Page:Narrative of a survey of the intertropical and western coasts of Australia, Volume 1.djvu/434

 372 the mud, and close to the canoe, the gentlemen noticed the impression of a human foot, that must have been made since the .previous high tide. They also saw an alligator, but it was not more than eight feet in length.

Mr. Cunningham returned in the evening from a walk to the summit of Mount Cook, much fatigued from the difficulty he experienced in the ascent: he brought with him, however, a collection of specimens and seeds, which fully repaid him for the toil of his excursion. He also rendered his expedition useful to me, by taking the bearings of some reefs in the offing, and by furnishing a sketch of the bay on the south side of the mountain, and of the rivulet which falls into it. This did not appear to him to be deep enough for a vessel larger than a boat. It was this bay that Captain Cook first examined for a place to repair his ship, after his escape from the reef; but he found it much too inconvenient and exposed for his purpose; and it was after this that Endearour River was discovered.

On one of Mr. Cunningham's explorations he found several cabbage palms, (seaforthia elegans, Brown); but they were too distant from the tents to induce me to send for any for the Ship's company. Besides this, he also found a species of yam, (caladium macrorhizum, Cunn. MSS.), the