1773.
April.
benefit of future generations of navigators and New Zeelanders. There can be little doubt indeed, but that they will succeed in this secluded spot, and in time spread over the whole country, answerable to our original intention. The rest of this day was spent in shooting, and among the different birds killed was a white heron (ardea alba), common to Europe.
The fair weather, which had lasted eight days successively, was entirely at an end on the 25th,Sunday 5. when the rain set in again towards evening, and continued till the next day at noon.Monday 26. We had reason to believe such a continuance of dry weather very uncommon in Dusky Bay, and particularly at this season, because we never experienced above two fair days one after another, either before or after this week. We had, however, improved this opportunity to complete our wood and water, and put the sloop in condition to go out to sea, and having taken on board all our men, we cast off our bridge, and removed out of the creek, into the middle of our cove, ready to sail with the first fair wind. The superiority of a state of civilization over that of barbarism could not be more clearly stated, than by the alterations and improvements we had made in this place. In the course of a few days, a small part of us had cleared away the woods from a surface of more than an acre, which fifty New Zeelanders, with their tools of stone, couldnot
