up to the head of the cove to start the game, which was done so effectually that almost all the wild-ducks escaped, the rain having wetted all our fire-arms. The captain now landed in the cove, and walked across a narrow isthmus, which separates it from another cove on the north side of the Five-fingerLand.
