Joseph Banks - Endeavour journal, 25 August 1768 - 12 July 1771 - No. 0281
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[Page 281]
Georges Land
April 1765 [9]
other who after some intreatys came & sat on the other side of me I was then desirous of getting rid of my former companion so I ceas'd to attend to her & loaded my pretty girl with beads & every present I could think pleasing to her the other shewd much disgust but did not quit her place & continued to supply me with fish & cocoa nut milk how this would have ended is hard to say it was interupted by an accident which gave us an opportunity of seeing much of the peoples manners Dr Solander & another gentleman who had not been in as good company as myself found that their pockets had been pickd one had lost a snuff box the other an opera glass Complaint was made to the cheif & to give it weight I started up from the ground & striking the but of my gun made a rattling noise which I had before used in our walk to frighen the people & keep them at a distance upon this as a signal every one of the common sort (among whom was my pretty girl) ran like sheep from the house leaving us with only the cheif his 3 wives & two or three better dressd than the rest whose quality I do not yet guess at the cheif then took me by the hand to the other end of the house where lay a large quantity of their cloth this he offerd to me peice by peice making signs that if it would make me amends I might take any part or all I