1958 - Banks, Joseph. Sir Joseph Banks in New Zealand: from his Journal - The New Zealand Journal, p 29-119

       
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  1958 - Banks, Joseph. Sir Joseph Banks in New Zealand: from his Journal - The New Zealand Journal, p 29-119
 
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The New Zealand Journal.

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The New Zealand Journal

STANDING TO THE SOUTHWARD

Augt 1769

15th/ Crossed the Tropic this Morn; Wind N. & Weather very pleasant; At Night Wind rather Variable.

16th/ Soon after we rose this morn we were told that Land was in sight, it proved to be a Cloud, but at first sight was so like land, that it deceiv'd every Man in the Ship even Tupia 1 gave it a name, the Ship bore down towards it, but in about 3 hours all hands were convinced that it was but a cloud.

17/ A heavy swell from the SW all Day, so we are not yet under the lee of the Continent; in the Evening no Wind our Taros (roots of the Yam kind, call'd in the W Indies Cocos) faild us to day, many of them were rotten; they would probably have kept longer had we had either time or opportunity of drying them well, but I beleive that at the best they are very much inferior to either Yamms or Potatoes for keeping.

18/ SE Swell continues to Day with little Wind at N.

19/ Weather & Swell much as Yesterday, some of our People tell me that they have seen Albatrosses both Yesterday & the Day before.

20/ A Large Albatross about the Ship most of the Day little Wind, the Swell less than Yesterday but still troublesome; At Night a heavy Dew.

21/ A Fine breeze at NW. some Pintado birds (Proi capensis) about the Ship; this Day our Plantains failed us, they were all eat, not one ever was rotten, Indeed since we left

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Standing to the Southward [21 Aug. 1769

Ulhietea 2 the Hogs have almost intirely subsisted upon them of which we have no small number, who I fear will feel the loss of them most sensibly, as not one I beleive has yet eat the smallest proportion of English food.

22d/ Fresh Breeze of Wind but little Sea, Several Albatrosses & Pintado Birds about the Ship to Day.

23d/ Light Breeze, our hogs & fowls begin to Die apace of the Latter a great many; want of proper food, & Cold which now begins even to pinch us, is I suppose the Cause: Afternoon Calm; many Albatrosses & Pintado birds about the Ship.

24/ The Morn was Calm, about 9 it began to blow fresh with rain, which came on without the least warning, at the same time a Waterspout was seen to Leeward, it appeared to me so inconsiderable, that had I not been shew'd it, I should not have particularly noticed the appearance, it resembled a line of thick mist, as thick as a midling tree, which reached not in a Strait Line almost to the waters Edge, & in a few minutes totally disappeared; its distance I suppose made it appear so trifling as the Seamen judged it not less than 2 or 3 miles from us. Many birds about the Ship, Pintado, Common & Southern Albatross.

25/ Less Wind to Day, but the Swell occasioned by Yesterdays Wind still troublesome birds to Day about the Ship, Pintado, Common & Southern Albatross, & a Sheerwater, in size & Shape like the common but grey or whitish on the head & back 3 It was this Day twelvemonth since we left England, in consequence of which a peice of Cheshire Cheese was taken from a locker, where it had been reserved for this occasion, & a Cask of Porter tapp'd which proved excellently good, so that we lived like English Men, & Drank the healths of our friends in England.

26/ Few Birds to Day, cheifly Albatrosses few Pintados; in the Evening several Grampuses about the Ship. 4

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27 Aug. 1769] Standing to the Southward

27/ Pleasant breeze Birds to Day as plentifull as ever Albatrosses of both kinds; Pintados & grey Sheerwaters.

28/ Birds as Yesterday with the addition of a kind of Sheerwater quite black, the same as was seen & shot on the 21st of March last in our passage to the Westward (p. atrata) 5 Tupia not well to Day, he complains of a pain in his Stomach, his distemper probably proceeds from Cold, of which we have for some days past had more than from our Latitude we should have expected. One of the Seamen Rayden by name was this Morn found so Drunk, that he had scarce any signs of Life, & in about an hour he expired; where he could have got his Liquor is a mystery which however nobody seems to enquire into, probably not fairly: I have more than once had occasion to congratulate myself on my prudence in not taking Wine on board at Madeira, as I beleive I may safely say that there is not a Cask on board the Ship that has not been tap'd to the great disatisfaction of the owners, who in general have had the Comfort to find the Gentlemen honest enough not to have filled up with Salt Water in some cases however this was not a consideration of much Comfort, as many of the Casks were 2/3 Empty, & some quite.

29/ Very Moderate & pleasant, scarce any motion; few or no birds about the Ship: In the Course of last night a Phenomenon was seen in the heavens, which Mr Green says is either a Comet or a Nebulus, he does not know which: The Seamen have observed it these 3 Nights.

30th/ Our Comet is this Morn acknowledg'd, & proves a very large one, but very faint, Tupia as soon as he saw it declared that the People of Bola bola 6 would upon the sight of it, kill the people of Ulhietea, who would, as many as could fly into the Mountains. More Sea to Day than Yesterday, heaving in from WSW. Several birds Pintado's Albatrosses of both kinds, the little silvered back bird which we saw off Faulkland Islands &

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In Search of the Southern Continent [30 Aug. 1769

Green bird

Cape Horn Pr. velox and grey Sheerwater: 7 Peter saw a Green bird about the size of a Dove the colour makes us hope that it is a Land Bird; 8 it took however not the least notice of the Ship; Some Seaweed was also seen to pass by the Ship, but as it was a very small peice, our hopes are not very sanguine on that head: The Thermometer to Day 52 which pinches us much who are so lately come from a Countrey where it was seldom less than 80. A Swell from SW.

31/ Blows fresh this Morn with a good deal of Sea; about 7 in the Morn a heap of Seaweed pass'd the Ship; an immense quantity of Birds are about her to Day; Albatrosses of both kinds, which are easily distinguish'd one from the other by their beaks, which in one is white, in the other black; also large black Sheerwaters, & a smaller sort with grey backs Pintados but above all, many millions I may safely say of the small bird mentioned Yesterday about as large as a dove, greyish on the Back, some with a dark colour'd mark going in a crook'd direction on that & its wings; 9 I tried to Day to catch some of these numerous attendants with a hook, but after the whole morn spent in the attempt caught only one Pintado which proved to be Procellaria capensis of Linn:


Sepr. 1769

1st/ Blows very fresh with a heavy Sea; the Ship was very troublesome all last night & is not less so to Day; many Birds are about but not so many as Yesterday, there are however all the Sorts.

2/ Wind still fresher, Ship lays too; Birds of all the sorts before mentioned in great numbers round her; in the Evening the Weather Moderates & the Sea falls fast: At Night the Comet was seen brighter than when last observed, but the tail was something shorter, which when last seen measured 42° in length; Great Sea from WSW: At 4 Lat 40°. 22' S.



[Unpaginated illustration]

MAP of the Coast of NEW ZEALAND
discovered in the Years 1769 and 1770
BY I. COOK.
Commander of His Majesty's Bark
ENDEAVOUR.


[Unpaginated illustration]

By permission of the Rev. Canon Harrison Park, M. A., Vicar of Marton-in-Cleveland, Yorkshire
James Cook, Captain of H. M. Bark Endeavour
A portrait by James Webber

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3 Sept. 1769] In Search of the Southern Continent

3/ Sea quite down; A Pleasant Breeze; Few Birds to Day about the Ship, cheifly Pintado Birds & black beak'd Albatrosses.

4/ Almost Calm; Few Birds as Yesterday; in the Evening a light Breeze springs up, & the Sun sets among many dark black Clouds edg'd with fiery red, which is look'd upon by some Seamen as a sure Sign of a Gale of Wind.

5/ In the Morn a pleasant Breeze which increased gradually till about 4 when it blew fresh; about 6 hard rain came on, which made both Sea & Wind fall in a very short time many birds were seen to Day all of the 2d & two that had not been seen before, probably varieties of the common Albatross, one at a Distance appeared Snow white, but nearer was easily seen to be thickly powdered over with small grey spots, the other milk white except the tipps of the Wings which were black as in Gannets. 10 Saw a peice of Rock Weed.

6/ Moderate all Day; few individuals of Birds but all the Sorts of Yesterday.

7/ Blows fresh; many Birds all the sorts of Yesterday & one added to the number a Sheerwater of the common size (of a Sea Gull) black above & white underneath except his chin & neck which were black. 11 A Seal Seen.

8/ Little Wind in the Morn; At Noon Calm with rain; few Birds seen, all of the common sorts: Great Swell from SW.

9/ Fair Wind, Light Breeze, & very pleasant Wr; a small peice of Seaweed was seen few birds only the Pintado and small Sheerwater.

10/ This Morn a Fog bank was seen upon our quarter which much resembled Land, we bore after it, but were soon convinced of our mistake: more birds than Yesterday Pintado Birds both the Albatrosses the small grey back'd Bird like a Dove (Mother Careys Dove) the grey back'd Sheerwater of the 31st, & a small

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In Search of the Southern Continent [10 Sept. 1769

kind of Mother Careys Chicken black above & white underneath. 12

11/ Fine Weather & few Birds.

12th/ Moderate saw another of the small Birds of the 10th which are the only two that have yet been observed: Swell from SSW.

13th/ Almost Calm all last night; Weather to Day very uncertain breezes succeeding Calms few Birds are about the Ship two were however seen swimming in the Water that were perfectly white & appeared larger than Albatrosses.

14th/ Weather much as Yesterday: Swell from SSW.

15/ Fresh Breeze of Wind but fair; abundance of Birds are again about the Ship both the Albatrosses Pintados Grey back'd Sheerwaters black back'd do; of the 7th Dove in the Even it blew hard; myself far from well, complaint much like Sea Sickness.

16/ Weather rather more Moderate, but still blows fresh; myself rather better, but still very Sick at the Stomach which continually supplies a thin acid liquor which I discharge by Vomit. Birds as Yesterday.

17/ Moderate; few birds; myself quite well.

18/ Moderate this Morn several Pintados & Albatrosses in the Evening quite Calm.

19/ Quite Calm to Day, go out in the boat & shoot Procellaria velox (the Dove of the 31st vagabunda (the grey back'd Sheerwater of the same Day) Passerina (the small Mother Careys Chicken of the 10th) took with the dipping net Medusa vitrea, Phillodoce velella to one Specimen of which stuck Lepas anatifera Doris complanata Helix violacea Cancer 13.............

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19 Sept. 1769] In Search of the Southern Continent

very few birds were to be seen, there were however some Albatrosses & a kind of Sheerwater quite black, which I was not fortunate enough to shoot: a large hollow swell from the South.

20/ Uncertain Weather, Calm & Light Breezes often succeeding each other; few birds about the Ship.

21 / Pleasant Breeze, some Birds about us, Albatrosses & black & Grey Sheerwaters.

22/ Moderate; few birds, cheifly Albatrosses & Pintados towards night a large flock of black Sheerwaters are seen that do not change their place, but keep hovering as if some prey was under them; two Whales were also seen (Southerly swell still continued).

23/ Moderate to Day, several birds are about the Ship, cheifly Pintadoes & Albatrosses; in the Evening another flock of black Sheerwaters passed the Ship, & soon after two Whales were seen.

Dr Solander has been unwell for some Days, so to Day I opened Dr Hulme's Essence of Lemon Juice 14 Mr Monkhouse having prescribed it for him, which proved perfectly good, little if at All Inferior in taste to fresh Lemon Juice; we also to day made a pye of the North America apples which Dr Fothergill gave me which proved very good if not quite equal to the apple Pies which our friends in England are now eating good enough to please us who have been so long deprived of the fruits of our native Countrey; in the Main however we are well off for refreshments & Provisions of most species; Our Ships Beef & Pork are excellent, as are the Peas; Our flour & Oatmeal which have at some times faild us, are at present, & have in general been very good; Our Water is as sweet, & has rather more Spirit than it had

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In Search of the Southern Continent [23 Sept. 1769

when drank out of the river at Otahite; our Bread indeed is but indifferent, occasioned by the quantity of vermin that are in it, I have often seen hundreds, nay thousands, shaken out of a single Bisket, we in the Cabin, have however an easy remedy for this, by baking it in an oven not too hot, which makes them all walk off but this cannot be allowed to the private People, who must find the taste of these animals very disagreeable, as they every one taste as strong as mustard, or rather spirits of hartshorn; they are of 5 kinds, 3 Tenebrios 1 Ptinus & the Phalanguum cancroides, 15 this last is however scarce in the common bread, but was vastly plentifull in White Deal Bisket as long as we had any left.

Wheat was allowed to the Ships Company which has been boil'd for their breakfasts 2 or 3 times a week, in the same manner as firmity is made; this has I beleive been a very useful refreshment to them, as well as an agreeable food which myself & most of the Officers in the Ship have constantly breakfasted upon in the Cold Weather the grain was originally of a good quality, & has kept without the least damage; This however cannot be said of the Malt of which we have plainly had two kinds, one very good, but that has some time ago been used; that, that is at present in use is good for nothing at all it has originally been of a bad light grain, & so little care has been taken in the making of it, that the tails are left in with innumerable other kinds of Dirt; add to all this that it has been damp'd on board the Ship, so that with all the care that can be used it will scarce give a tincture to water: Portable Soup is very good, it has now & then required an Airing which has hindered it from moulding Sour Crout is as good as ever, & I have not the least doubt of its remaining so.

So much for the Ships company; we ourselves are hardly as well off as them; our live stock consists of 17 Sheep 4 or 5 fowls, as many S. Sea Hogs, 4 or 5 Muscovy Ducks, an English Boar & Sow with a litter of Pigs, in the use of these we are rather sparing, as the time of our getting a supply is rather precarious; Salt stock we have nothing worth mentioning, except a kind of Salt Beef,

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23 Sept. 1769] In Search of the Southern Continent

which was put up by one Mellish a butcher at new Crane Stairs, 16 which is by much the best Salt meat I have ever tasted, & our Salted Cabbage see p 145V1st 17 which is now as good as it was then.

Our Malt liquors have answered extremely well, we have now both small Beer & Porter upon Tap as good as I ever drank them, especially the Latter, which was bought of Sam 18 & Jno Curtiss at Wapping new Stairs; the small Beer had some art used to make it keep, it was bought of Bruff & Taylor in Hog lane, near St Giles's: Our Wine I cannot say much for, tho I beleive it to be good in its nature we have not a glass fine these many Months, I beleive cheifly owing to the Carelessness or Ignorance of the Steward.

piece of wood

24/ Weather very Moderate, some birds seen in the morning a flock a peice of Sea weed & a peice of wood or something that looked like it & was covered with Barnacles were seen from the Ship.

25/ Fine Weather & fair Wind, several Birds seen of most of the usual Sorts.

26/ Blows fresh to Day, fewer birds in sight than usual in such Weather: several large leaves of Sea-weed have been seen to go by the Ship to Day, but no heaps of it.

Weed, Seal

27/ Blows fresh still a good deal of Sea-weed has been seen this Morn, some in heaps as much together as would fill a large wheelbarrow: after Dinner a Seal was seen asleep upon the water, which gives new life to our hopes. In the Evening a Shoal of Porpoises, black upon the back, white under the belly, & upon the nose, with either no back fin, or one placed very far behind; few birds to Day, but some of almost all the kinds we have usually Seen.

28/ Blows fresh all Day: Some, but not many, Birds seen; several heaps of Sea-weed pass'd by the Ship.

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In Search of the Southern Continent [29 Sept. 1769

Land Bird & Port Egmont Hen

29/ Pleasant Weather; Birds more plentiful than usual in such Weather; about Noon saw one like a snipe but less, 19 & with a short bill, which I judg'd to be a Land Bird; Mr Gore saw a bird which he calls a Port Egmont Hen, which he describes to be brown on the back like a Gull in size & Shape, but flies like a Crow, flapping its Wings: Some large heaps of Sea weed have been seen, some of the Gentlemen upon Deck think that the Colour of the water is changed, consequently we are in Soundings.

30th/ Pleasant Wr Several small peices of Weed go by the Ship, one was taken with the hoave or dipping net, it seem'd not to have been long at Sea, as it was not much broken or rubbed.

Octr.

1st/ Very little Wind & yet vast quantities of small Birds are about the Ship, which has been to us a very uncommon sight in such fine Weather; a Seal seen from the Ship; several peices of Sea weed were taken, & among them a peice of Wood quite over grown with sertularias, 20 it must have been a long time at Sea yet more hopes are drawn from this than the Sea weed, as we now have in our possession a part of the produce of our Land of Promise among the Weed are many Sea insects, which are put into Spirits weed, wood & all, so we shall at least have this to shew; Several Whales have been seen to Day.

2d/ Calm, I go in the boat & take up Dagysa rostrata serena polyedra Baroe incrassata coaretata medusa vitrea Phyllodoce velella 21 with several other things which are all put in Spirits: See a Seal but cannot come near him to shoot Diomedia exulans Procellaria velox pallipes, latirostris longipes & Nectris fuliginosa. 22

3d/ Calm almost this Morn; about 5 a sudden Squall came on with such violence, that the Officer of the Watch was obliged

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3 Oct. 1769] In Search of the Southern Continent

to settle the Topsails; it did not however last above 5 minutes, this we look upon as a sure sign of Land, as such Squalls are rarely (if ever) met with any considerable distance from it I go in the boat & kill Procellaria Capensis longipes & latirostris; in the course of the Day several peices of Sea Weed are taken up, of species very new; & one peice of Wood, covered with striated Barnacles Lepas Anserina.

Now do I wish that our friends in England, could by the assistance of some magical spying Glass, take a peep at our Situation; Dr Solander sets at the Cabin table describing, myself at my Bureau Journalizing, between us hangs a large Bunch of Sea Weed, upon the Table lays the Wood & Barnacles, they would see that notwithstanding our different occupations, our lips move very often, & without being Conjurors might guess that we were talking about what we should see upon the Land, which there is now no doubt we shall see very soon.

4/ Several small peices of Sea weed are seen to Day, but no heaps; Weather pleasant; Breeze rather of the gentlest kind; towards evening we were entertaind by a large Shoal of Porpoises, like those of the 30th of last month, they came up to the Ship in prodigious lively action, leaping out of the Water sometimes 2 or 3 feet high, as nimbly as bonetos; immediately after them came a number of a larger Sort quite black, who moved very heavy in the water both these troops kept their course by the Ship, without taking much notice of her, probably in pursuit of some prey.

Seals & Port Egmont Hens

Our Old Enemy Cape fly away entertained us for three hours this mom all which time there were many opinions in the Ship, some said it was Land, & others Clouds, which at last however plainly appeared: Two Seals passed the Ship asleep, & 3 of the Birds which Mr Gore calls Port Egmont Hens Larus Catarrhactes, 23 & says are a Sure Sign of our being near Land; they are something larger than a Crow, in flight much like one, flapping their Wings, often with a slow motion; their bodies & Wings of a dark Chocolate or soot Colour, under each Wing a small broadish bar of dirty white, which makes them so remarkable, that it is hardly possible to mistake them; they are seen as he says all along

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In Search of the Southern Continent [4 Oct. 1769

the Coast of S. America & in Faulkland Isles, I myself remember to have seen them at Terra del Fuego but by some accident did not note them down; Just before Sunset we were much entertain'd by a Shoal of Porpoises, like those seen Yesterday, they kept in sight of the Ship for near an hour all that while as if in hot pursuit of some prey, leaping out of the Water almost over each other, they might very justly be compared to a pack of hounds in full cry, only their numbers, which were some thousands, made them a much more considerable Object; sometimes they formed a Line near 1/4 of a Mile in length, sometimes contracted themselves into a much smaller Compass, keeping the water wherever they went in a foam so that when they were so far from the Ship, that their bodys could not be distinguish'd, any Man would have taken them for Breakers.

6th/ This Morn a Port Egmont Hen & a Seal were seen pretty early At 1/2 pt one a small Boy who was at the Mast head call'd out Land, 24 I was luckily upon Deck, & well I was entertain'd, within a few minutes the cry circulated, & up came all hands, the Land could not then be seen even from the Tops, yet few were there who did not plainly see it from the Deck till it appeared that they had looked at least 5 points wrong.

Weather most Moderate, we came up with it very Slowly; At Sunset myself was at the Masthead, Land appeared much like an Island or Islands, but seemed to be large Just before a small Shark was seen who had a very piked nose something like our Dog fish in England.

7/ This Morn the Land plainly seen from the Deck, appears to be very large about 11 A large smoak was seen, & soon after several more, sure Sign of Inhabitants: after Dinner dropped Calm myself in little Boat shot Nectris munda 25 & Procellaria velox: took with the dipping Net Dagysa gemma & a good deal of Fucus 26 sertularia &c the examination of which is postponed till we shall have more time than we are likely to have at present.

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7 Oct. 1769] Taoneroa or Poverty Bay

In the Evening a pleasant Breeze, at Sunset all hands at the Mast Head, Land still Distant 7 or 8 leagues appears larger than ever in many parts 3, 4 & 5 ranges of Hills are seen one over another, & a chain of Mountains over all, some of which appear enormously high; much difference of Opinion & many Conjectures about Islands, Rivers, Inlets &c but all hands seem to agree that this is certainly the Continent we are in search of.

8/ This Morn the Land very near us makes in many white Cliffs like Chalk, the Hills are in general cloathd with Trees in the Valleys some appear to be very large; the whole of the appearance not so fruitfull as we could wish: Stand in for a large Bay in hopes of finding a Harbour, before we are well within the heads, saw several Canoes standing across the Bay, who after a little time returned to the place they came from, not appearing to take the least notice of us; some houses were also seen, which appeared low but neat; near one a good many People were collected who sat down on the beach, seemingly observing us, possibly the same as we saw in the Canoes, as they landed somewhere near that place: On a small peninsula at the NE head, we could plainly see a regular paling, pretty high inclosing the Top of a Hill, for what purpose many conjectures were made, most are of opinion or say at least that it must or shall be either a Park of Deer or a feild of Oxen & Sheep: 27 By 4 O'Clock came to an Anchor about 2 miles from the shore, the Bay appears to be quite open without any shelter, the two sides of it make in high white Cliffs, the middle is low land, with hills gradually rising behind one another to the chain of high Mountains inland; here we saw many great smoakes, some near the Beach, others between the hills, some very far within Land, which we looked upon as great indications of a Populous Countrey.

In the Evening went ashore with the Marines &c, March from the boats in hopes of finding Water &c; saw a few of the Natives who ran away immediately on seeing us; while we were absent 4 of them attacked our small Boat, in which were only 4 boys they got off from the shore in a River, the People followed them & threatened with long lances, the Pinnace soon came to their

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Taoneroa [8 Oct. 1769

assistance, fired upon them, & killed the cheif, 28 the other 3 dragged the Body about 100 Yards & left it; at the report of the Musquets we drew together, & went to the place where the body was left he was shot thro' the heart; he was a midling sized Man, Tattowed in the Face in one cheek only in spiral Lines very regularly formed; he was covered with a fine Cloth of a manufacture quite new to us, it was tied on exactly as represented in Mr Dalrymples book p 63; 29 his hair was also tied in a knot on the Top of his head, but no feather stuck in it; his complexion brown but not very dark.

Soon after we came on board we heard the People ashore very distinctly, talking very loud no doubt as they were not less than 2 miles distant from us, consulting probably what is to be done to morrow.

9/ We could see with our Glasses but few People on the beach, they walked with a quick pace towards the River where we landed Yesterday, most of these without Arms 3 or 4 with long pikes in their hands; the Capn ordered 3 Boats to be manned with Seamen & Marines intending to Land & try to establish a communication with them, a high Surf ran on the Shore, the Indians about 50 remain'd on the farther side of the River, 30 we lookd upon that as a sign of fear, so landing with the little boat only the Capn, Dr Solander, Tupia & myself went to the river side to speak to them, as soon almost as we appeared, they rose up & every man produced either a long pike, or a small Weapon of well polished stone about a foot long & thick enough to weigh 4 or 5 pounds; 31 with these they threatened us & signed to us to Depart, a Musquet was then fired wide of them, the ball of which struck the water they saw the Effect & immediately ceased their threats; we thought that it was prudent to retreat till the Marines were landed and drawn up to intimidate them & support

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us in case of necessity they landed & march'd with a Jack carried before them to a little Bank about 50 Yards from the River, which might be about 40 broad; 32 here they were drawn up in order, & we again advanced to the River side with Tupia, who now found that the language of the People was so like his own, that he could tolerably well understand them, & they him; 33 he immediately began to tell them that we wanted provisions & Water, for which we would give them Iron in exchange, they agreed to the proposal, but would by no means lay by their Arms which he disired them to do, this he looked upon as a sign of treachery, & continually told us to be upon our Guard, for they were not our friends; many words pass'd, the cheif purport of which was that each side desired the other to come over to them; at last however an Indian strip'd himself & Swam over without arms, he was followed by two More, & soon after by most of the rest who brought with them their arms; we gave them Iron & beads, they seemed to set little value upon either, but especially upon the Iron, the use of which they were certainly totally ignorant of, they caught at whatever was offered them, but would part with nothing but a few feathers; their arms indeed they offered to exchange for ours, which they made several attempts to snatch from us, we were upon our Guard so much, that their attempts failed & they were made to understand that we must kill them if they snatched any thing from us; after some time Mr Green in turning himself about exposed his hanger one of them immediately snatched it, set up a cry of exultation, & waving it round his head, retreated gently; it now appeared necessary for our safeties, that so daring an act should be instantly punished, this I pronounc'd aloud as my opinion, the Capn & the rest joined me, on which I fired my Musquet which was loaded with small shot levelling it between His shoulders who was not 15yds from me, on the shot striking him he ceased his cry, but instead of quitting his prize, continued to wave it over his head, retreating as gently as before; the Surgeon who was nearer him, seeing this fired a Ball at him, on which he dropped; two more who were near him returned Instantly, one seized his weapon of Green

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Taoneroa [9 Oct. 1769

talk, 34 the other attempted to recover the hanger, which the Surgeon had scarce time to prevent; the main body of them were now upon a Rock a little way in the River, they took the water returning towards us; on which the other three, for we were only 5 in number, fired on them; they then retired & Swam again across the River, on their landing we saw that 3 were wounded, one seemingly a good deal hurt, we may hope however that neither of them were killed, as one of the Musquets only was loaded with Ball, which I think I saw strike the water without taking effect, & Tupias gun which was the last that was fired I clearly saw strike two Men low down upon their Legs who probably would be so lame, as to walk with difficulty when they Landed.

The Indians retired gently, carrying with them their wounded; we reembarked in our boats intending to row round the Bay to see if there might be any shelter for the Ship on the otherside & attempt to Land there, where the Countrey appeared to be much more fruitfull than where we now were, the bottom of the Bay proved to be a low sandy Beach, on which the Sea Broke most prodigiously, so that we could not come near it within was flat a long way inland over this water might be seen from the Masthead probably a Lagoon, but in the boat we could see no entrance into it: we had almost arrived at the farthest part of the Bay when a fresh Breeze came in from the Seaward & we saw a Canoe sailing in standing right towards, soon after another padling; the Capn now resolved to take one of these, which in all probability might be done without the least resistance, 35 as we had 3 boats full of Men, & the Canoes seemed to be fishermen who probably were without Arms; the Boats were drawn up in such a manner that they could not well escape us, the padling

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9 Oct. 1769] Taoneroa

Canoe first saw us, & made immediately for the nearest Land, the other saild on till she was in the midst of us before she saw us, as soon as she did, she struck her Sail, & began to paddle so briskly that she outran our boat, on a Musquet being fired over her she however ceased padling immediately & the People in her, 7 in all made all possible haste to strip, as we thought to leap into the water but no sooner did our boat come up with her, than they began with stones, paddles &c. to make so brisk a resistance that we were obliged to fire into her, by which 4 were killed, the other 3 who were boys leapd overboard, one of them swam with great agility, & when taken made every effort in his power to prevent being taken into the boat, the other 2 were more easily prevaild upon; as soon as they were in they squatted down, expecting no doubt instant Death, but on finding themselves well used & that cloaths were given them, they recovered their spirits in a very short time, & before we got to the Ship appeared almost totally insensible of the loss of their fellows: As soon as they came on board we offered them bread to Eat, of which they almost devoured a large quantity; in the mean time they had Cloaths given them this good usage had such an effect, that they seemed to have intirely forgot every thing that had happened, put on cheerful & lively countenances, and asked & answered questions with a great deal of curiosity; our Dinner came, they expressed a curiosity to taste whatever they saw us eat & did; salt pork seemed to please them better than any thing else, of this they eat a good deal; At Sunset they eat again an enormous quantity of bread, & Drank above a quart of Water each; we then made them beds upon the lockers, & they laid down to sleep with all seeming content imaginable, after dark loud noises were heard on shore as last night: Thus ended the most disagreable Day my life has yet seen, black be the mark for it & heaven send that such may never return to embitter future reflection; I forgot to mention in its proper place that we picked up a large pumice stone floating in the Bay in returning to the Ship to Day, a sure Sign that there either is or has been a Volcano in this neighbourhood.

10/ In the middle of last night, one of our Boys seemed to shew more reflection than he had before done, sighing often and loud, Tupia who was always upon the Watch to comfort

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Taoneroa [10 Oct. 1769

them, got up & soon made them easy; they then sung a Song of their own; it was not without some taste like a Psalm tune, & contained many notes & semitones; they sung it in parts, which gives us no indifferent Idea of their taste as well as skill in musick; the Oldest of them is about 18, the middlemost 15, the youngest 10; the middlemost especially has a most open countenance & agreable manner; their names are Ta'ahourange. Koikerange & Maragooete 36 the two first brothers: In the morning they were all very cheerfull & Eat an Enormous quantity, after that they were dressed & Ornamented with bracelets, ancklets, & necklaces after their own fashion; the Boats were then hoisted out, & we all got into them, the Boys expressed much Joy at this till they saw that we were going to Land at our old Landing Place near the River, they begg'd very much that they might not be set ashore at that place, where they said were enimies of theirs, who would kill & Eat them; the Capn resolved to go ashore at that place, & if the Boys did not chuse to go from us, in the Evening to send a Boat with them to the part of the Bay to which they pointed & called their home; accordingly we went ashore & crossed the River, the Boys at first would not leave us, no method was used to persuade them, it was even resolved to return & carry them home, when on a sudden they seemed to resolve to go, & with tears in their Eyes took leave; we then went along a Swamp, intending to shoot some Ducks, of which there was great plenty; The Countrey was quite flat; the Sergeant & 4 Marines attended us walking upon a Bank abreast of us which overlooked the Countrey; we proceeded about a mile when they called out that a large Body of Indians was marching towards us, we drew together and resolved to retreat, before we had put this in execution the 3 Boys rose out of a Bush in which they were hid, & put themselves again under our protection; we went upon the beach as the clearest place, & walked briskly towards the boats; the Indians were in two parties, one march'd along the Bank before spoke of, the other came round by the morass where we could not see them: On seeing us draw together, they ceas'd to run as they had done & walked but gently on, a circumstance most fortunate for us, for when we came to our boats, the Pinnace was a mile

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10 Oct. 1769] Taoneroa

at least from her station, (sent there by the Officer ashore to pick up a bird he had shot) the small Boat only remained, which was carried over the River, & without the Midshipman who was left to attend her; the consequence of this was, that we were obliged to make 3 trips before we were all over to the rest of the party; as soon as we were well drawn up on the other side, the Indians came down, not in a body as we expected, but 2 & 3 at a time, all armed & soon increased to a considerable number; we now despaired of making peace with men, who were not to be frightened with our small Arms, as the Ship lay so far from the shore that [it] could not throw a shot there; we resolved to reembark, as our stay would most likely be the cause of killing still more people: We were begining to go towards the boats, when on a sudden one of the boys calld out, that the people there were their friends, & desired us to stay & talk with them, we did & much conversation passd but neither would the boys swim over to them, nor they to the Boys: The Bodys both of the Man who was killed Yesterday, & he who was killed the Day before, were left upon the beach; the first was very near us, to it the boys went & covered it with part of the Cloaths we had given them, soon after a single Man unarmed swam over to us (the uncle of maracouete the Younger Boy) he brought in his hand a green bough, probably emblem of Peace, we made him many presents after having received his bough, which he presented to Tupia our interpreter, who asked him to go on board of the Ship, but he refused so we left him, but all the 3 Boys chose rather to return with us than stay with him.

As soon as we had retired & left him to himself, he went & gathered a green bough; with this in his hand he approached the Body with great ceremony walking sideways; he then threw the bough towards it & returned to his companions who immediately sat down round him & remained above an hour, hearing probably what he said, without taking the least notice of us who soon returned to the Ship from thence we could see with our Glasses 3 Men cross the river in a kind of Catamaran & take away the body which was carried off upon a pole by 4 men.

After Dinner the Capn desired Tupia to ask the Boys if they had now any objection to going ashore at the same place, as taking away the body was probably a ratification of our Peace; they said

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Taoneroa [10 Oct. 1769

they had not & went most nimbly into the boat in which 2 Midshipmen were sent; they went ashore willingly, but soon returned to the rocks wading into the water, & begging hard to be taken in again, the orders were positive to leave them, so they were left: We observed from the Ship a man in a catamaran go over the river & fetch them to a place where 40 or 50 were assembled; they sat till near Sunset without stirring, they rose then & the 3 Boys appeared, who had till now been concealed by being surrounded with People; they left the party, came down upon the Beach, & 3 times waved their hands towards the Ship then nimbly ran & joined the party who walk'd leisurely away towards the place where the boys live, we therefore hope that no harm will happen to them, especially as they had still the Cloaths which we gave them on. 37

After Sunset loud voices were heard as usual in ye bottom of the Bay.

11/ This Morn we took our leave of Poverty Bay with not above 40 species of Plants in our boxes which is not to be wondered at as we were so little ashore, & always upon the same Spot the only time we wandered about a mile from the boats was upon a swamp where not more than 3 species of Plants were found. 38

Weather this Day was most moderate, several Canoes put off from shore & came towards us within less than a quarter of a Mile, but could not be persuaded to come nearer, tho' Tupia exerted himself very much, shouting out & promising that they should not be hurt; at last one was seen coming from Poverty Bay or near it, she had only 4 People in her, one who I well remember to have seen at our first interview on the Rock; these never stop'd to look at any thing, but came at once along side of the Ship, & with very little persuasion came on board; their Example was quickly followed by the rest, 7 Canoes in all & 50 Men, they had many presents given to them, notwithstanding which they very quickly sold almost every thing that they had with them, even their Cloaths from their backs, & the Paddles out of their boats; arms they had none except 2 men, one of



[Unpaginated illustration]

By permission of the Linnean Society of London
Daniel Solander
A portrait in the possession of the Linnean Society, Burlington House, London


[Unpaginated illustration]

National Publicity Studios
H. M. Bark Endeavour
A model in the Dominion Museum, Wellington, New Zealand

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11 Oct. 1769] Off Young Nicks Head

whom sold his patoo patoo as he call'd it a short weapon of Green talk of this shape

intended doubtless for fighting hand to hand, & certainly well contrived for splitting sculls, as it weighs not less than 4 or 5 pounds, & has sharp edges excellently polishd.

We were very anxious to know what had become of our poor Boys therefore as soon as the People began to lose their first impressions of fear that we saw at first disturbed them a good deal, we asked after them. The Man who first came on board immediately answered that they were at home & unhurt, & that the reason of his coming on board the Ship with so little fear, was the account they had given him of the usage they had met with among us.

The People were in general of a midling size, tho' there was one who measured more than 6 feet; their Colour dark brown their lips were stain'd with something put under the Skin (as in the Otahite tattow) & their faces mark'd with deeply engraved furrows coloured also black & formed in regular Spirals; of these the Oldest People had much the greatest quantity & deepest channel'd, in some not less than 1/16 part of an inch, their hair always black was tied on the Tops of their heads in a little knot, in which was stuck feathers of various birds in different tastes according to the humor of the wearer, generally stuck into the knot, sometimes one on each side the temples pointing forwards, which made a most disagreable appearance; In their Ears they generally wear a large bunch of the down of some Bird milk white; the faces of some were painted with a red colour in Oil, some all over, others in parts only; in their Hair was much Oil that had very little smell; more lice than ever I saw before! & in most of them a small Comb neatly enough made, sometimes of Wood, sometimes of bone, which they seemed to prize much; some few had on their faces or arms regular Scars, as if made with a sharp Instrument, such I have seen on the faces of Negroes: the Inferior sort were cloathed in something that very much resembled hemp, the loose strings of this were fastened together at the Top & hung down about 2 feet long like a peticoat; of these garments they wore two, one round their shoulders, the other round their waists the Richer had Garments probably of

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Off Young Nicks Head [11 Oct. 1769

a finer sort of the same stuff most beautifully made, in exactly the same manner as the S. American Indians at this Day as fine or finer than one of them which I have by me, that I bought at Rio de Janeiro for 36 Shillings, & was esteemed uncommonly cheap at that price Their Boats were not large but well made, something in the form of our Whale boats but longer; their bottom was the trunk of a tree hollowed & very thin, this was raised by a board on each side, sew'd on with a strip of Wood sewed over the Seam to make it tight; on the head of every one was carved the head of a Man with an enormous tong reaching out of his Mouth, these grotesque figures were some at least very well executed, some had Eyes inlaid of something that shone very much; 39 the whole served to give us an Idea of their taste as well as ingenuity in execution much superior to any thing we have yet seen.

Their Behaviour while on board, shew'd every sign of friendship, they invited us very cordially to come back to our Old Bay, or to a small Cove which they shew'd us nearer to it I could not help wishing that we had done so, but the Capn chose rather to stand on in search of a better harbour than any we have yet seen; God send that we may not there have the same Tragedy to act over again as we so lately perpetrated; The Countrey is certainly divided into many small principalities so we cannot hope that an account of our weapons & management of them can be conveyd as far as we in all probability must go, & this I am well convincd of that till these (warlike People) have severely felt our superiority in the art of War, they will never behave to us in a friendly manner.

About an hour before Sunset the Canoes left us, & with us 3 of their people, who were very desirous to have gone with them, but were not permitted to return to the Canoes, what their reason for so doing is, we can only guess, possibly they may think that their being on board will induce us to remain here till to morrow, when they will return & renew the traffick, by which they find themselves so great gainers; the People were tolerably cheerfull, entertaind us with Dancing & Singing after their Custom, eat their Suppers & went to Bed very quietly.

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12 Oct. 1769] Off Portland Isle

12/ During last night the Ship saild some Leagues, which as soon as the 3 men saw, they began to Lament & weep very much; Tupia with difficulty could comfort them; About 7 two Canoes appear'd, they left no sign unmade which might induce them to come to the Ship, one at last ventured, Out of her came an Old Man who seemed to be a cheif from the fineness of his garment & weapon patoo patoo which was made of Bone (he said of a Whale) he staid but a short time on board, but when he went, took with him our 3 guests, much to our as well as their satisfaction.

In sailing along shore we could plainly see several spots of Land cultivated, some fresh turnd up & laying in furrows like ploughd Land, others with Plants growing upon them some Younger & some Older; we also saw in two places high rails upon the ridges of hills, but could only guess that they belong to some superstition, as they were in lines not inclosing any thing: 40 Before Noon another Canoe appeared, carrying 4 People; she came within about 1/4 of a mile of us, & there (I beleive) performed several ceremonies, the Man in the Bow of her sometimes seeming to ask & offer peace at others seeming to threaten with a Weapon he held in his hand, sometimes Dancing, sometimes singing; Tupia talked much to him, but could not persuade him to come to the Ship; about this time very distant Land was seen to the Southward, forming a very large Bay.

About dinner time the Ship was hauling round an Island call'd by the Inhabitants Teahoura by us Portland; the Ship on a sudden came into very broken ground, which alarmed us all a good deal the Officers all behaved with great steadyness, & in a very short time we were clear of all Danger; we never had less than 7 fathom, but the soundings hardly ever were twice the same, jumping from 11 to 7 which made us very glad once more to get deep water under us The Island lay within a mile of us, making in white Cliffs a Long spit of Low Land running from it towards the Main, On the sides of these Cliffs sat a vast quantity of People looking at us, these probably observed some confusion in the manoevre of the Ship, for 5 Canoes almost immediately

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Off Portland Isle [12 Oct. 1769

put off from the Shore full of armed People, they came so near us shouting & threatning that at last we were in some pain least they should seize our small boat which had been lowered down to sound & now tow'd along side; A Musquet was therefore fired over them, the Effect of this was rather to encourage them than otherwise, so a great Gun was ordered to be prepared & fired wide of them, loaded with Grape; on this they all rose in their boats & shouted, but instead of continuing the Chase drew all together, & after a Short consultation went quietly away.

About half an hour after this we hauled in with the Land again, & 2 more Canoes came off, one armed, the other a small fishing Boat with only 4 Men in her, they came tolerably near, & answered all the questions Tupia asked them very civily, we could not persuade them to come on board, but they come near enough to receive several presents which we hove overboard to them, with these they seemed very much pleased and went away At Night the Ship came to an Anchor, many fires were kept up along shore, possibly to shew us that our friends there were too much upon their guard to be surprized.

13/ Brisk Breeze of Wind; 9 Canoes came after the Ship this Morn, whether with War or Peace we cannot tell, for we soon left them behind we found that the Land within Teahoura or Portland Isle make another Island or Peninsula, both sides of this the Natives have called Teracaco, so that it is in all likelihood the name of it 41 Before Noon we were almost surroun'd with Land, that nearest us made in green hills without the White Cliffs which we have generally seen, the appearance more fertile tho we can not distinguish any cultivation as we did Yesterday; on the tops of the hills were several palings, like those seen Yesterday; towards Evening stood in for a place that had the appearance of an Opening which proved no harbour, so stood off again with a pleasant Breeze; a very large Canoe soon put off carrying 18 or 20 Men armed, who tho' they could not get within a mile of us, shouted & threat'ned most prodigiously; after this the white Cliffs & more barren land began again to appear; at night pleasant light breeze, stood along Shore.

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14 Oct. 1769] Hawks Bay

14/ This morn high Mountains inland were in sight, on the tops of which the Snow was not yet melted; 42 the countrey near the shore low & unfavorable in one place was a patch of something Yellow, that bore much resemblance to a Corn feild, probably some kind of flaggs decayed, as is common in Swampy places at a distance some detached groves of trees upon the flat that appeared very high & tapering, several Canoes had put off from Shore in the Morning & came towards us about 10 O'Clock 5 were together seemingly holding a consultation, after which they pull'd towards the Ship in a body as if resolved to attack her; 4 more were coming after them from the Shore; this manoevre was not to be disregarded, the Canoes were large, we Judged that they could not contain less than 150 People, every one arm'd with a sharp pike of hard Wood, & their little hand Instrument called patoo patoo; were they to attempt any thing daring there could not fail to be a dreadfull Slaughter among such a Crowd of naked Men were we necessitated to fire among them, it was therefore thought proper to fire a Gun over their heads, as the Effect of that would probably prevent any designs they might have formed from being put into execution, they were by this time within 100 Yards of the Ship, singing their War Song & threatning with their Pikes; the Gun was levelled a little before their first boat, & had the desired effect; for no sooner had they seen the Grape, which scattered very far upon the Water, than they paddle'd away with great haste, we all call'd out that we were friends, if they would only lay down their Arms, they did so & returned to the Ship; one boat came close under the quarter, & taking off his Jacket, offered it to sale, but before any body had time to bid for it, she drop'd astern as did the rest refusing to come to the Ship again because they were afraid that we should kill them, so easily were these warriors convinced of our superiority.

Before Noon we plainly saw that there was a small River ashore, but no signs of shelter near it; about this time 6 more armed Canoes came off from the Land, they got together about 1/2 a mile from the Ship, & threatened most furiously with their

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Hawks Bay [14 Oct. 1769

Lances, Paddles &c.; after they had done this for some time they came nearer, & Tupia talked with them from the Stern they came into better temper, & answered his questions relating to the names of the Countreys, Kings &c very civily, he desired them to sing & Dance, & they did so, he often told them if they would come to the Ship without arms, we should be friends with them; at last one boat ventured, & soon after 3 or 4 more they put all their arms into one boat which stayd at a distance while the others came to the Ship & received presents, after which they went away; one of these men had hanging round his neck a peice of Green stone, seemingly semitransparent, some of our people imagined it to be a Jewel, myself thought it no more than the green stone of which most of their tools & ornaments are made.

In the Evening the Countrey flat, upon it were 3 or 4 prodigiously pretty Groves of tall trees, near one of them was a square inclosure, made with close & very high rails; what was within it we could not guess: Some Thunder & Lightning this Even, Weather otherwise vastly moderate, many Shoals of small fish about the Ship.

15/ Snow was still to be seen upon the Mountains inland In the Morn we were abreast of the Southernmost Cape of a large Bay, the Northernmost of which is Portland Isle; the Bay itself was called Hawks Bay; from this point several Canoes came off with nets & other fishing implements in them, they came along side with a little Invitation & offered to trade, we gave them Otahite Cloth 43 for their fish, which they were excessively fond of, often snatching it from one another; with us they dealt tolerably fairly, tho they sometimes cheated us, by bargaining for one thing, & sending up another when they had got their price; after they had sold all their fish, they began to put the Stones with which they sink their nets, into baskets & sell them, but this was soon stopd as we were not in want of such commodities; about this time an armed boat came along side, & offered to trade for their Jackets one of them had on one made of furr, this the Capn wanted to buy & bargained for it offering a peice of red Baize, the bargain was struck & the baize sent down, but no sooner had the Man got hold of it, than he

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15 Oct. 1769] Off Cape Kidnappers

began with amazing coolness to pack up both it & his furr Jacket in a Basket, intirely deaf to the Capns demands & the Canoe immediately dropped astern; a small consultation now ensued among the Boats, after which they all returned along side, & the fishermen again offered fish to sale which was accepted, a trade renewed, the little Tayeto, Tupia's Boy was employed with several more to stand over the side, & reach up what was bought; while he was doing this, one of the men in a Canoe seiz'd him & dragged him down, 2 then held him in the fore part of the Canoe, & three more in her paddled off, as did all the other Boats; the Marines were in arms upon Deck, they were ordered to fire into the Canoe which they did at length one man dropped the others on seeing this loos'd the Boy who immediately leap'd into the Water & swam towards the Ship; the large boat on this returnd towards him, but on some Musquets & a Great Gun being fired at them, left off the Chase, our boat was lowered down & took up the Boy frightened enough, but not at all hurt; what number were killed in the Boats we cannot tell, probably not many, as the People who fired at the Boat in which the Boy was were obliged to fire wide of her, least they should strike him, & the other boats had only a few shot fired at them when they attempted to return; Some of the Gentlemen who looked thro' Glasses, said however that they saw three carried up the Beach when the Boats landed, who were either Dead or much wounded; from this daring attempt, the point was called Cape Kidnappers.

As soon as Tayeto was a little recovered from his fright, he brought a fish in to Tupia, & told him that he intended it as an offering to his Eatua or God in gratitude for his escape Tupia approved it, & ordered him to throw it into the Sea, which he did. 44

In the Evening pleasant Breeze; the Land to the Southward of Cape Kidnappers made in bare white Cliffs, barren enough to appearance.

16/ Mountains covered with Snow were in sight again this Morn, so that probably there is a chain of them runs within the Countrey Land makes in smooth hills like downs, with little

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Off Cape Turnagain [16 Oct. 1769

or no Wood in sight; After breakfast White Cliffs again look as barren as ever; vast shoals of Fish were about the Ship pursued by as large flocks of brownish Birds a little bigger than a Pidgeon Nectris munda; 45 their method of fishing was amusing enough, a whole flock of birds would follow the fish who swam fast along, they continualy plunging themselves under water, & soon after rose again in another place, so that the whole flock vanishd sometimes at others a large part of it & rose again often where you did not expect them, in less than a minutes time they were down again & so alternately as long as we saw them. Before Dinner we were abreast of another Cape, which made in a Bluff Rock the upper part of A Reddish Coloured Stone or clay, the lower white; beyond this the Countrey appeared pleasant with little smooth hills like downs; the Capn thought it not necessary to proceed any farther on this side the Coast, so the Ships head was again turn'd to the Northward & the Cape from thence call'd Cape Turnagain. At Night we were off Hawks Bay, & saw two monstrous fires inland on the hills; we are now inclined to think that these & most if not all the great Smoakes & fires that we have seen, are made for the convenience of clearing Land for tillage, 46 but for whatever purposes intended, they are a certain indication that where they are the Countrey is inhabited.

17/ Foul Wind, Ship turning to Windward Off Hawks Bay; a Seal was seen floating in the Water asleep. At Night Calm.

18/ Fair Wind. A Whale was seen this morn; in the Evening a small Boat with 5 People in her came off from Teracaco the peninsula within Portland Isle; they with much difficulty overtook the Ship 2 of them who seemed to be the cheif People came on board with very little Invitation, & ordered the other 3, their servants to stay in the boat; they soon expressed satisfaction at their treatment, & came down into the Cabin, where they very soon informed us that they would sleep with us, & not think of going ashore that Night, we remonstrated much against this, telling them that to morrow morn the Ship might be at a great Distance from where she now was; they were however resolved, & we were obliged to let them sleep in the Ship,

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18 Oct. 1769] Off Gable End Foreland

into which they consented to have their Canoe hoisted, which was accordingly done; The Countenance of one of these Men was the most open I have ever seen, I was prejudic'd much in their favor & surely such confidence could not be found in the breasts of designing People; they expressed great curiosity & surprize attending to any thing that was shewn to them, & thankfully excepted the presents which were made them, but would not Eat with us. Their Servants however were not at all Scrupulous on that head, for they Eat most enormously almost Every thing they could get.

19/ Pleasant Breeze all last night, so that in the Morn we were off Table Cape; our guests expressed some surprize at finding themselves so far from home, but had their boat hoisted out & went ashore abreast of the Ship; we sailed very briskly, soon pass'd Poverty Bay; the Countrey beyond it seemed to he fertile with few or no cliffs: About Noon we passed by a remarkable white Cliff of A Triangular Shape, not unlike the Gable end of a Farm House; this same Cliff we had seen from the Sea when first we made the Land, & from its Triangular Shape had compared it to a Latteen Sail; it was now called Gable End Foreland: Just here 3 Canoes came off, one Man from them ventured on hoard but soon went back, & the boats dropd astern; In the Evening many Shoals of very small brown shrimps passed by the Ship that coloured the Water as if Dirt had been thrown into it.

20/ During last night it once blew very fresh, in the Morn the Weather was pleasant, tho we felt ourselves rather Cold, the Thermo 50. Several Canoes followed us & seem'd very peaceably inclined, inviting us to go into a Bay they pointed to, where they said that there was plenty of fresh Water; we followed them in & by 11 came to an Anchor; we then invited two who seem'd by their dress &c to be cheifs, to come on board, they immediately accepted our Invitation, in the mean time those who remained in the Canoes traded with our People for whatever they had in their boats most fairly; the cheifs who were two Old Men, the one dressd in a Jacket ornamented after their manner with dogs skin, the other in one covered almost intirely

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Tegadu Bay 47 [20 Oct. 1769

with small tufts of red feathers 48 received our presents, & staid with us till we had din'd; when we went into the Boat to go ashore, they accompanied us; the Evening was rainy with heavy squalls of Wind; we row'd almost round the Bay, but found so much surf every where, that we were forced to return at last we told this resolution to our cheifs who called to the People ashore, telling them to bring off a Canoe for them which was immediately done & they went ashore in her promising to return the next Morn & bring off Fish & Sweet Potatoes &c. We returned on board, but in the course of the Evening it became fair & we went ashore, we were received with great friendship by the natives in general, who seemed carefull of giving us umbrage by collecting in too great bodies each family, or the Inhabitants of 2 or 3 houses which generally stood together were collected in a body 15 or 20 Men, Women, & Children, these sat on the Ground, never walking towards us, but inviting us to them by beckoning with one hand mov'd towards the Breast; we made them small presents, walked round the Bay & found a place for watering where the People are to Land to morrow & fill some at least of our Empty Cask. 49

21/ This Morn at Day break the waterers went ashore, & soon after Dr Solander & myself, there was a good deal of Surf upon the beach, but we landed without much difficulty; the natives sat by our People, but did not intermix with them; they traded however for Cloth cheifly, giving whatever they had, tho' they seemed pleased with observing our People, as well as with the gain they got by trading with them, yet they did not neglect their ordinary occupations; in the Morn several boats went out fishing; at Dinner time every one went to their respective homes, & after a certain time returned; such fair appearances made Dr Solander & myself almost trust them; we ranged all about the Bay, & were well repaid by finding many plants & shooting

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21 Oct. 1769] Tegadu Bay

some most beautifull Birds, in doing this we visited several houses, & saw a little of their customs, for they were not at all shy of shewing us any thing we desired to see, nor did they on our account interrupt their meals, the only employment we saw them engaged in.

Their food at this time of the Year consisted of fish with which instead of bread, they eat the roots of a kind of Fern Pteris crenulata very like that Which grows upon our commons in England, 50 these were a little roasted on the fire & then beat with a stick which took off the bark & dry outside, what remaind had a sweetish clammyness in it, not disagreable to the taste it might be esteemed a tolerable food, was it not for the quantity of strings & fibres in it which in quantity 3 or 4 times exceeded the soft part; these were swallowed by some, but the greater number of People spit them out, for which purpose they had a Basket standing under them to receive their chewed morsals, in shape & colour not unlike chaws of Tobacco.

Tho' at this time of the Year this most homely fare was their principal Diet, yet in the proper Season they certainly have plenty of excellent vegetables; tho' we have seen no sign of tame animals among them except Dogs very small & ugly; their Plantations were now hardly finished, but so well was the Ground till'd, that I have seldom seen, even in the gardens of curious People, Land better broke down; in them were planted sweet Potatoes, Cocos, & some one of the cucumber kind as we judged from the Seed leaves 51 which just appeared above ground the first of these were planted in small hills, some ranged in rows others in quincunx all laid by a line most regularly, the Cocos were planted on flat Land, & not yet appeared above ground the cucumbers were set in small hollows or dishes, much as we do in England; these Plantations were from 1 or 2 to 8 or 10 acres each in the Bay might be 150 or 200 acres in cultivation tho we did not see 100 People in all; each distinct patch was fenc'd in,

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Tegadu Bay [21 Oct. 1769

generally with reeds, placed close one by another, so that scarce a mouse could creep thro'.

When we went to their houses, Men, Women & Children received us, no one shew'd the least signs of fear; the Women were plain, & made themselves more so by painting their [faces] with red ocre & Oil, which generally was fresh & wet upon their cheeks & foreheads, easily transferrable to the noses of any one who should attempt to kiss them, not as they seemed to have any objection to such familiarities, as the noses of several of our People evidently shew'd, but they were as great coquets as any Europeans could be, & the Young ones as skittish as unbroke fillies: One part of their dress I cannot omit to mention, besides their cloth which was very decently rolled round them, each wore round the lower part of her waist a string made of the leaves of a highly perfumed grass, 52 to this was fastened a small bunch of leaves of some fragrant plant which served as the innermost veil of their modesty tho the Men did not so frequently use paint upon their faces yet they often did, one especially I observed whose whole Body & Garments were rubbd over with Dry ocre, of this he constantly kept a peice in his hand, & generally rubb'd it on some part or other of him.

One peice of cleanliness in these people I cannot omit as I beleive it is almost unexampled among Indians, every house or small knot of 3 or 4 has a regular necessary House where every one repairs & consequently the neighbourhood is kept clean, which was by no means the case at Otahite; they have also a regular Dunghill, upon which all their offals of food &c are heap'd up, & which probably they use for manure. 53

In the Evening all the Boats being employed in carrying on board Water, we were likely to be left ashore till after dark the loss of so much time in sorting & putting in order our specimens was what we did not like, so we applied to our friends the Indians for a Passage in one of their Canoes, they readily launchd one for us but we in number 8 not being us'd to so ticklish a convenience, overset her in the surf & were very well sous'd, 4 then

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21 Oct. 1769] Tolaga Bay

were obliged to remain, & Dr Solander, Tupia, Tayeto, & myself embarked again, & come without accident to the Ship, well pleased with the behaviour of our Indian friends, who would the second time undertake to carry off such clumsy fellows.

22/ The Surf being so great on the shore, that Water was got with great difficulty, made the Capn resolve to leave the Bay this Morn which he did tho the Wind was foul, so the whole Day was spent in turning to Windward.

23d/ This Morn find ourselves gone backwards, Tegadu Bay which we left yesterday was now to Windward of us; several Canoes came alongside & told us that there was a small Bay to leeward of us, where we might anchor with safety & Land in the boats without a Surf, where there was fresh Water; we followed their directions & they soon brought us into a Bay called Tolaga where at 1 we anchored; many Canoes came from the shore, & all traded for fish, curiosities &c. very honestly; after Dinner we went ashore, & found as they had told us a small Cove where the boat might Land without the least surf & Water near it, so the Capn resolved to Wood & Water here.

24/ This Morn Dr Solander & myself went ashore botanizing, & found many new plants; the People behaved perfectly well, not mixing with or at all interupting our People in what they were about, but on the contrary selling them whatever they had for Otahite Cloth & Glass bottles, of which they were uncommonly fond.

In our walks we met with many houses in the Vallies that seemed to be quite deserted, the People lived on the ridges of hills in very slight built houses or rather sheds; for what reason they have left the vallies we can only guess may be for air but if so they purchase that convenience at a dear rate as all their fishing tackle & lobster potts, of which they have many, must be brought up with no small Labour.

We saw also an extraordinary natural curiosity in pursuing a velley bounded on each side by steep hills; we on a sudden saw a most noble Arch or Cavern thro' the face of a Rock leading directly to the Sea, so that thro' it we had not only a view of the Bay & hills on the other side, but an opportunity of imagining a Ship or any other grand Object opposite to it It was certainly the

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Tolaga Bay [ 24 Oct. 1769

most magnificent surprize I have ever met with, so much is pure nature superior to art in these cases I have seen such places made by art where from an appearance totally inland you was led thro' an Arch 6 feet wide & 7 high to a prospect of the Sea, but here was an Arch 25 Yards in length, 9 in breadth, & at least 15 in hight: In the Evening we returned to the watering Place in order to go on board with our treasure of Plants, Birds &c but were prevented by an Old Man who detaind us some time in shewing the excercise of this Countrey's arms, lance & patoopatoo as they are calld; the Lance is made of hard Wood from 10 to 14 feet long, very sharp at the ends; the Patoopatoo is made of Stone or Bone about a foot long shap'd a stick was given him for an Enemy, to this he advanced with most furious aspect, brandishing his lance which he held with vast firmness after some time he ran at the Stick, & supposing it a Man run thro' the body he immediately fell upon the upper end of it, laying on most unmerciful blows with his patoopatoo, any one of which would probably have split most Sculls, from hence I should be led to conclude, that they give no quarter.

25/ Went ashore this Morn & renewed our searches for Plants &c with great success in the mean time Tupia who stayd with the waterers had much conversation with one of their Preists they seem'd to agree very well in their notions of religion only Tupia was much more learned than the other, & all his discourse was heard with much attention, he asked them in the course of his conversation with them many questions, among the rest whether or no they really eat Men which he was very loth to beleive, they answered in the affirmative, saying that they Eat the Bodys only of those of their Enimies who were killd in War.

26/ All this Day it rained without intermission, so hard that notwithstanding our wishing neither Dr Solander or myself could go ashore; in the course of the Day very few Canoes came on board, & not more than 8 or 10 Indians came down to the Waterers.

27/ Several Canoes came on board at day break, & traded as usual; Dr Solander went with the Capn to examine the bottom

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27 Oct. 1769] Tolaga Bay

of the Bay, myself went ashore at the watering place to collect Plants, he saw many People who behaved very civily to the boats crew, shewing them every thing they wanted to see, among other nicknacks he brought off a boys top, shap'd like what Boys play with in England, 54 which they made signs was to be whipped in the same manner; he found also several new plants; my self found some Plants & went to the top of the hill above the watering place to see a fence of poles which we had observed from the Ship; it was on a hill almost inaccesible by Wood & Steepness, we however climbed it & found several deserted houses near the rails, which only consisted of Poles of 14 or 16 feet high set in 2 rows, each pole 10 feet from the next, the 2 rows were about 6 feet distant, joined on the tops by a few sticks laid across sloping like the roof of a house, this rail work with a Ditch which was parellel to it, went about 100 Yards down the hill in a kind of Curve, but for what purpose it had been intended I could not at all guess the People of the watering place at our desire, sung their War song in which both Men & Women joined, they distorted their faces most hideously, rolling their Eyes & putting out their tongues but kept very good time, often heaving most loud & deep sighs.

28/ This Morn we went ashore on an Island on the left hand as you come into the Bay, called by the natives Tubolai 55 here we saw the largest Canoe we had met with, her length was 68 1/2 feet, her breadth 5, height 3:6, she was built with a sharp bottom, made in 3 peices of trunks of Trees hollowed, the middlemost of which was much longer than either of the other 2; Her gunnell Planks were in one piece 62 ft 2 in length carved prettily enough in bass-releif; the head was also richly carved in their fashion: We saw also a house larger than any we had seen, tho' not more than 30 feet long, it seemed as if it had never been finished, being full of chipps; the wood work of it was squared so even & smooth, that we could not doubt of their having among them very sharp tools; all the side posts were carved

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Off Cape Runaway [28 Oct. 1769

in a masterly stile of their whimsical taste, which seems confined to the making of Spirals, & distorted human faces, all these had clearly been removed from some other place, so probably such Work bears a value among them.

While Mr Sporing was drawing on the Island; he saw a most strange Bird fly over him, he described it about as large as a Kite & brown like one, his tail however was of so enormous a size, that he at first took it for a flock of small Birds flying after him, he who is a grave thinking Man & is not at all given to telling wonderful Stories says he judged it to be at least [] Yards in length. 56

29/ Our Water having been complete the Day before Yesterday & nothing done Yesterday but getting on board a small quantity of Wood, & a large supply of excellent celery with which this Countrey abounds, 57 we this Morn sail'd, tho' the Wind was foul, we turned to Windward all Day, and at Night according to Custom found ourselves to leeward of the place we had left in the Morning.

30/ Fine Breeze; some Canoes followed the Ship in the Morn but could not come up with her before Noon we passed by a Cape, which the Capn judg'd to be the Easternmost point of the Countrey, & therefore called it East Cape at least till another is found which better deserves that name.

31/ Breeze continued fair, Countrey very pleasant to appearance; several Canoes came off & threatened us at a distance which gave us much uneasiness, as we hop'd that an account of us & what we could & had done, had spread farther than this, we had now our Work to begin over again, & heartily joined in wishing that it might be attended with less bloodshed than our late unfortunate rencounters; after a little time one of the Canoes came almost close to the ship, & soon after we saw an immense large Canoe coming from the Shore crowded full of People, all armed with long lances, they came near & received signals from the boat that was near us, we judged that there could not be less than 60



[Unpaginated illustration]

A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas
PARKINSON: "View of the North Side of the Entrance into Poverty Bay, & Morai Island, in New Zealand, 1. Young Nick's Head. 2. Morai Island. [Below] View of another side of the Entrance into the said Bay." BANKS, October 6th, 1769: "At 1/2 pt one a small boy who was the Mast head call'd out Land, I was luckily upon Deck..."
Sydney Parkinson del., R. B. Godfrey sculps.

PARKINSON: "The Head of a Chief of New Zealand, the face curiously tataowd, or mark'd, according to their Manner." BANKS, October 11th 1769: "... their faces mark'd with deeply engraved furrows coloured also black & formed in regular Spirals..."
Sydney Parkinson del., T. Chambers sculps.

A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas


[Unpaginated illustration]

PARKINSON: "Various kinds of Instruments Utensils &c, of the Inhabitants of New Zealand, with some Ornaments &c of the People of Terra del Fuego & New Holland... 17, 18, and 19, are figures of Patta-pattoos, or War-bludgeons." BANKS, October 24th, 1769: "... the Patoopatoo is made of Stone or Bone about a foot long..."
S H. Grimm del., T. Chambers sculps.

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31 Oct. 1769] Off White Island

People in her, 16 Padlers of a side, besides some who did not Paddle, & a long row of People in the middle from stem to stern, crowded as close as possible on a signal from the small Canoe, they pulled briskly up towards the Ship as if to attack it was judged right to let them see what we could do, least should they come to extremities we might be obliged to fire at them, in which case numbers must be killed out of such a crowd; A Gun loaded with Grape was therefore fired ahead of them, they stopt padling but did not retreat, a round shot was then fired over them they saw it fall & immediately took to their paddles, rowing ashore with more haste than I ever saw men, without so much as stopping to breathe till they got out of sight; The Countrey from whence they came, & indeed all round about appeared to be well wooded & pleasant, several small clusters of houses were seen interspers'd with Trees appearing very pleasant some had a fence of Pales round them, others were to appearance quite open; towards Even 3 or 4 canoes came off unarmed, but would scarce venture within musquet shot of us.

Novr.

1/ Calm in the Morn; At Sun rise we counted 45 Canoes who were coming towards us from different parts of the shore; 7 soon came up with us, & after some conversation with Tupia began to sell Muscels & Lobsters of which they had great plenty; 58 in the begining they dealt fair, but soon began to cheat, taking what we gave them without making any return, one who had done so on being threatened began to defy us & laugh, on which a Musquet was fired over the boat which instantly brought him back & made trade very regular for some time at length the Cabin & Gun room having got as much as they wanted, the Men were allowed to come to the Gangway & Trade for themselves & I must say that there was not the same care taken to prevent their being cheated as had been before by which neglect the Indians soon began to cheat with impunity & to despise our threats, the consequence of which was that as soon as they had sold all they had got, one of the boats pulled forwards & seeing some Linnen which was hanging overboard a Man in her untied

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Off Mowtohora [1 Nov. 1769

it without ceremony & put it into his bundle, he was called to, but instead of returning it, let his boat drop astern & laugh'd at us, a musquet was fired over him which did not at all spoil his mirth, small shot was then fired at him which struck him upon the back heated I suppose he was for he regarded it less than most men would do a stripe, just shrinking his Body without ceasing to bundle up the very linnen he had stole which he was at that moment employed about; the boats drop'd astern about 100 Yards, & several musquet Balls were fired near them but they continued their song of Defiance till the Ship had left them 3 or 400 Yards a roundshot was then fired which went over them & struck the Water 3 or 4 times at a large distance beyond them this effectually shew'd them that they could not easily get out of our reach, for they immediately began to paddle & proceeded quite ashore without stopping to look behind them.

Just at Night fall we were under a small Island 59 from whence came off a large double Canoe, or rather 2 Canoes lash'd together at the distance of about a foot which was covered with boards so as to make a kind of Deck; she came pretty near the Ship & the People in her talked with Tupia with much seeming friendship but when it was just dark they ran their Canoe close to the Ship & threw in 3 or 4 stones, after which they paddled ashore.

2d/ Pass this Morn between an Island 60 & the Main which appeared low & Sandy, with a remarkable hill inland, flat & smooth as a Mole hill tho very high & large, many Canoes & People were seen along shore, some followed us but could not overtake us; A Sailing Canoe that had chas'd us ever since day break came up with us & proved the same double Canoe as pelted us last night, which made us prepare for another volley of their ammunition, dangerous to nothing on board but our Windows the Event proved as we expected, for after having saild with us an hour, they threw their stones again; A Musquet was fired over them & they drop'd astern, not at all I beleive frightened by the Musquet, but content with having shewd their Courage by twice insulting us; we now begin

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2 Nov. 1769] Bay of Plenty

to know these People, & are much less afraid of any daring attempt from them than we were At 12 the Countrey appeared low with small Cliffs near the shore but seemingly very fertile inland we saw plainly with our Glasses, Villages larger than any we had before seen situate on the tops of Cliffs in places almost inaccessible, besides which they were guarded by a Deep fosse & a high paling within it so that probably these People are much given to War. 61 In the Evening the Countrey low as before, many Towns were in sight larger than those at Noon always situate like them on the tops of cliffs & fenced in the same manner; under them upon the beach were many very large Canoes, some hundreds I may safely say, some of which either had or appeared to have awnings but not one of them were put off; from all these circumstances we judged the Countrey to be much better peopled here abouts & inhabited by much richer people than we had before seen, may be it was the residence of some of their Princes: As far as we have yet gone along the Coast from Cape Turnagain to this place the people have acknowledg'd only one cheif Teratu; if his dominion is really so large, he may have princes or Governors under him capable of drawing together a vast number of People for himself he is always said to live far inland. 62

3/ Continent appeared this Morn barren & Rocky but many Islands were in sight cheifly inhabited with such Towns upon them as we saw Yesterday: 2 Canoes put off from one but could not overtake us; At Breakfast a cluster of Islands & Rocks were in sight, which made an uncommon appearance from the number of perpendicular Rocks or needles (as the Seamen calld them) which were in sight at once, these we called the Court of Aldermen in respect to that worthy body & entertained ourselves some time in giving Names to each of them from their resemblance thick & squab or lank & tall to some one or other of those

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Court of Aldermen [3 Nov. 1769

respectable citizens: 63 Soon after this we pass'd an Island on which were houses built on the steep sides of cliffs inaccessible I had almost said to Birds, how their Inhabitants could ever have got to them much surpassed my comprehension at present however we saw none, so that these situations are probably no more than places to retire to in case of Danger which are totally evacuated in peaceable times. At 12 the Continent appeared still Rocky & barren, few houses were seen, they were not built in Towns, but stood seperate: About Dinner time 3 Canoes came along side, of much the most simple construction of any we have seen, being no more than the trunks of trees hollowed out by fire without the least carving or even the addition of a wash board on their Gunnels; the People in them were almost naked & blacker than any we had seen only 21 in all yet these few despicable gentry sang their Song of defiance & promised us as heartily as the most respectable of their countrey men that they would kill us all, they remain'd for some time out of Stones throw, but at last ventured close to the Ship, one of our people gave them a rope from the side to save them the trouble of Padling this they accepted & rewarded the Man who gave it by thrusting at him with a Pike which however took no effect, they then went a few Yards from the Ship & threw a lance into her which struck nobody, a Musquet was fired over them on which they all went off.

Late in the Evening the Ship came into a Bay which appeared well sheltered by Islands & gave hopes for the Morn several Canoes with people like the last came about the Ship & talked very civily to us, a Bird was shot from the Ship in their sight as it swam on the water, this they took up & tied to a fishing line that was towing astern for which they were rewarded with a peice of cloth, notwithstanding all this, they became very Saucy just at night singing their song of defiance & attempting to tow away the Buoy of the Anchor, 2 or 3 Musquets were fired over them which had not the least Effect, they threatened hard & promised that to morrow they would return with more force & kill us all, & dispatch'd a boat who told us that he was going to another part of the Bay for assistance.

4/ Our Friends meant to be still better than their word, for

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4 Nov. 1769] Opoorage or Mercury Bay

they visited us twice in the Night, intending I suppose to wake us if we should be asleep, but as they found us not so, they went away as they came, without saying a single word; in the Morn they returned with the earliest Day break, about 150 men in 10 or 12 Canoes, all armed with Pikes, lances & Stones; we all got up to see the Event, an hour & a half was spent in conversation, sometimes civil, sometimes otherwise; our resolution was that as we had in vain shew'd them the power of Musquets by firing near them & killing the Bird Yesterday, we would on the first provocation they gave us, fire at them with small shot, the last resource we had to shew them our superiority without taking away their lives, they at length offered to trade for their arms & sold 2 weapons very fairly, but took a price for the third & refused to send it up, but offered it for a second, the second was sent down, but a third was required instead of the weapon being parted with, this was a convenient time for the execution of our project, as the Man who had thus cheated us swaggered prodigiously having paddled the boat a few Yards from the Ship accordingly a Musquet Ball was fired thro' the bottom of the Boat, & small shot at the offender, which struck him & another who sat next him, on which the Canoe was immediately paddled off & remained about 100 Yards from the Ship, but what was truely surprizing was that tho' the Men who were shot bled a good deal, not one of the other boats went near them, or enquired at all how much or in what manner they were hurt, they returned to the ship & renewed Trade for their arms a large quantity of which they sold, without attempting to play any tricks, at last however one Gentleman paddled off with 2 different peices of Cloth which had been given for one Weapon, he got about 100 Yards from the Ship & thought himself safe, A Musquet was fired after him which fortunately struck the boat just at the Waters Edge, & consequently made 2 holes in her, the People in her & the rest of the Canoes paddled hard, as a finishing stroke to convince them of our superiority a round shot was fired over them & not a Boat stop'd till they got ashore; Soon after this the Capn went in the Boats to seek a place for the Ship to stay that she might observe the transit of Mercury; 64 it rain'd & as we

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Opoorage [4 Nov. 1769

were sure of staying 5 Days, Dr Solander & myself staid on board The Indians ashore were neither friends nor foes, they shewed however much fear whenever our Boats approachd them; After Dinner the Ship removed to the place he had found where was great plenty of Birds, much Celery, & good hopes of fish.

5/ This Morn some Canoes came off, but brought nothing to sell, one old Man whose name was Toiava came on board, he seemed to be the cheif both to Day & Yesterday but in all the transactions of Yesterday he was observed to behave sensibly & well laying in a small Canoe always near the Ship, & at all times speaking civily to those on board, with some persuasion he ventured down into the Cabin & had presents Cloth, Iron &c given him, he told us that the Indians now were very much afraid of us, we promis'd friendship if they would supply us with provision at their own price.

After Breakfast we went ashore on the Banks of a River, the Indians who were on one side made all the signs of friendship imaginable, beckoning to us to Land among them, it suited our convenience for hauling the Sein & shooting Birds of which there were great numbers, to Land on the other side, & it was not without some persuasion that they about Noon ventured over to us.

The Sein was hauled with no Success, but several Birds were shot like Sea pies but black with Red Bills & feet 65 the trawl & drudge were also to day employed & caught nothing but a few shells: The People who staid by the Boats saw two Indians fight on some quarrel of their own, they began with Lances which were soon taken from them by the Old Men but they were allowed to continue their battle which they did like Englishmen with their fists for some time after which all of them retired behind a little Hill, so that our People did not see the Event of the Combat.

6/ Went ashore, Indians as Yesterday very tame, their habitations certainly were at a distance, as they had no houses, but slept under the Bushes, the Bay may be a place to which parties of them often resort for the sake of Shell fish which are here

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6 Nov. 1769] Opoorage

very plentifull indeed wherever we went on hills or in Valleys, in Woods or Plains, we continually met with vast heaps of Shells, often many Waggon loads together, some appearing to be very old wherever these were it is more than probable that parties of Indians had at some time or other taken up their residence, as our Indians had made much such a Pile about them; the Countrey in general was very barren, but the tops of the hills were covered with very large Ferns, the roots of which they had got together in large quantities as they said to carry away with them; we did not see any kind of Cultivation.

In the Evening I walked up the River, which at the mouth looks very fine & broad, it in 2 miles or less shoaled to nothing; the Country inland was still more barren than that near the Sea Side.

7/ Rain & most disagreeable Weather all day kept us on board as well as the Indians from coming off to us.

8/ Fine Weather many Canoes came off, in them our friend Toiava while he was along side he saw 2 Canoes coming from the opposite side of the Bay, on which he immediately went ashore with all the Canoes, telling us that he was afraid he however soon returned, finding I suppose that the Canoes had not in them the People he expected; in the 2 boats came an amazing number of Fish of the Macarel kind 66 which the People sold for little or nothing, so that all hands had to day fish enough.

We went ashore & botaniz'd with our usual good success, which could not be doubted in a Countrey so totally new; In the Evening we went to our friends the Indians that we might see the method in which they slept, it was as they had told us on the bare ground, without more shelter than a few shrubbs over their heads, the Women & Children were plac'd innermost or farthest from the Sea, the Men lay in a kind of half Circle round them, & on the Trees close by them were ranged their arms in order so no doubt they are afraid of an attack from some Enemy not far off; they do not acknowlege any superior King, which all we have before seen have done, so possibly these are a set of outlaws from Teratu's Kingdom their having no cultivation or houses makes it clear at least that it is either so, or this is not their real habita-

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Opoorage [8 Nov. 1769

tion, they say however that they have houses & a fort somewhere at a distance, but do not say that even there is any cultivation.

9/ At Day break this Morn a vast number of Boats were on board, almost loaded with Mackrel of 2 sorts, one exactly the same as is caught in England; we concluded that they had caught a large shoal, & sold us the overplus what they could not consume, as they set very little value upon them, it was however a fortunate circumstance for us, as by 8 O'Clock the Ship had more fish on board than all hands could Eat in 2 or 3 Days, & before night so many, that every mess who could raise salt corn'd as many as will last them this Month or more.

After an Early breakfast the Astronomer went ashore to observe the transit of Mercury, which he did without the smallest Cloud intervening to obstruct him, a fortunate Circumstance, as except Yesterday & to Day we have not had a clear Day for some time.

About Noon we were alarmed by the report of a Great Gun fired from the Ship, the occasion of which was that two Canoes came to the Ship, very large & full of People they shew'd by their behaviour that they were quite strangers or at least so much so as not to be at all afraid; they soon entered into Trade, & almost immediately cheated, by taking the Cloth which was given to them, without returning that which was bargained for; on this they immediately began to sing their War song, as if to defy any revenge those on board might chuse to take, this enraged the 2d lieutenant 67 so much that he levelled a Musquet at the Man who had still got the Cloth in his hand, & shot him dead; the Canoes went off to some distance, but did not go quite away; it was necessary to send a boat ashore so least they might attempt to revenge his Death upon the boat; a round shot was fired over them, which had the desired effect of putting them to flight immediately; the news of this event was immediately brought on shore to our Indians, who were at first a little alarmed, & retreated from us in a body; in a little time however they returned on their

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9 Nov. 1769] Opoorage

own accords, & acknowledged that the Dead Man deserved his punishment unasked by us, who thought his fate severe, knowing as we did that small shot would have had almost or quite as good an effect with little Danger to his Life, which tho' forfeited to the laws of England, we could not but wish to spare if it could be done without subjecting ourselves to the derision & consequently to the attacks of these People, which we have now learnt to fear, not least they should kill us, but least we should be reduced to the necessity of killing a number of them, which must be the case should they ever in reality attack us.

A Little before Sunset we went home with the Indians to see them eat their Supper, it consisted of Fish, Shell fish, Lobsters & Birds, these were dress'd either by broiling them upon a skewer which was stuck into the ground leaning over the fire, or in Ovens as we call'd them at Otahite which were holes in the ground fill'd with Provision & hot stones, & covered over with leaves & Earth, here we saw a Woman who mourned after their fashion for a dead relation, she sat on the ground near the rest who (except one) seem'd not at all to regard her, the tears constantly tickled down her cheeks; she repeated in a low but very mournful voice words which we did not understand at all still at every sentence cutting her arms, face, or breast with a shell she held in her hand, so that she was almost covered with blood, a most effecting spectacle; the Cuts she made however were so managed as seldom to draw blood, & when they did to pierce a very small way into the flesh, but this is not always the case with them, for many we have seen, & some were among these very people, who had shocking large scars on their arms, thighs, breasts, cheeks &c which they told us had been done in this manner & upon this occasion, may be they proportion the depth of their cuts to the regard they have for the deceasd. 68

10/ This Day was employed in an excursion to view the large River at the bottom of the Bay, which lay at some distance from it, the mouth of it proved to be a good harbour, with water sufficient for our Ship, but scarce for a larger, the stream in many places very wide with large flats of mangroves which at low

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Opoorage [10 Nov. 1769

water are covered; we went up about a league, where it was still wider than at the mouth, & divided itself into innumerable channels seperated by Mangrove flats, the whole several miles in breadth the Water shoal, so we agreed to stop our disquisition here, & go ashore to dine; A Tree in the neighbourhood, on which were many Shaggs nests & Old Shaggs setting by them confirmd our resolution, an attack was consequently made on the Shaggs & about 20 soon killed & as soon broil'd & Eat, every one declaring that they were excellent food as indeed I think they were; Hunger is certainly most excellent sauce, but since our Fowls & Ducks have been gone, we find ourselves able to Eat any kind of Birds (for indeed we throw away none) without even that kind of seasoning fresh provision to a Seaman must always be most acceptable if he can get over the small prejudices which once affected several in this Ship, most or all of whom are now by virtue of good example completely cured; our repast ended, we proceeded down the River again, at the mouth of it was a small Indian Village where we landed, & were most civily received by the Inhabitants who treated us with hot cockles at least a small flat shell fish most delicious food Tellina 69

near the village was the ruins of an Old Indian Epp'ah or Fort which we went to see, it was situate on the point of a peninsula, inaccessible on 3 sides from the Steepness of the Cliffs, the fourth was guarded by a Ditch, the bank of which nearest the fort could not be less than 20 feet high, there had also been pallisades both on the inside & outside of the Ditch, but of these nothing was left but thick posts almost rotten, was any Ship to Winter or stay any time here, this would be a most excellent place to set up tents, as it is sufficiently Spacious.

11/ Rain & blowing Weather all this Day, so that no Canoes came off, nor did we go ashore: An Oyster Bank had been found at the River by the wooding place, about 1/2 a mile up on the Starboard hand, just above a small Island which is covered at high Water; here the Longboat was sent & soon returned deep loaded, with I sincerely beleive as good Oysters as ever come from Colchester & about the same size; they were laid down under the Booms, & Employed the Ships Company very well, who I verily

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11 Nov. 1769] Opoorage

think did nothing but Eat from the time they came on board till Night, by which time a large part were expended but that gave us no kind of uneasiness, as we well know that not the Boat only but the Ship might be easily loaded in one Tide almost as they are dry at half Ebb.

12/ Two Canoes came early this Morn who appeared to be strangers who had heard of us by the caution & fear they shew'd in approaching the Ship, 2 of them were however persuaded to come on board & the rest traded for what they had very fairly; a small Canoe also came from the other side of the Bay & sold some large Fish, which had been taken the day before Yesterday, as Yesterday it blew too fresh for any Canoes to go to Sea; after breakfast we all went ashore to see an Indian Fort or Epp'ah in the neighbourhood, uncertain however what kind of reception we should meet with, as they might be Jealous of letting us into it where probably all their valuable effects were lodged; we went to a Bay where were two, we landed first near a small one, the most beautifull romantic thing I ever saw 70 it was built on a small rock, detached from the Main & Surrounded at high Water, the top of this was fenced round with Rails after their manner, but was not large enough to contain above 5 or 6 houses; the whole appeared totally inaccessible to any animal who was not furnish'd with wings, indeed it was only approachable by one very narrow & steep path, but what made it most truly romantic was that much the largest part of it was hollow'd out into an arch which penetrated quite thro' it, & was in hight not less than 20 Yards perpendicular above the Water which ran thro' it; the Inhabitants on our approach came down & invited us to go in, but we refused intending to visit a much larger & more perfect one about a Mile off, we spent however some little time in making presents to their Women, in the mean time we saw the Inhabitants of the other come down from it, Men, Women & Children about a 100 in Number & march towards us, as soon as they came near enough they waved, call'd haromai & set down in the bushes near the beach (a sure mark of their good intentions) we went to them,

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Opoorage [12 Nov. 1769

made a few presents, & asked leave to go up to their heppah which they with Joy invited us to do, & immediately accompanied us to it; it was call'd Wharretouwa & was situate on the end of a hill where it jutted out into the Sea, which washed two sides of it, these were sufficiently steep but not absolutely inaccessible up one of the land sides which was also steep went the road, the other was flat & open to the side of the hill the whole was inclosed by a Pallisade about 10 feet high made of strong Pales bound together with with's the weak side next the hill had also a Ditch, the face of which next the Pallisade we measured to be 20 1/2 feet in depth, besides this over the Pallisade was built a fighting stage which they call Porava 71 which is a flat stage covered with boughs of Trees upon which they stand to throw darts or stones at their assailants out of danger of their Weapons, the dimensions of it were thus, the hight from the ground 20 1/2 feet, breadth 6ft 6, the length 43 feet, upon it were laid bundles of Darts & heaps of Stones ready in case of an attack; one of the Young Men at our desire went up to shew their method of fighting, & another went to the outside of the Ditch to act assailant, they both sung their war Song & danc'd with the same frightfull gesticulations as we have often seen them, threat'ning each other with their Weapons this I suppose they do in their attacks to work themselves to a sufficient fury of courage, for what we call calm resolution is I beleive found in few uncivilized People: The Side next the road was also defended by a Stage like this but much longer; the other two were by their steepness & the Pallisade, thought sufficiently secure: The inside was divided into I beleive 20 larger & smaller divisions, some of which contain'd not more than 1 or 2 houses, others 12 or 14 every one of these were enclosed by its own Pallisade, tho not so high & strong as the general one, in these were vast heaps of dryed fish, & fern roots piled up in heaps so much that had they had Water, I should have thought them well prepared for a Seige, but that must be fetched from a Brook below so probably they do not use to beseige a Town as we do in Europe without the fence were many houses & large netts which I suppose are brought in upon

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12 Nov. 1769] Opoorage

any alarm; there was also about 1/2 an acre of Gourds & sweet Potatoes planted, the only cultivation we have seen in the Bay.

13/ Rainy & blowing Weather to day, so we did not go ashore, indeed there was little temptation, for we had got by much the greatest number or perhaps all the Plants that the Season afforded.

14/ But midling Weather; as we were resolved to stay no longer here we all went ashore, the Boats to get as much Celery & Oysters as possible, Dr Solander & myself to get as many green plants as possible as Sea Stock for finishing sketches &c 72 so an Enormous number of all these articles came on board: Dr Solander who was to Day in a Cove, different from that I was in saw the Natives catch many Lobsters in a most simple manner, they walked among the Rocks at Low Water about middle deep in Water & still felt about with their feet till they felt one, on which they div'd down & constantly brought him up. I do not know whether I have before mentioned these Lobsters, but we have had them in tolerable plenty in almost every place we have been in, & they are certainly the largest & best I have ever Eat.

15/ Little Wind & that foul, Sail however, several Canoes were on board, & in one of them Toiava, who said that as soon as ever we were gone, he must go to his heppah or Fort, for the friends of the Man who was kill'd on the 9th threatened to revenge themselves upon him as being a friend to us.

16th/ Wind foul as Yesterday, many Islands were seen but neither the Main nor them appeared at all Fertile or well inhabited, only one Town was seen all Day & no People, indeed we were rather too far off.

17th/ Foul Wind & blowing fresh, so that we did not come near enough to the Land to make many Observations.

18th/ Fine Weather, & fair Wind to Day repay'd us for Yesterdays tossing, the Countrey appeared pleasant & well wooded. At 7 we were abreast of a remarkable bare Point, jutt-

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Off Cape Colville [18 Nov. 1769

ing far into the Sea, 73 on it stood many People who seemed to take little notice of us but talked together with much earnestness, in about 1/2 an hour we saw Canoes put off almost at the same time from Several different places & come towards us on which these people also put off a small Canoe they had with them & came likewise towards us she soon came up with us & had in her 20 People & soon after another with 35 they sung the Song of Defiance as usual which we took very little notice of, in about 1/2 an hour they threw 3 or 4 stones on board & then departed towards the shore; we thought we were quite clear of them, but they soon returned as if inclined (which I beleive is the common policy of these people) to provoke us to shew them whether we had or not arms superior to their's; Tupia who I beleive guessed that they were coming to attack us immediately went upon the Poop and talked to them a good deal, telling them what, if they provoked us, we should do & how easily we could in a moment destroy them all, they answered him in their usual cant "come ashore only & we will kill you all" well said Tupia but while we are at Sea you have no manner of Business with us, the Sea is our property as much as yours, such reasoning from an Indian who had not had the smallest hint from any of us, surprized me much, & the more as these were sentiments I never had before heard him give a hint about in his own Case; all his preaching however had little effect, for they soon renew'd their stone attack, on which a Musquet Ball was fired thro' one of their Boats, on which they drop'd astern & left us: At Night the Ship was in a place, which some people conjectured to be a channel betwixt an Island & the Main, others a deep Bay where she came to an Anchor.

19/ This Morn two Canoes came from the Land, who said they knew Toiava & call'd Tupia by his name, we took some of them on board who behaved very well afterwards canoes came from the other side of the Bay who likewise mentioned Toiavas name & sent a Young man into the Ship who told us that he was the Old Mans Grandson, we never suspected him to have had so much influence: In the Evening it came on Thick and Misty, so we came to an Anchor not a little pleased to find ourselves at least in a peaceable Countrey.

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20 Nov. 1769] Oohoorage or River Thames

20/ Weather still Thick & hazey, we had Yesterday resolved to employ this Day in examining the Bay, so at Day break we set out in the Boats, a fresh Breeze of Wind soon carried us to the bottom of the Bay where we found a very fine River broad as the Thames at Greenwich tho' not quite so deep, 74 there was however Water enough for Vessels of more than a midling size & a bottom of mud so soft that nothing could possibly take damage by running ashore; about a Mile up this was an Indian Town, built upon a small Bank of dry Land, but totally surrounded by deep mud, so much so, that I beleive they meant it a defence; the People came out in flocks upon the Banks inviting us in, they had heard of us from our good friend Toiava; we landed & while we stay'd they were most perfectly civil, as indeed they have always been where we were known, but never where we were not; after this visit we proceeded & soon met with another Town with but few Inhabitants; above this the banks of the River were completely cloath'd with the finest Timber my Eyes ever beheld of a Tree we had before seen but only at a distance in Poverty Bay & Hawks Bay thick Woods of it were every where upon the Banks, every Tree as strait as a Pine & of immense size; still the higher we came the more numerous they were; about 2 leagues from the Mouth we stop'd, & went ashore, our first Business was to measure one of these Trees, the Woods were swampy, so we could not range far we found one however by no means the largest we had seen which was [] feet in circumference & [] in hight 75 without a Branch, but what was most remarkable was that it as well as many more that we saw carried its thickness so truly up to the very top, that I dare venture to affirm that the top where the lowest branch took its rise was not a foot less in Diameter than where we measured which was about 8 feet from the Ground we cut down a Young one of these trees, the wood proved heavy & Solid, too much so for mast, but would make the finest plank in the World, & might possibly by some Art, be made light enough for Mast as the pitch pine in America

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Oohoorage [20 Nov. 1769

(to which our Carpenter likened this timber) is said to be lightened by tapping. 76

As far as this the River had kept its depth & very little decreased even in breadth, the Capn was so much pleased with it that he resolved to call it the Thames; it was now time for us to return, the Tide turning downwards gave us warning, so away we went & got out of it into the Bay before it was dark; we row'd for the Ship as fast as we could but night overtook us before we could get within some miles of it it blew fresh with Showers of Rain, in this situation we row'd till near 12, & then gave over, & running under the land, came to a grapling, & all went to sleep as well as we could.

21/ Before Day break we set out again, it still blew fresh with mizling Rain & Fog, so that it was an hour after Day before we got a sight of the Ship, however we made shift to get on board by 7, tired enough, & lucky it was for us that we did, for before 9 it blew a fresh Gale, so that our Boat could not have rowed ahead; so that had we been out, we must have either gone ashore, or sheltered ourselves under it: Before Evening however it moderated, so that we got under Way with the Ebb Tide, but did little or no thing.

22/ This Morn we weigh'd with the Ebb, but breeze was so light, that the Capn went into the Boat & Dr Solander with him there were many Canoes about the Ship, with which I traded for their Cloaths, arms &c, of which I had got few so I stayd on board, they sold chiefly for Paper; In the course of this commerce one Young Man who was upon Deck stole a 1/2 minute Glass which was in the Binnacle, & was catched attempting to go off with it, the first Lieutenant 77 took it into his head to flogg him for his crime,



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A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas
PARKINSON: "The manner in which New Zealand Warriors defy their Enemies." Banks, October 27th, 1769: "...sung their War song in which both Men & Women joined, they distorted their faces most hideously, rolling their Eyes & putting out their tongues but kept very good time, often heaving most loud & deep sighs."
Sydney Parkinson del., R. B. Godfrey sculps.


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A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas
PARKINSON: "A War Canoe, of New Zealand." BANKS, October 31st, 1769: "... & soon after we saw an immense large Canoe coming from the Shore crowded full of People... the larger sort seemed to be intended for War and were really magnificently adorned..."
Sydney Parkinson del., R. B. Godfrey sculps.


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A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas
PARKINSON: "View of an Arched Rock, on the Coast of New Zealand; with an Hippa, or place of Retreat, on the Top of it." BANKS, November 12th, 1769: "... after breakfast we all went ashore to see an Indian Fort or Eppah... a small one, the most beautiful romantic thing I ever saw it was built on a small rock..."
Sydney Parkinson del., I. Newton sculps.


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A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seat
PARKINSON: "View of the great Peak [Mt. Egmont], & the adjacent Country, on the West Coast of New Zealand." BANKS, January 10th, 1770: "Towards Evening a very high Hill was in sight but very distant." January 11th: "... our high hill has been sometimes seen & sometimes wrapped up in Clouds, some of the People think it as high as the Peak of Teneriff, tho I cannot be of half that opinion, yet it is certainly in appearance very like it..."
Sydney Parkinson del., P. Mazell sculps.

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22 Nov. 1769] Off Cape Brett

he was accordingly seizd, but when they attempted to tie him to the Shrouds, the Indians on board made much resistance, I heard it & came upon Deck they then began to call for their Arms which were handed them out of the Boats & one Canoe attempted to come up the Ships side, Just then Tupia came upon Deck, they ran to him immediately, he assured them that their friend would not be killed, he would only be whipped, on which they were well satisfied he endured the discipline & as soon as he was let go, an Old Man who perhaps was his father beat him very soundly & sent him down into the Canoes into which they all went & drop'd astern saying that they were afraid of coming any more near us; they ventured however at last, but stay'd a very short time, promising however at their departure to return with Fish which they never performd.

23/ Very light Breezes, we have got but little as yet by Tideing in the Morn 2 small Canoes came off & promised to return at Night with Fish but did not.

24/ Strong Breeze off the Land, so we soon got clear of the Bay Land in the Morn appeared unfruitfull, few or no houses were seen In the Evening large Sands which extended some way into the Countrey in little Hills as I have seen in England: At Night we came to an Anchor in a small Open Bay, our fishing Lines were tried & we soon caught a large number of Fish which were called by the Seamen Sea Bream, 78 as many as I believe the Ships Company could Eat in 2 Days.

25/ The Countrey had a tolerable good appearance, in the Morn some stragling houses & 3 or 4 fortified Towns were in sight, near which was a large quantity of Cultivation: In the Evening 7 large Canoes came off, carrying about 200 Indians; two of them who said they had heard of us came on board & received our presents; this did not however hinder some of their Companions from cheating us as usual, by offering to trade & keeping what they had got without sending up what they had offered, our usual punishment was inflicted small shot which made the offender immediately relinquish his Prize (an Old pair of black breeches) which he threw into the Water on seeing

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Off Cape Brett [25 Nov. 1769

a second Musquet presented his Companions however as soon as they thought themselves out of our reach began as usual to defy us, which made us think it necessary to shew them what we could do, a conduct surely most right when it can be done without hurting them; Musquets were fired near them, which made them draw a little farther off, a round shot was then fired over their heads, on which they all set out for the Shore most stoutly.

26/ Two small Canoes came off early in the Morn, & told us that they had heard of Yesterdays Adventure; they came on board & traded quietly for whatever they had; soon after 2 larger ones came from a Distance, they call'd the others to them, & then all came up together to the Ship, the Strangers were numerous & appeared rich their Canoes were well carv'd & Ornamented, & they had with them many Weapons of patoo patoos of Stone & Whale bones, which they value much; they had also ribs of whales, of which we had often seen Imitations in Wood, carved & ornamented with tufts of Dogs hair; the People themselves were browner than to the Southward as indeed they have been ever since we came to Opoorage, & they had a much larger quantity of Amoco or black stains upon their bodys & faces almost universally they had a broad Spiral on each Buttock, & many had their thighs almost intirely black, small Lines only being left untouch'd, so that they looked like stripd breeches; 79 in this particular, I mean Amoco, almost every different tribe seem to vary their Customs we have some days seen Canoes where every Man has been almost covered with it & at the same time others where scarce a Man has had a spot except his lips blacked, which seems to be always essential.

These People would not part with any of their Arms &c for any price we could offer, at last however one produced an axe of Talk & offered it for Cloth; it was given & the Canoe immediately put off with it, a Musquet ball was fired over their heads, on which they immediately came back & returned the Cloth, but soon after put off & went ashore.

In the afternoon other Canoes came off, & from some inattention of the Officers, were suffered to cheat unpunish'd & unfrightened, this put one of the Midshipmen who had suffered

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26 Nov. 1769] Motu Aro or Bay of Islands

upon a droll tho rather mischeivous revenge, he got a fishing line & when the Canoe was close to the Ship hove the Lead at the Man who had cheated with so good success, that he fast'ned the hook into his backside, on which he pulled with all his might, & the Indian kept back, so the hook soon broke in the shank, leaving its beard in his backside, no very agreeable legacey.

27/ Light Breeze, several Canoes came off & traded for Fish, but were most abominably saucey, continually threat'ning us, at last they began to heave stone with more courage than any boats we had seen, this made it necessary to punish them, the Capn went upon the Poop where they immediately threw at him, he levelled a Gun loaded with small shot at the man who held a stone in his hand in the very action of throwing & struck him, he sunk down so immediately into the Canoe, that we suspected he was materially hurt; this however did not prevent another Canoe from coming up with stones in their hands who met another load of small shot at about 50 Yards distant which struck several of them & at once stopd their speed; the 2 Canoes that had been fired at went immediately for the Shore, the others drop'd astern & we left them behind. The Land appeared rocky & full of Islands, the Continent behind them rose in a gradual slope & seemed fertile; some Cultivation was in sight, in the Even foul Wind.

28/ Foul Wind continued, & this Morn the Ship was 2 leagues at least to Leeward of Yesterday; The Continent rose in gentle hills, but did not appear so fertile when near it as it did at a Distance; several large heppas were in sight, one the largest we have seen to appearance & far inland.

29/ Wind as foul as Ever, & the Ship more & more to Leeward so we resolved to bear away for a Bay which we had pass'd, we did so & by 10 came to an Anchor in a most Spacious & well sheltered harbour, or rather collection of Harbours almost innumerable formed by Islands.

Canoes crowded upon us from all quarters, so that we soon had 37 Large & small about us; the People in them traded very fairly for what they had & shew'd much fear of us, especially if they saw any thing like a Gun which they were well acquainted with; they became however soon a little more bold. & while we

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Motuaro [29 Nov. 1769

were at dinner one of them went to the Buoy, which they attempted to tow away, a musquet was fired over them without effect small shot at them, but they were too far off for that to take effect A ball was then fired at them, which was thought to strike one of them as they immediately threw out the Buoy which by this time they had got into their Canoe, A round shot was then fired over them, which struck the Water & then went ashore; 2 or 3 Canoes landed immediately, & the Men ran about the Beach as if in search of it, after this we called to them, & in a little time they all returned to the Ship.

By this time she was properly moored & the Boats out so we set out for the shore; at our parting from the Ship not a Canoe stirred which we judged a good sign, but no sooner had we set a foot on the shore, about 3/4 of a Mile from the Ship but every Canoe put off in a moment & pulled towards us, we were in a sandy Cove, behind the 2 heads of which the most of them landed one or 2 only in sight out of these they came running with every man his Arms, others appeared on the tops of hills, & numbers from behind each head of the Cove, so that we were in a moment surrounded by the[m] Gentlemen in the Ship say 5 or 600 men tho we I believe never saw more than 200 of them; we now every Man expected to be attacked, but did not chuse to begin hostilities so the Capn & myself march'd up to meet them, they crowded a good deal, but did not offer to meddle with us, tho every man had his arms almost lifted up to strike, we brought them towards the party, & made a line signing to them that they were not to pass it, they did not at first, but by this time a party from the other side had come up & mix'd with our People, they now began to sing their war song, but committed no hostility till 3 step'd to each of our Boats, & attempted to draw them ashore, it was now time to fire we whose guns were loaded with small shot we did so which drove them back, one Man attempted to rally them he who was not 20 Yards from us came down towards us waving his patoo patoo & calling to his companions, Dr Solander whose Gun was not discharged fired at him, on which he too ran, they now got upon rising ground about us, from whence we dislog'd them by firing Musquet Balls, none of which took effect farther than frightening them; in this Way we were about 1/4 of an hour resolving to maintain our ground, when the

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29 Nov. 1769] Motuaro

Ship had brought her broadside to bear & fired at the Indians who were on the tops of the hills, the balls went quite over them, notwithstanding which they went off & at last left us our Cove quite to ourselves, so that the Musquets were laid down upon the ground, & all hands employed gathering cellery, which was here very plentifull; An Old Indian now appeared who had been on board in the Morn with 2 more, they came immediately to us & prov'd to be his Wife & Brother, he said that another Brother of his was struck with the small Shot, & asked whether he would dye, we told him no & gave him a Musquet Ball with some small Shot telling him that it was the latter with which he was struck, but if they again attacked us, we would shoot them with the former which would infallibly Kill them; 80 after this we went into the Boats & rowed to another Cove in the same Island 81 near which was a high hill from whence we might have a good view of the Bay, we climbed up it, & from thence saw that the Bay we were in was indeed a most surprizing place, it was full of an Innumerable quantity of Islands forming as many harbours which must be as smooth as Mill Pools, as they Landlock one another numberless times; every where round us we could see large Indian Towns, houses, & Cultivations we had certainly seen no place near so populous as this one was very near us from whence several Indians came to us taking however great pains to shew us that they were unarmed, they accompanied us down to the Boat, night coming on we went on board carrying much Celery, the only Plant of any use even to us, for of all the places I have landed in, this was the only one which did not produce one new Vegetable.

30/ Several Canoes came off to the Ship very early, but sold little or nothing, indeed no merchandise that we can shew them seems to take with them, Our Island Cloth, which used to be so much esteemed has now intirely lost its value, they have for some days told us that they have of it ashore, & shewed us small

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Motuaro [30 Nov. 1769

pieces in their Ears which they said was of their own Manufacture, this at once accounts for their having been once so fond of it & now setting so little value upon it; towards Noon however they sold a little dryed fish for paper cheifly or very white Island Cloth; among other things they told us that the Man who was shot at with small shot on the 27th was dead 3 shot they said struck his Eye & I suppose found there an easy passage to his Brain.

In the Even we went ashore upon the Continent, the People received us very civilly & as tame as we could wish; one general Observation I here set down, that they always after one Nights consideration have acknowledg'd our Superiority, but hardly before; I have often seen a Man whose next neighbour was wounded or killed by our shot not give himself the trouble to enquire how or by what means he was hurt, so that at the time of their Attacks they I beleive work themselves up into a kind of artificial courage, which does not allow them time to think much.

Deer.

1/ Several Canoes were on board by Day break, & sold some things cheifly for Indian Cloth & quart bottles: The Day misty & stewy; the Boats were in shore on the Island which we search'd on the 29th with so little Success that we did not think it worth while to go ashore.

It is now a long time since I have mentioned their custom of eating human flesh as I was loath a longtime to believe that any human beings could have among them so brutal a Custom I am now however convinced, & shall here give a short account of what we have heard from the Indians concerning it: At Taoneroa the first place we landed in on the Continent 82 the Boys who we had on board mentioned it of their own accords asking whether the Meat they Eat was not human flesh, as they had no Idea of any animal but a Man so large till they saw our Sheep, they however seemed asham'd of the Custom, saying that the tribe

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1 Dec. 1769] Motuaro

to which they belonged did not use it, but that another very near did; since that we have never failed wherever we went ashore & often when we conversed with Canoes to ask the question, we have without one exception been answered in the affirmative, & several times as at Tolaga & to Day the People have put themselves into a heat by defending the Custom, which Tupia who had never before heard of such a thing takes every occasion to speak ill of, exhorting them often to leave it off; 83 They however as universally agree that they eat none but the bodies of those of their Enimies who are killed in War, all others are buried.

2d/ Boats went ashore on the Island again; I do not know what tempted Dr Solander & myself to go there, where we almost knew nothing was to be got but whet skins which we had very sufficiently, for it rain'd all the time we were ashore, as hard as I ever saw it.

3d/ Many Canoes were on board in the Morn, one very large which carried 82 People; after breakfast Dr Solander & myself went ashore on the Continent, we found but few Plants, & saw but few People but they were most perfectly civil, we went by their invitation to their little Town which was situated in the bottom of a Cove without the least defence, one of the Old Men here shew'd us the Instruments with which they stain their bodies, which was exactly like those used at Otahite; we saw also here the Man who was shot at on the 29th in attempting to steal the Buoy, the Ball had gone thro' the fleshy part of his Arm & grazed his breast, the wound was open to the Air without the smallest application upon it, yet it had as good an appearance, & seemed to give him as little Pain as if he had had the best dressings to it; we gave him a Musquet Ball & with a little talking to, he seem'd very fully sensible of the escape he had had.

In the Even we went ashore on another Island where were many more People than we had seen in the Morn who liv'd in the same peaceable stile & had very large plantations of sweet Potatoes, Yamms, &c all about their village; they received us much as our friends in the Morn had done, & like them shew'd

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Motuaro [3 Dec. 1769

much satisfaction at the little presents of necklaces &c. which were given to them.

4/ Our old Man came on board, & brought with him his brother who had been shot with small Shot on the 29th, it had slanted along his thigh which I suppose had not less than 100 spots in it, this wound was likewise without any application, & seem'd to give him little or no pain, but was crusted over with a hard crust; natures plaister equal may be when she chuses to apply it to any that art has contrived.

After Breakfast we went ashore at a large Indian Fort or heppah, a great number of People immediately crowded about us & sold almost a boat load of Fish in a very short time; they then went & shew'd us their Plantations which were very large of Yamms, Cocos, & sweet Potatoes, & after having a little laught at our seine, which was a common Kings Seine, shew'd us one of theirs which was 5 fathom deep, its length we could only guess as it was not stretched out, but it could not be less, from its bulk, than 4 or 500 fathom: Fishing seems to be their cheif business of this part of the Countrey; about all their towns are abundance of net's laid upon small heaps like haycocks & thatched over, & almost every house you go into has nets in it making.

After this they shew'd us as a great rarity 6 Plants of what they called Aouta from whence they made Cloth like the Otahite cloth; the Plant prov'd exactly the same as the name is the same as is used in the Islands Morns papyrifera Linn, the same plant as is used by the Chinese to make paper; 84 whether the climate does not well agree with it I do not know, but they seemed to value it very much, & that it was very scarce among them I am inclin'd to believe as we have not yet seen among them pieces large enough for any use but sticking into the holes of their Ears.

In the Afternoon we went to a very distant part of the Bay, the People here were very few, all but one old Man ran away from us, he accompanied us wherever we went, & seemed much pleased with the little presents we made him; near where we landed was a little fort built upon a small Rock, surrounded by the Sea at high

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4 Dec. 1769] Motuaro

Water, & accessible only by a Ladder we express'd a desire to go there, he said there was his wife, but if we would promise to practise no indecencies towards her, he would accompany us; this we most readily did & he was as good as his word; the ascent was so difficult that tho' there were steps & a pole we found it dangerous enough when we came up there were in it 3 Women, who on our first coming cried, but presents soon put them into better humour; there were in all only 3 houses, but the situation as I have before describd was so steep that the Inhabitants of them might easily defend themselves against almost any force that could be brought against them.

5/ A small spirt of fair Wind before day break made us heave up the Anchor in a great hurry, but before we were well under way, it was as foul as ever, so we were obliged to attempt turning out; many Canoes came from all parts of the Bay, which is by far the most populous place we have been in; in the middle of the Day we were becalm'd & caught many fish with hooks: About 10 At Night as we were going thro' the outer heads on a sudden we were becalm'd, so that the Ship would neither wear nor Stay, In a moment an Eddy Tide took hold of us & hustled us so fast towards the Land, that before the Officers resolvd what was best to be done, the Ship was within a Cableslength of the Breakers, we had 13 fathom Water, but the ground so foul that they dared not drop an Anchor; The Eddy now took another turn & set her along shore opening another Bay, but we were too near the Rocks to trust to that, the Pinnace was ordered to be hoisted out in an instant to take the Ship in tow, every Man in her was I beleive sensible of the Danger we were in so no one spared to do his best to get her out fast the Event however shew'd how liable such situations must be to confusion, they lowered down too soon, & she stuck upon a Gun, from this she must be thrust by main force, in doing which they had almost overset her, which would have tumbled out her Oars no man thought of running in the Gun, at last that was done, & she was afloat, her crew was soon in her & she went to her Duty a faint Breeze of Wind now sprung up off the Land & with that & towing she to our great Joy got head way again at a time when she was so near the Shore that Tupia who was not sensible of our Danger was conversing

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Cavalle Isles [5 Dec. 1769

with the Indians ashore who made themselves very distinctly heard notwithstanding the roaring of the Breakers. 85

We were all happy in our Breeze & fine clear Moon light myself went down to bed & sat upon my Cott undressing myself when I felt the Ship strike upon a Rock, before I could get upon my legs she struck again; I ran upon Deck but before I could get there the danger was over fortunately the Rock was to Windward of us so she went off without the least damage & we got into the proper Channel where the Officers who had examined the Bay declared there to be no hidden dangers much to our satisfaction, as the almost certaintly of being Eat as soon as you come ashore adds not a little to the terrors of Shipwreck.

6/ In the Morn we were clear of all our Dangers & at Sea to our no small satisfaction, notwithstanding the Wind was as foul as possible.

7/ Wind not much better than Yesterday.

8/ Very light Breeze; we have ran off so far from the Land that we can distinguish nothing upon it; In the Evening fair Wind.

9/ Fair Wind tho' but little of it; Many Canoes came off who shew'd much fear of us & after some time said that they had heard of our Guns Tupia at last persuaded them to come under the Stern & after having bought of them some of their Cloaths which they sold very fairly began to enquire about the Countrey, They told him that at the distance of 3 Days rowing in their Canoes at a place call'd Moore whennua 86 the Land would take a short turn to the Southward, & from thence extend no more to the West; This Place we concluded must be Cape Maria Van Diemen & finding these People so intelligent desired him to inquire if they knew of any Countreys besides this or ever went to any, they said no, but that their ancestors had told them to the NWbN or NNW was a large Countrey, to which some People had sailed in a very large Canoe which passage took them up a

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9 Dec. 1769] Mount Camel

Month from this Expedition a part only returned who told their countreymen that they had seen a Countrey where People Eat Hogs, 87 for which animal they used the same name (Booah) as is used in the Islands, & have you no Hogs among you said Tupia? no; & did your ancestors bring none back with them? no; you must be a parcel of Liars then said he, & your Story a great Lye, for your ancestors would have never been such fools as to come back without them; thus much as a specimen of Indian reasoning. After much conversation our friends left us, but promis'd to return at Night & bring with them Fish which they did & sold it very reasonably.

Sandy Bay

10/ This Morn we were near the land which was as barren as it is possible to conceive hills within hills & ridges even far inland were covered with white Sand on which no kind of Vegetable was to be seen it was conjectured by some that the land here may be very narrow & the Westerly Wind blow the Sand quite across it: Some Indian forts or heppahs were seen, & from them some Canoes put off, but did not overtake us.

11 / Wind as hard hearted as ever, we turned all Day without losing anything, much to the credit of our Old Colier; who we never fail to praise if she turns as well as this.

12/ Wind &c as Yesterday.

13/ Wind as foul as ever & rather overblows, so that in this Days turning we lost all we had last Week.

14/ Blows almost as fresh as it did Yesterday, but rather more fair; a heavy swell from the West made us almost conclude that there was no Land to the Northward of us.

15/ More Moderate but not more fair, we begin to think this Cape our Ne plus ultra.

16/ We stood out to Sea Yesterday & last night, so that we could in the Morn only Just see the Land from the Mast head, stood in for it & at Night made it plain.

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Island of 3 Kings [ 17 Dec. 1769

17/ This Morn we were in with the Land, which trends a little to the Southward, so we hoped that our troubles are nearly at an end during the Days turning however we contrived to lose near a league no great comfort to us.

18/ Still more to leeward in the Morn, & in the even still more, on a Rock pretty near us an Indian fort was seen thro' our Glasses which we all thought was encircled with a mud Wall, if so tis the only one of the kind we have seen.

19/ Stood out to Sea last night; to night were in with the Land, & found we had gained something as we did also the last time we stood far off, which made the Seamen conclude that some small current along shore must be the reason why we could never get any thing by our short trips.

20/ Some hopes of a fair Wind in the Morn, but they soon left us & it began to blow hard, with violent claps of Thunder, on which we again stood out to Sea.

21/ Wind not quite so bad as Yesterday, but a great swell from the West hindered the Ship much.

22d/ Swell as Yesterday, but the Wind is come more to the South ward, so that we cannot come in with the Land at all.

23d/ Little Wind more favourable than Yesterday, so that at Night the Land was seen from the Mast Head.

24/ Land in sight an Island or rather several small ones, most probably 3 Kings, 88 so that it was conjectured that we had passed the Cape which had so long troubled us; Calm most of the Day Myself in a boat shooting in which I had good Success, killing cheifly several Gannets or Solan Geese, so like European ones that they are hardly distinguishable from them 89 as it was the humour of the Ship to keep Christmas in the Old fashioned way it was resolved of them to make a Goose pye for to morrows dinner.

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25 Dec. 1769] Off Cape Maria Van Diemen

25/ Christmas Day, our Goose pye was eat with great approbation & in the Evening all hands were as drunk as our forefathers used to be upon the like Occasion.

26/ This Morn all heads ached with Yesterdays debauch: Wind has been Easterly these 3 or 4 Days, so we have not got at all nearer the Island than we were.

27/ Blows very hard at SE, so that we were again drove off the Land not much displeased as we all rejoicd much that it was not an on shore Wind.

28/ Wind now SW right on Shore, but thank God we have so good an Offing, that we are in not the least danger; all our Sea people said that they never before were in so hard a Summers Gale.

29/ Wind more Moderate but still blows prodigiously fresh with a monstrous Sea; no such summer Gales as this to the Northward said our Captain.

30/ Blows very fresh still, tho' the heart of the Gale seemd to be broke; we have been driven much to the Northward, so that to Day we once more pass'd in sight of Cape Maria & the 3 Kings.

31st/ Wind as Yesterday; Sea something abated: Stood in for the Land which we had not now seen for sometime dared not venture very near, as the Wind was right on Shore; it appeared very sandy & barren.


Jany 1770

1st/ The new Year began with more Moderate Weather than the Old one ended with, but Wind as foul as ever; We ventured to go a little nearer the Land which appeared on this side the Cape much as it had done on the other, almost intirely occupied by vast sands; our Surveyors suppose the Cape shap'd like a shoulder of Mutton, with the Knuckle placed inwards, where they say the Land cannot be above 2 or 3 miles over, & that here most probably in high Winds the Sea washes quite over the Sands which in that place are Low.

2d/ Weather not yet settled, in the Morn we stood. S. & soon lost sight of the Land which we saw no more all Day.

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West Coast [3 Jan. 1770

3d/ Stood in for the Land, with Weather more Moderate than it has been for some days past; it appeared high but the sides of the hills often interspersed with long tracts of sand, even high up their bottoms were every where covered with it. Many Albatrosses were about the Ship to Day swimming upon the Water in small Companies 10 or 20 together.

4/ Stood rather nearer the Land than Yesterday, but not near enough to see whether or not it was inhabited, indeed we were obliged to haul off rather in a hurry, for the Wind freshning a little we found ourselves in a Bay, which it was a moot point whether or not we could get out of indeed I believe most People thought that we should not till a lucky change in the Wind at once allowed us to Weather every thing to our no small Joy who had so lately been in so severe & long a Gale of Wind blowing right up on the Shore which we had now just weatherd.

5/ Blew fresh & we stood out all Day may be rather too sensible of the danger we had escaped Yesterday.

6/ Calm to Day, myself in the boat, shot Procellaria longipes, velox & Diomedoea exulans (the Albatross) I had an opportunity to see this last setting upon the Water, & as it is commonly said by Seamen that they cannot in a Calm rise upon the Wing, I tried the experiment, there were 2 of them, one I shot Dead, the other who was near him swam off near as fast as my small Boat could row, we gave chase & came up a little, he attempted to fly by taking the moment of a Waves falling, but did not succeed, I who was so far off that I knew I could not hurt him fired at him to make his attempts more vigourous which had the effect, for the third effort he got upon the Wing, tho' I believe had it not been for a little swell upon the Water he would not have done it.

7/ Calm again, myself shooting, killed Procellaria longipes & melanopus 90 & saw a Turtle just before Sunset who being awake div'd immediately. What Wind there was was fair, tho scarce a breath of it, yet even that made us hope for better times.

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8 Jan. 1770] Albatross Point

8/ Our fair Wind continued, but still so little of it that was there any plenty of Birds, or hopes of new ones, I could outrow the Ship in much more. Land just in sight.

9/ Much as Yesterday; Land in sight, but so faintly seen that a Landsman would scarce distinguish it from Clouds.

10/ In the Morn a Breeze of fair Wind put us all into high Spirits. The Countrey we pass'd by appeared fertile more so I think than any part of this countrey I have seen, rising in gently slopes not overwooded, but what trees there were well grown; few signs of Inhabitants were seen a fire & a very few houses.

About Noon we passed between the Main & a small Island or Rock which seem'd almost totally covered with Birds probably Gannets: Towards Evening a very high Hill was in sight but very distant.

11/ Calm this Morn some fish were caught; In the Even foul Wind; our high hill has been sometimes seen & sometimes wrapped up in Clouds, some of our People think it is as high as the Peak of Teneriff, tho I cannot be of half that opinion, yet it is certainly in appearance very like it. 91

Mount Egmont

12/ This Morn we were abreast of the great hill, but it was wrapped up in Clouds, & remained so the whole Day, it is probably very high as a part of its side which was for a moment seen was covered with Snow; The Countrey beyond it appeared very fertile & pleasant the sides of the hills sloping gradually; with our Glasses we could distinguish many white lumps in companies of 50 or 60 together which probably were either Stones or tufts of Grass, but bore much the resemblance of flocks of Sheep. 92 At Night a small fire which burned about 1/2 an hour made us sure that there were Inhabitants of whom we had seen no signs since the 10th.

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Mouth of Cooks Streights [13 Jan. 1770

13/ This Morn soon after Day break we had a momentary view of our great hill, the top of which was thick covered with Snow, tho' this Month answers to July in England; how high it may be I do not take upon me to Judge, but it is certainly the noblest hill I have ever seen, & it appears to the utmost advantage, rising from the Sea without another hill in its neighbourhood one 4th part of its height: At Sunset the Top appeared again for a few minutes, but the whole day it was covered with Clouds.

14/ In a large Bay, call'd in the Draughts murderers Bay, 93 we stood across it all Day, At Night had the appearance of an Harbour just ahead of us, on the shore of which the Natives made a fire; resolved to stand off & on all Night, & in the Morn go in.

15/ In the Course of last night we were drove to the Eastward more than we had any reason to expect, so much that we found ourselves in the Morn past the harbour we intended to go into; another however was in sight into which we went; the Land on both sides appeared most miserably barren till we got pretty deep in when it began to mend by gradual degrees; Here we saw some Canoes, who instead of coming towards us, went to an Indian Town or Fort built upon an Island nearly in the middle of the Passage 94 which appeared crowded with People as if they had flocked to it from all parts; as the Ship approach'd it they wav'd to us, as if to invite us to come to them, but the moment we had pass'd by they set up a loud shout, & every Man brandished his weapon, which none of them were without: The Countrey about us was now very fertile to appearance & well wooded, so we came to an Anchor about long Cannon shot from the Fort, from whence 4 Canoes were immediately dispatched to reconnoitre I suppose in case they were able to take us, as they were all well armed: The Men in these boats were dress'd much as they are represented in Tasman's figure 95 that is 2 Corners of the



[Unpaginated illustration]

A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas
PARKINSON: "A New Zealand Warrior in his Proper Dress, & Compleatly Armed, According to their Manner." BANKS: "...It appears not improbable that there really are no other Species of Quadrupeds in the Country, for the Natives, whose chief luxury of dress consists in the Skins and Hair of Dogs, & the Skins of divers Birds... would probably have made use of some part of any other animal they were acquainted with; a circumstance which tho' we carefully sought after, we never saw the least signs of."
Sydney Parkinson del., T. Chambers sculps.


[Unpaginated illustration]

British Museum (Natural History)
Metrosideros tomentosa (Pohutukawa)
Drawing by Sydney Parkinson

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15 Jan. 1770] Totarra Nue or Queen Charlottes Sound

Cloth they wore were passed over their shoulders & fast'ned to the rest of it just below their breast, but few or none had feathers in their hair; they row'd round & round the Ship, defying & threatning us as usual & at last hove some stones on board which we all expected to be a prelude of some behaviour which would oblige us to fire upon them, but just at this time a very Old Man in one of the Boats expressed a desire of coming on board which we immediately encouraged & threw a rope into his Canoe, by which she was immediately hauled up along side, & the Old Man (contrary to the Opinion of all the other Indians, who went so far as to hold him fast for sometime) came on board where he was receiv'd in as friendly a manner as we possibly could, & had many presents given to him, with which he returned to the Canoes who immediately joined in a War dance whether to shew their friendship or enmity it is impossible to say we have so often seen them do it upon both those occasions; after this they retired to their town, & we went ashore abreast of the Ship where we found good Wood & Water, & caught more Fish in the Seine than all our People could possibly destroy, besides shooting a multitude of Shaggs: The Countrey however did not answer so well to Dr Solander & myself as to the Ship, we finding only 2 new plants in the whole Even.

16/ At Day break this Morn 3 Canoes & about 100 Indians came to the Ship, bringing their Women with them, a sign tho' not a sure one of peaceable inclinations; soon after our Longboat put off from the Ship with Cask in her, they attempted to follow her, on which a Musquet loaded with small Shot was fired at them, which made them immediately return, tho as they were full 100 Yards from the Ship, it is improbable that blood was drawn from any of them: They had in their Canoes some Fish, which they offered to sell & we to buy, so a man in a small Boat was dispatched among them to trade, he bought several bundles which they sold very fairly when one Indian seeing his opportunity snatch'd at the trade which he had in his hand, but missing immediately put himself in a posture of defence, flourishing his patoo patoo as if he meant to strike; A Musquet load of small Shot was fired at him a few of which struck his knee, the rest missed him, on which they all left off to trade, but paddled peaceably enough round the Ship & at last came under the Stern

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Totarra Nue [16 Jan. 1770

to Tupia, & discoursed with him about their antiquity & Legends of their Ancestors.

The Women in these Canoes & some of the Men had a piece of dress which we had not before seen, a bunch of Black feathers made round & tied upon the Tops of their heads which it intirely covered, 96 making them look twice as large as they really were on seeing this my Judgement paid an involuntary compliment to my fair English countrey women for led astray by this head dress which in some manner resembles their high foretops I was forward to declare it as my opinion that these were much the handsomest Women we had seen upon the Coast, but upon their nearer approach I was convinced that nothing but the head dress had misled me as I saw not one who was even tolerably handsome.

After dinner we went in the boat towards a Cove about 2 miles from the Ship, as we row'd along something was seen floating upon the surface of the Water, which we took to be a dead Seal, we row'd up to it & it proved to our great surprize to be the Body of a Woman who seem'd to have been dead some time; we left it & proceeded to our Cove, where we found a small family of Indians who were a little afraid of us, as they all ran away but one, they soon however returned except an Old Man & a child who staid in the woods but not out of sight of us, of these People we enquired about the Body we had seen, they told Tupia that the Woman was a relation of theirs, & that instead of burying their Dead, their Custom was to tie a stone to them, & throw them into the Sea, which stone they supposed to be unloos'd by some accident.

The family were employed when we came ashore in dressing their Provisions which were a Dog who was at that time buried in their Oven, & near it were many Provision Baskets, looking carelessly upon one of these we by accident observed 2 bones pretty clean picked, which as appeared upon examination were undoubtedly human bones; tho' we had from the first of our

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16 Jan. 1770] Totarra Nue

arrival upon the Coast constantly heard the Indians acknowlege the custom of eating their Enimies, we had never before had a proof of it, but this amounted almost to demonstration, the bones were clearly human, upon them were evident marks of their having been dress'd on the fire; the meat was not intirely pick'd off from them, & on the grisly ends which were gnaw'd were evident marks of teeth & these were accidentally found in a provision basket, on asking the People what bones are these? they answered "the bones of a Man", & have you Eat the flesh? "Yes" have you none of it left? no; why did not you eat the Woman who we saw to Day in the Water? "She was our relation"; who then is it that you do Eat? "those who are killed in War"; & who was the Man whose bones these are?, "5 days ago a boat of our enimies came into this Bay, & of them we killed 7, of whom the owner of these bones was one;--The horror that appeared in the Countenances of the Seamen on hearing this discourse which was immediately translated for the good of the Company is better conceived than describ'd for ourselves & myself in particular we were before too well convinced of the existence of such a Custom to be surprized, tho we were pleas'd at having so strong a proof of a custom which human nature holds in too great abhorrence to give easy credit to.

17/ This Morn I was awaked by the singing of the Birds ashore, from whence we were distant not a 1 of a mile; the numbers of them were certainly very great, who seem'd to strain their throats with emulation, perhaps their voices were certainly the most melodious wild musick I have ever heard, almost imitating small Bells, but with the most tuneable Silver sound imaginable to which may be the distance was no small addition; on enquiring of our People I was told that they had observed them ever since we have been here, & that they begin to sing at about 1 or 2 in the Morn & continue till Sun rise, after which they are silent all Day like our nightingals. 97

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Totarra Nue [17 Jan. 1770

A small Canoe came this Morn from the Indian Town as soon as they came along side Tupia began to enquire into the truth of what we had heard Yesterday, & was told over again the same story but where are the Sculls said Tupia, do you Eat them, bring them & then we shall be convinced that these are men whose bones we have seen? "we do not Eat the heads, answered the Old Man who had first come on board the Ship, but we do the brains, & to morrow I will bring one & shew You": much of this kind of conversation pass'd, after which the Old Man went home.

18/ Among other things that the Indians told us Yesterday one was that they expected their enimies to come & revenge the Death of the 7 Men, & some of our People thought they said that they had intelligence that they were to come as to Day, which made us observe the Indian Town, where we thought the People were quieter than usual & seemingly not attending their usual occupations of Fishing &c & no one Canoe attempted to come near the Ship: after Breakfast we went in the Pinnace to explore some parts of the Bay which we had not seen, as it was immensely large, or rather consisted of numberless small Harbours, Coves, &c; we found the Countrey on our side of the Bay very well wooded every where, but on the opposite side very bare: in turning a point to Day, we saw a Man in a small Canoe fishing, who to our surprize, shewd not the least fear of us, we went to him & quite alongside his Canoe, he all the while follow'd his occupation, on our desiring him he took up his nets & shew'd us his machine which was a circular net about 7 or 8 feet in Diameter, extended by 2 hoops, the top of this was open, & to the bottom was tied Sea Ears &c as bait this he let down upon the ground, & when he thought that fish enought were asembled over it, he lifted it up by very gentle & even motion, so that the Fish were hardly sensible of being lifted till they were almost out of the Water; by this simple method he had caught abundance of Fish, & I believe it is the general way of fishing all over this Coast, as many such nets have been seen at almost every place we have been in; in this Bay indeed, Fish were so plentifull that it is hardly possible not to catch abundance whatever way is made use of.

In the course of this Days excursion, we shot many shaggs from their nests in the Trees & on the Rocks; these Birds we

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18 Jan. 1770] Totarra Nue

roast or stew & think not bad provision, so between Shaggs & Fish, this is the place of the greatest plenty of any we have seen.

19/ Indians came this Morn from another part of the Bay, where they said was a town which we had not seen; they brought plenty of Fish, which they sold for nails, of which they had by this time learnt the value.

20/ Our Old Man came this Morn according to his promise with the heads of 4 People, which were preserved with the flesh & hair on, & kept I suppose as trophies as possibly Scalps were by the North Americans before the Europeans came among them; the brains were however taken out, as we had been told, may be they are a delicacy here; the flesh & Skin upon these heads were soft, but they were somehow preserved so as not to stink at all. 98

We made another excursion to Day; the Bay every where where we have yet been is very hilly we have hardly seen a flat large enough for a Potatoe Garden; our friends here do not seem to feel the want of such places, as we have not yet seen the least appearance of cultivation; I suppose they live intirely upon Fish, Dogs; & Enimies.

21/ Dr Solander & myself were fishing to Day with hook & Line & caught an immense number of fish every where upon the Rocks in 4 or 5 fathom Water; we have indeed immense plenty, the Seine is haul'd every night & seldom fails to furnish us with as much Fish as we can possibly Destroy.

22/ Made an excursion to Day in the Pinnace, in order to see more of the Bay; while Dr Solander & myself were botanizing the Capn went to the top of a hill 99 & in about an hour returned in high spirits having seen the Eastern Sea, & satisfied himself of the existence of a Streight communicating with it, the Idea of

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Totarra Nue [22 Jan. 1770

which had occurred to us all from Tasmans as well as our own Observations. 100

23/ Disagreable Day, Squally with Rain, so we all staid at home Mr Monkhouse told me to day, that the day before Yesterday he was ashore in a place where were many Indian houses deserted, here he saw several things tied up to the branches of trees, particularly hair of a Man which he brought away with him enough to have made a sizeable Wig, this induced him to think the place he had seen was a place consecrated to religious purposes; 101 Possibly it was as they certainly have such places among them tho I have not yet been lucky enough to meet with them.

24/ Went to Day to the heppah or Town to see our friends the Indians, who received us with much confidence & civility & shew'd us every part of their habitations which were neat enough; the Town was situated upon a small Island or Rock, divided from the Main by a breach in a Rock so small that a Man might almost jump over it the sides were every where so steep as to render fortifications even in their way almost totally useless, accordingly there was nothing but a small Palisade & one small fighting Stage at one end where the Rock was most accessible; The People brought us several bones of Men, the flesh of which they had Eat, which are now become a kind of article of trade among our People who constantly ask for & purchase them for whatever trifles they have: In one part we observed a kind of wooden Cross ornamented with feathers, made exactly in the form of a crucifix cross; this engaged our attention, & we were told that it was a monument for a Dead Man may be a Cenotaph as the body was not there; 102 thus much they told us, but would not let us know where it was.

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24 Jan. 1770] Totarra Nue

All the while we were among the Indians they kept still talking something about Guns & shooting People which we could not at all understand, they did it however so much that it engaged us all so much that we talked about it in our return but the more we thought, the more dark was the subject till we came on board, when on mentioning I was told that on the 21st one of our officers who went out on pretence of fishing came to the heppah intending at a distance to look at the people, but 2 or 3 Canoes coming off towards his boat he imagined that they meant to attack him, & in consequence thereof fired 3 Musquets, one with shot, & 2 with Ball at them, on which they very precipitately retired as well they might who probably came out with friendly intentions (so at least their behaviour both before & since seems to shew) & little expected so rough usage from People who had always acted in a friendly manner to them, & whom they were not at all conscious of having offended. 103

25/ Dr Solander & myself (who have now nearly exhausted all the Plants in our neighbourhood) went to day to search for Mosses & small things in which we had great success gathering several very remarkable ones: 104 In the Evening we went out in the Pinnace & fell in with a large family of Indians who have now began to disperse themselves as I believe is their custom into the different creeks & coves were fish is most plentifull; a few only remaining in the heppah or Town to which they all fly in times of danger; these People came a good way to meet us at a place where we were shooting Shags, & invited us to the place where the rest of them were 20 or 30 in number, Men, Women,

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[25 Jan. 1770 Totarra Nue

Children, Dogs &c we went & were receiv'd with all possible demonstrations of friendship if the numberless hugs & kisses we got from both sexes old & young in return for our Ribbands & Beads may be accounted such; they also sold & gave us a great many fish with which we went home well pleased with our new acquaintance.

26/ Went to Day to take another view of our new Streights, the Westernmost end of which the Capn was not quite sure of; we found however a hill in a tolerable convenient situation upon which we got & saw the Streight quite open & 4 or 5 Leagues wide; 105 we then erected a small monument of Stone, such as 5 stout men could do in half an hour, & laid in it musquet Balls, beads, shot &c that if perchance any Europeans should find & pull it down, they will be sure it is not Indian Workmanship; this done we returned to our dinners of Shags & fish which we had shot & caught in coming & were dressed by the boats crew in the place we had apointed to dine in was a family of Indians who as usual behaved with much friendship & civility to us, shewing us Water &c, from whence we went to the Town from whence Indians came on the 19th which was in this Arm of the Bay; here we were receivd as usual, every body seem'd glad to see us, & conducted us thro' the whole works: The Town was much like the other, situated upon an Island or Rock so steep in all parts that it was almost in danger of our necks that we climbed up to it; like the other it had also only one fighting Stage; it contained may be from 80 to 100 houses about as many as the other: Just as we were going away our friends took so great a fancy to our merchandise that they filled our boat full of dry'd fish for which they took Nails, Ribbands, Paper &c.

27/ Indians came on board in the Morn & traded a little, afterwards the Dr & myself went ashore but could find no plants at all; we have I believe got all that are in our neighbourhood, tho the immense thickness of the Woods which are almost rendered impassable by climbing Plants entangling every way has not a little retarded us.

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28 Jan. 1770] Totarra Nue

28/ This Morn at Day break it rained very hard, but not enough to disturb the concort of our little musical neighbours which we every morning attend to with the greatest pleasure; they sung their time till the Sun disturb'd them as usual; the Rain however continued the whole day.

29/ This Morn our Old Man (Topaa by name, he that came first on board the Ship) came with 3 more Indians in a Canoe & unfolded the Story of the 19th, 106 saying that 2 Indians were struck with the balls one of whom was dead; this caus'd a good deal of conversation in the Ship, & totally unfolded the whole affair which had till now been kept a secret from most people: After breakfast the Capn and Dr Solander went out in the Pinnace; myself went ashore to Air Plants &c, In the Even when we all returned Tupia who had been with several of our People & seen the Indians, told us that what we heard in the morn was absolutely false, that so far from dead, nobody was even hurt by the shot, Our friend Topaa is he says given too much to lying.

30/ Bad Weather to Day, Rainy, myself out gathering shells in which I had some success.

31/ Day but indifferent, so Of course little could be done; Dr Solander & myself fished a little in the Evening & had good Sport.


Feby.

1 / Rain'd this Morn very hard, as hard I think as possibly it could our poor little Wild musicians were totally disturbd by it: In the Even it come on to blow very hard, so much so, that the Ship drove, & for the first time in the Voyage we had 3 Anchors down.

2d/ Still rainy, so little could be done to Day, indeed little remaind to be done.

3d/ Fine Weather, the Ship began to prepare for sailing, so the Dr & myself employed ourselves in getting together our last specimens of seeds, shells, &c; I stay'd at the watering place, he went with the Capn to the farther heppah, who wanted to buy dry'd fish for Sea stock, & did buy so much, that at last the

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Totarra Nue [3 Feb. 1770

Old Man fairly told him that he must go away or he would leave them without provisions, which they enforced by some threats; matters were however so well conducted that they parted peaceably.

One of our Gentlemen came home to Day abusing the Natives most heartily, whom he said he had found to be given to the detestable vice of Sodomy; he, he said, had been with a family of Indians, & paid a price for leave to make his addresses to any one Young Woman they should pitch upon for him; one was chose as he thought who willingly retired with him, but on examination prov'd to be a Boy, that on his returning & complaining of this another was sent who turned out to be a Boy likewise; that on his second complaint he could get no redress but was laught at by the Indians: Far be it from me to attempt saying that that Vice is not practised here; this however I must say, that in my humble opinion this Story proves no more than that our Gentleman was fairly trick'd out of his Cloth, which none of the Young Ladies chose to accept of on his terms, & the Master of the family did not chuse to part with.

4/ Prevented from Sailing by our hay which had been so thoroughly soak'd by the late Rains, that it was too whet to put on board: some conversation pass'd to day concerning a report we heard Yesterday 2 of our Boats went out different ways, & returned at different times the People of one said that they had met a Double Canoe, who told them that they had a few days ago lost a female child, who they suspected had been stole, & eat by some of their neighbours; the other said that they had also met a Double Canoe, whose people told them that they had Yesterday Eat a Child, some of whose bones they sold them; from hence many of our Gentlemen were led to conclude that thefts of this kind are frequent among these Indians: this story in my opinion throws very little light upon the subject, as I am inclined to believe that our 2 boats who went out a very different times in the Morn both in the same direction one only farther than the other, saw one & the same Canoe, & only differently interpreted the conversation of the People, as they know only a few Words of the Language, & eating people is always now the uppermost Idea in their heads, this however I must say that when such families have come off to the Ship even with an intention to fight with

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4 Feb. 1770] Totarra Nue

us, they have very often brought Women & Young Children in arms, as if they were afraid to leave them behind.

5/ Ship employed warping herself into a better birth for Sailing, when after the Anchor was carried out a fortunate Eddy Wind blew her into it: Our Old Man Topaa was on board, of whom Tupia asked many questions concerning the Land &c, his answers were nearly as follows "that the streights which we had seen from the hills were really a passage into the Eastern Sea; that the Land to the South consisted of two Islands, or several which might be sail'd round in 3 or 4 days in their Canoes; that he knew of no other great land than that we had been upon Aehee no Mauwe of which Terawhitte was the Southern part; that he believed his ancestors were not born there but came originally from Heawije (the place from whence Tupia & the Islanders also derive their origin) which lay to the Northward where were many lands--that neither himself, his father, or his grand father ever heard of Ships as large as this being here before, but that [they] have a tradition of 2 large Vessels much larger than theirs which some time or other came here & were totally destroy'd by the Inhabitants & all the People belonging to them Killed." This Tupia says is a very old tradition much older than his great grandfather & relates to 2 large Canoes which came from Olimaroa one of the Islands he has mentioned to us; whether he is right, or whether this is a tradition of Tasmans Ships, whose size in comparison to their own they could not from relation conceive a sufficient Idea of, & whom their Warlike ancestors had told them they had destroyd is difficult to say. Tupia all along warnd us not to believe too much any thing these People told us, For says he they are given to lying, they told you that one of their People was kill'd by a Musquet & buried which was absolutely false. 107

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Passing Cooks Streights [5 Feb. 1770

Myself & the Dr went ashore to Day to Wind up our bottoms & fell in by accident with the most agreable Indian family we had seen upon the coast; indeed the only one in which we observed any order or subordination, it consisted of 17 People, the head of it was a pretty Child of about 10 Years old, who they told us was the owner of the Land about where we wooded, the only instance of property we have met with among these People; he & his Mother (who mourned for her husband tears of blood according to their custom) sat upon mats, the rest sat round them; houses they had none, nor did they attempt to make for themselves any shelter against the inclemencies of the weather, which I suppose they by custom easily endure; their whole behaviour was so affable obliging & unsuspicious, that I should certainly have accepted their invitation of staying the Night with them had not the Ship been to Sail in the Morn most unlucky I shall always esteem it that we did not sooner get acquainted with these people, from whom we might have learnt more in a Day of their manners & Dispositions, than from all that we have yet seen.

6/ Foul Wind continued, but we contrivd to turn out & get into the Streights which are to be call'd Cooks Streights; here we were becalm'd, & almost imperceptibly drawn by the Tide near the Land the lead was drop'd & gave 70 fathom, soon after saw an appearance like breakers, towards which we drove fast, it was now Sunset, & night came on apace, the Ship drove into this which proved to be a strong Tide which set her directly upon a Rock to which she approach'd very near when the Anchor was dropt which brought her up about a Cables length from it; now we were sensible of the force of the tide which roared like a Mill stream & ran at 4 knots at least when it came in its strongest pushes for it varied much; it ran in this manner till 12 O'Clock, when with the slack Water we got up the Anchor with great dificulty which

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6 Feb. 1770] Off Cape Palliser

lay in 70 fathom & a light breeze from the Northward cleared very soon from our Dangers.

7/ Sensible again of the violence of the tides here which past us in great ripples even in the middle of the Streights, tho' they were judged to be 5 leagues over in the narrowest part: A large hill was seen with much Snow upon it on the SW side; 108 At Noon we were almost abreast of it & clear of the Streights, it proved to be so far inland, that we could hardly trace its outline, so probably it is very high indeed. The Land between us & it was flat for a large extent, but seemed barren & swampy Land, after this barren & sandy & rounded away fast to the Southward; a small Smoak upon it in the Even was the only sign of Inhabitants that we saw.

8/ As some of the officers declared last night that he thought it probable that the Land we have been round might communicate by an Isthmus situate somewhere between where we now are & Cape Turnagain (tho' the whole distance is estimated at no more than 90 miles) the Capn resolved to stand to the Northward till he should see that Cape which was accordingly done in the morning the Wind being fair, tho' but a light Breeze as soon as we were in with the Land it appeared more fertile than any we had seen for some time, & the flats larger but the Weather was so hazey that we could not make use of our Glasses; about this time 3 Canoes put off from the shore & followed us & had patience to do so till 3 O'Clock when they overtook us & immediately with very little invitation came on board; they appeared richer & more cleanly than any People we have seen since we were in the Bay of Islands, 109 & their Canoes were also ornamented in the same manner as those we had formerly seen on the N. & this side of the Island, but have not now seen since the river Thames if even there they were also more civil in their behaviour, & on having presents made them, immediately made presents to us in return (an instance we have not before met with in this Island) all these things inclined me to believe that we were again come into the Dominions of Teratu, but on asking them they said no he was not their King.

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Cape Turnagain [9 Feb. 1770

9/ Weather rather more clear than Yesterday; on the Land white chalky cliffs appeared, such as we used to see; by 11 O'Clock Cape Turnagain was in sight which convinced everybody that the Land was really an Island, on which we once more turned our heads to the Southward.

10/ Stood along shore nearer the Land than when we passed it before, it made in low hills, which seemd pretty well cloathed with Trees; but at the bottom of them was lowish land making in tables, the tops of which were covered with white sand, that thro' the Glasses had much the appearance of ripe Corn; between these were a few valleys in which were wood, & in one of these we saw a few houses In the Evening the Countrey rather mended upon us I suppose as many fires were seen by which I suppose it to be better inhabited.

11th/ Calm this Morn; 2 Canoes came off & sold us a few Fish, & some of their fishing hooks, made upon a piece of Wood which I believe serves instead of Bait in towing as the Mother of Pearl does on the Islanders towing hooks: Light Breeze the Land did not look to so much advantage as when we passed it in our passage to the Northward.

12/ This Morn the Seamen all imagined that we had passed the Mouth of the Streights, when to our surprize the great Snowy hill which we had seen on the 7th appeared right ahead: At Night however we were abreast of the Streights which was it not for the hill might be dificult to find in Cloudy Weather.

13/ Calm, which gave me an opportunity of going out in the Boat & shooting some Albatrosses. The Air to Day was so hazy that we could scarce see the least traces of Land, & yet the Snow on the top of the Mountain was very visible.

14/ Shooting again, killed Nectris munda & Procellaria saltatrix 110 while I was out 4 Canoes came off from the shore which I had not the least suspicion of, as we were farther from the shore than ever Canoes had come before; Signals were made, but as the Ship was right in the Wake of the Sun none of them were seen by us till we saw the Canoes themselves, when we immediately pull'd for the Ship & got aboard I believe without the Indians

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14 Feb. 1770] Off Cape Campbell

ever seeing us, so much was their attention taken up with looking at the Ship; indeed if they had, no bad consequence could have ensued, as they were so timourous that they hardly dared venture within call of the Ship; they staid but a little while & then went away, not time enough to get ashore before it was dark, for at Sunset we saw them not more than half way between us & the shore. I had two or three opportunities this Even of seeing albatrosses raise from the Water which they did with great ease, may be when they are not able to do so (which I have seen) is when they are gorg'd with food.

15/ Calm again; At Noon I went out & shot in less than an hour 6 Albatrosses, had the Calm continued I believe I might have shot 60, but a fair breeze of Wind came which made me not much regret the loss of the Rest.

16/ Land this Morn looked fertile enough; we had now entered upon a new Island, 111 on which few signs of Inhabitants were seen, a Fire however made us certain that howsoever thin they might be it was not totally destitute of them: All Day the Weather was very clear, in the Morn early, Mr Gore imagined that he saw Land to the S. Eastward.

17/ This Morn we were close on board of the Land which made in ridges, not unlike the S. Sea Islands (between the tropics) the tops of these were bare, but in the valleys was plenty of Wood; on the SE part was an opening which had all possible appearance of an excellent harbour; 112 near this on the top of a hill we saw two People setting. Mr Gore notwithstanding Yesterdays run was of opinion that what we saw Yesterday morning might be Land so he declared on the quarter Deck on which the Capn who resolved that nobody should say that he had left Land behind unsought for, ordered the Ship to be steered SE.

18/ All Yesterday, Last Night, & this Morn we stood for Mr Gores Land, but not seeing any, & at Noon to Day finding ourselves in Lat>de 45.17 every body in the Ship was convinced, except possibly Mr Gore that it was impossible to have on the

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Standing S E [18 Feb. 1770

17th seen as far as where we were now, so we again stood to the Westward: At Night it was hazey, & a large Shoal of Bottle nosed Porpoises were about the Ship, soon after which it began to blow fresh but fair.

19/ Last night about one the Officer of the Watch came down to the Capn with the disagreable news of Land right ahead & very near, which the Wind, which blew very strong blew directly upon; we were soon however set at ease by the Capn coming down & telling us that it was only a white Cloud. In the Morn it blew hard, & before noon (to our great surprize) Land was indeed in sight very high, & far off many conjectures were made whether or not it was part of the Land we had left, but that can only be determined by future observations; we had most of us put great confidence in the intelligence we had got of the Indians in the last anchoring Place, notwithstanding Tupia had even then warned us much not to depend upon the People, who he said he was sure were liars. We had been told however at different times by the Inhabitants of both the Towns that the streights really joind the two Seas, & that the Land to the Southward might be saild round in 3 or 4 days; the first we had found to be true & from thence there appeared the highest probability that the other was so likewise nor could we devise any reason the Indians could have in wishing to deceive us, especially as we had asked the question of 2 different Societies who we had reason to think had not had any intercourse in the intermediate time which had made us rather stretch the bounds of probability in allowing the practicability of a Canoe sailing round the first part of the Land we had seen in the time given; there was however between the farthest part of both the lands a space which we had not seen of more than 20 Leagues in length supposing that to be a Streight, the Indians certainly could not see over it, & the Countrey they inhabited being very thinly Peopled they might at this time be ignorant that there was land beyond it this much for conjectures, but be it remembered that they are merely such & upon a Subject that future observations will most probably clear up. 113

Tho we saw the Land by Noon, & at that time we had a fresh Breeze of Wind, yet it dropping nearly Calm soon after, we were



[Unpaginated illustration]

British Museum (Natural History)
Top left, Clianthus puniceus (Kaka beak) Bottom left, Veronica salicifolia (Koromiko)
Top right, Rubus Australis (Bush lawyer) Bottom right, Podocarpus spicatus (Matai)
Drawings by Sydney Parkinson


[Unpaginated illustration]

Alexander Turnbull Library
Sir Joseph Banks
A Wedgewood plaque portrait


[Unpaginated illustration]

Views in the County of Lincoln
Revesby Abbey, Sir Joseph Banks's country seat

[Image of page 113]

19 Feb. 1770] Along Shore

at Night very distant from it; we had however soundings a great way off & the Land appeared very high, so that we once more cherished strong hopes that we had at last completed our wishes, & that this was absolutely a part of the Southern Continent, especially as we had seen a hint thrown out in some books that the Dutch not contented with Tasmans discoveries, had afterwards sent other Ships who took the Land up in the same Latde as he made it in & followed it to the Southward as high as Latde 64° S.

20/ This Morn we were close in with the Land, which appeared flat, sandy, & very barren near the Shore, but rising into high hills inland; we stood in pretty near to it, but saw no signs of inhabitants: Wind Southerly all Day blowing fresh.

21st/ Weather rather more moderate but still foul, so that we saw again to Day the same part of the Coast as Yesterday.

22d/ Still more moderate, but will not let us proceed at all to the southward

23/ At Noon to Day Calm, which gives us hopes that we may have a fair Wind as we have now been 4 days upon nearly the same part of the Coast without seeing any signs of Inhabitants; I think there is no doubt that this part at least is without Inhabitants.

24/ Fresh breeze of Wind & fair, so we went along shore briskly, but kept so far off from it, that no observations could be made, we can only say that we did not see any fires, other signs of People we could not have seen by reason of our distance, had they been ever so numerous or conspicuous: In the Evening the Land ahead inclined a good deal to the West: we were now on board of two parties, one who wished that the land in sight might, the other that it might not be a continent, myself have always been most firm for the former, tho sorry I am to say that in the Ship my party is so small that I firmly believe that there are no more heartily of it than myself & one poor Midshipman, the rest begin to sigh for roast Beef.

25/ Wind whiffling all round the Compass; 114 At Night settled at SW & blew hard.

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Cape Saunders [26 Feb. 1770

26/ Still blew hard, in some Squalls very much so. Thermometer to day at Noon was 48 which pinch'd us a little.

27/ Weather a little more Moderate, but no standing upon Legs without the assistance of hands as yet; hope however that the heart of this long winded gale is broke according to the Sea phraze.

28/ Weather a little more moderate, so that we got a little respite & our different occupations went on as usual--Open'd to day a Cask of Cabbage put up by the receipt p 145 V 1. of this Journal, 115 which proved most excellent good, scarce at all worse for keeping in my opinion.


March

1st/ Wind variable & Weather sufficiently troublesome.

2d/ More Moderate, but a heavy swell from SW made the Ship very troublesome.

3d/ More Moderate but SW swell almost as high as ever which gave great spirits to the no Continent party.

4/ Pleasant Weather & fair Wind, so that we ran in towards the Land: In the Morn 1 or 2 Penguins were about us, that swam as fast as the Ship sail'd making a noise something like the shreiking of a Goose, they seemd to be like Diomedea demersa 116 but whether they were or not I cannot be certain. In the Evening ran along shore, but kept so far off that little could be seen; a large smoak was [seen] however, which at Night shew'd itself in an immense fire on the side of a hill which we supposed to be set on fire by the natives, for tho this is the only sign of People we have seen yet I think it must be an indisputable proof that there are Inhabitants tho probably very thinly scattered over the face of this very large Countrey.

5/ Thick misty Weather, the smoak of last nights fire still in sight A Point of Land seen this Morn, which inclined much to the Westward was supposed by the no continents the End of the Land: Towards even however it cleared up, & we Continents had the pleasure to see more land to the southward.

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6 Mar. 1770] The Trapps

6th/ Very Moderate & exceedingly clear; Land seen as far as S. so our unbelievers are almost inclined to think that continental measures will at last prevail.

7/ Almost Calm, so we remained in the same place nearly all Day too far from the Land to see any thing of it, at least to depend upon our observations.

8/ Little Wind & fair, which carried us to the Southward far enough to ascertain that the appearance seen to the S. ward in the even of the 6th was nothing but Clouds, tho' from its fix'd & steady appearance nobody at that time doubted in the least its being Land.

9/ At the first dawn of Day a ledge of Rocks were discovered right to leeward & very near us, so we had much reason to be thankfull that the Wind in the Night had been very gentle, otherwise we must in all human probability have run right among them, at least we could have had no chance of escaping them, but by hearing them, as there was no Moon--The Land appeared barren & seemed to End in a Point to which the hills gradually declined much to the regret of us continent mongers who could not help thinking this great Swell from SW & the broken Ground without it a pretty sure mark of some remarkable Cape being here: By Noon we were pretty near the Land which was uncommonly barren, the few flat places we saw seemingly produced little or nothing & the rest was all bare Rocks which were amazingly full of large Veins & patches of some minerals that shone as if it had been polished, or rather look'd as if they were really pav'd with glass; what it was I could not at all guess, but it certainly was some mineral & seemed to argue by its immense abundance A Countrey abounding in Minerals where if one may judge from the corresponding latitudes of South America in all human probability something very valuable might be found.

10/ Blew fresh all Day but carried us round the Point to the total demolition of our aerial fabrick called Continent. 117

11/ Fresh Gales still & Wind that will not let us go to the Northward, we stood in with the shore which proved very high

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Dusky Harbour [11 Mar. 1770

& had a most romantic appearance from the immense steepness of the hills many of which were Conical & most had their heads covered with Snow; on their sides & bottoms was however a good deal of Wood so much we could see & no more, & the Wind baulking us would not let us stand nearer the Shore than 2 Leagues.

12/ Blew hard all Day, immense quantities of Albatrosses & other Sea Birds were seen which we had been without for some time.

13/ Wind fair but still Blew fresh with very unsetled Weather In the Evening we saw a harbour, stood in towards it, & found it to have all the appearances of a good one but it was too late to stand near; The Countrey about it was high inland, tho not so much so as that seen on the 11th as there was no Snow on any part of it: here were Veins in the Rocks very large, filled with a whiteish appearance different from what we saw on the 9th; the sides of the Hills appeared to be well Wooded, & the Countrey in general as fertile as in so hilly a Countrey could be expected, but not the least signs of Inhabitants.

14/ Stood along shore with a fair Breeze & passed 3 or 4 places that had much the appearance of harbours much to my regret who wish'd to examine the mineral appearances from which I had form'd great hopes. 118 The Countrey rose immediately from the Sea side in steep hills, which however were tolerably covered with Wood; behind these were another ridge of hills, covered in many places with Snow, which from its pure whiteness & smoothness in the Morn, & the many cracks & intervals that appeared among it at night, we conjectured to be newly faln.

15/ Little Wind in the Morn; towards Even a brisk breeze: The Countrey to day appeared covered with steep hills, whose sides were but ill Wooded, but on their tops was large quantities of Snow, especially on the sides that looked towards the South

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15 Mar. 1770] Cascade Cape

we imagined that about Noon we passed by some considerable River, as the Sea was almost Covered with leaves, small twigs, & blades of Grass--many Albatrosses about the Ship to day, we have not been absolutely without them since we came on this side the Land.

16/ Much Snow on the ridges of the high hills; two were however seen on which was little or none whatever the Cause of it might be I could not guess, they were quite bare of trees or any kind of Vegetables & seem'd to consist of a mouldering soft stone of the colour of Brick or light red ocre-- About Noon the Countrey near the Sea changed much for the better appearing in broad Valleys cloath'd with prodigious fine Woods, out of which came many fine Streams of water but notwithstanding the fineness of the Countrey there was not the smallest signs of Inhabitants nor indeed have we seen any since we made this Land except the fire on the 4th.

17/ Pass'd to day by several large flats which seemed low: The Day in general was foggy, so that little could be seen.

18/ Immense quantities of Snow on the hills, new fallen which by Noon was plainly seen to begin to melt: The Countrey near the shore was to appearance fertile & pleasant enough.

19/ Hazey Wr & foul Wind put us all out of Spirits.

20/ Blew fresh all Day with much rain & hazey Weather; at Night however Wind came fair.

21/ Hazey the Land was wrapped in a Cloak of fog all Day, Above which the tops of some hills appeared. At Night saw a Phenomenon which I have but seldom seen At Sunset the flying Clouds were of almost all colours among which was green very conspicuous tho rather faint colours.

22/ Cloudy Misty & Calm all Day; once we were very near the shore on which we saw that there was a most dreadfull surf, occasioned by the S. & SW Swell which has reign'd without intermission ever since we have been upon this side of the land.

23d/ Fine Weather & Light Breezes.

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Cape Farewell [24 Mar. 1770

24/ Just turned the Westernmost Point & stood into the mouth of the strights intending to anchor in the first harbour we could find, when an Easterly Wind met us right in our teeth to our no small disatisfaction, as I beleive there has been no other part of the time since we have left Cape Turnagain the first time when such a Wind would have been disagreable.

25/ Light Breezes but Wind still at East: The Sea is certainly an excellent School for Patience.

26/ Light Breezes & Wind fair to our no small Comfort: after noon we saw a ripple near an Island which had something the appearance of Breakers, but differed from them in the small waves breaking only without any Swell or large ones our boat sounded upon it, but could get no ground, we supposed it to be the Effect of a Strong Tide, such as we felt in the streights as we passed them At Night came to an Anchor in a Bay, in some part of which it is probable that Tasman Anchored.

27/ Went ashore this Morn; the Countrey hilly but not very high, little or no flats were however to be seen; in the place where we watered were the remains of 2 or 3 Indian houses, which clearly had not been Inhabited this Year at least but no signs that People had been here since that time; while Dr Solander & myself botanized, Tupia & his Boy caught almost a boat load of Fish by angling in 2 or 3 fathom Water.

28/ Raind & blew so hard all to Day that going ashore was scarce practicable at least when we had, so little hopes of success as our Yesterdays search had given us in which we found not one new plant.

29/ Rain'd & blew as hard as Yesterday; myself ill with sickness at Stomach & most violent head-ach a complaint which in some of our people has been succeeded by a fever. During the Day many fish were taken in the Ship 90 out of the Cabin windows alone.

30/ Myself quite recovered, except a little soreness at my Stomach, occasioned I suppose by reaching Yesterday. The Weather being fair I resolved to climb some hill in hopes of meeting some new plants in the upper Regions as none had been found in the lower; I did with great difficulty, walking for more

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30 Mar. 1770] Admiralty Bay

than a mile in fern higher than my head; Success however answered my wishes & I got 3 plants which we had not before seen.

After coming down I examined the Stones which lay on the Beach, they shew'd evident signs of mineral tendency being full of Veins but I had the not fortune to discover any ore of metal (at least that I knew to be so) in them as the place we lay in had no bare Rocks in its neighbourhood; this was the only method I had of even Conjecturing.

1   Tup(a)ia, chief priest of Ra'iatea in the Society Islands, had joined the Endeavour at Tahiti at his own request. When he died at Batavia on n November 1770 Cook noted that "he was a shrewd, sensible, ingenious man, but proud and obstinate, which often made his situation on board both disagreeable to himself and to those about him". (Voyage of the "Endeavour", Hakluyt Society edition, p. 442). But his services as interpreter were invaluable.
2   This is Banks's spelling of Ra'iatea.
3   The common albatross, now known as the wandering albatross, is Diomedea exulans. The southern albatross, judging from the distinction made below (p. 32), is probably the grey-headed albatross, Thalassarche chrysostoma. The "black sheerwater" is probably the sooty shearwater or New Zealand mutton bird (Puffmus griseus).
4   "Grampuses" are doubtless porpoises.
5   On 21 March this bird was described as "about the size of a pigeon, black above and light-coloured underneath". It may have been a fluttering shearwater, Puffinus gavia.
6   Bolabola or Borabora is one of the Leeward group of the Society Islands.
7   Banks appears to use "sheerwater" in a wide sense, more or less equivalent to petrel (a word he does not use): if so it is one of the family Procellaridae, but hard to identify more closely.
8   There are no green sea birds but it is impossible to identify this bird. Peter Briscoe was one of Banks's servants from the Revesby estate. It is interesting to find Banks referring to him by his Christian name.
9   This is doubtless some species of prion (genus Pachyptila).
10   Cook describes this bird as "nearly as big as an albatross". It was probably however a royal albatross, Diomedea regia.
11   This was probably a Tahiti petrel (Pterodroma rostrata).
12   The "Mother Careys Dove" was probably a grey-backed storm petrel (Garrodia nereis), the grey-backed shearwater a prion, the "small kind of Mother Careys chicken" a storm petrel (Fregatta tropica).
13   The medusa is a species of jelly-fish; velella is now a genus, known as a "by-the-wind sailor". The lepas is a goose barnacle, the doris (now Doridomorpha) a sea-slug, the helix a snail, the cancer a crab.
14   Lemon juice is a specific against scurvy. Hooker (p. 71 note) quotes a letter from Dr Hulme to Banks stating that he had prepared a cask containing "six gallons of lemon juice evaporated down to two gallons". In the opinion of Surgeon Rear-Admiral J. R. Muir (who has treated the subject more fully than Cook's other biographers) many of Cook's precautions against scurvy would have had little effect in remedying the deficiency of vitamin C which is the cause of the disease, valuable though they may have been in promoting the general health of the crew. Dr James Lind, author of Scurvy (1753) and an Essay on the Means of preserving the Health of Seamen (1757), on which Cook's routine was probably based, placed special reliance on lemon juice and Banks found this essence effective: Muir, The Life and Achievements of Captain James Cook, Chaps. IV and V.
15   Tenebrios is a genus to which the meal-worm belongs. Ptinus is a genus of "spider beetle", the commonest species being Ptinus tectus. Phalangium is probably a flour-mite (Aleurobius farinae).
16   The headquarters of the Royal Society at this time were at Crane Court off Fleet Street. New Crane Stairs were presumably nearby.
17   Lind favoured the preservation of greens by washing the leaves and then storing them in a cask between layers of rock salt: Muir, p. 76. Banks describes this method earlier in his journal (p. 70 in Hooker's edition).
18   The headquarters of the Royal Society at this time were at Crane Court off Fleet Street. New Crane Stairs were presumably nearby.
19   This was probably a migratory wader of some kind.
20   A sertularia is a hydroid, an invertebrate animal.
21   The genus Dagysa (now Cyclosalpa) are tunicates. The Beroe is a ctenophore. For the other two marine animals see p. 34 above.
22   Diomedea exulans is the wandering albatross. Procellaria pallipes appears to be a pediunker (Adamastor cinereus). I have not been able to trace the other species among the multitudinous species of petrel.
23   The bird is the brown or Falkland skua, genus Catharacta.
24   This was Nicholas Young, the surgeon's boy: S. Parkinson, A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas in H. M. S. Endeavour (London, 1773) p. 85.
25   Nectris appears to have been a new genus, so named by Banks and Solander but not accepted by the scientific world. It has not been possible to identify this bird.
26   Fucus is a genus of seaweeds.
27   This was a pa named Uruhangenge according to J. A. Mackay, Historic Poverty Bay and the East Coast (Gisborne, 1949), p. 21.
28   The name of the victim was Te Maro: Mackay, op. cit., pp. 22-3.
29   Banks had with him Alexander Dalrymple's Account of the Discoveries made in the South Pacifick Ocean previous to 1764 (London, 1767). The plate was the well known one, with the Maori canoe in the foreground, reproduced from Tasman's journal, which, however, remained unpublished until 1898.
30   Banks continues to refer to the Maoris as "Indians" throughout.
31   In Dr H. D. Skinner's opinion the "pike" was probably a taiaha. The "small weapon of well polished stone" was doubtless a patu of some kind.
32   The river was the Turanganui. Mackay, op. cit., has a plan of the incident facing p. 33.
33   Parkinson (p. 88) noticed thus early that "they make frequent use of the G and K, which the people of Otaheiti do not".
34   "Talk" for talc, i. e. nephrite or New Zealand greenstone.
35   Cook's object was "if possible to surprise some of the natives and to take them on board and by good treatment and presents endeavour to gain their friendship". With characteristic candour he admits afterwards that "most humane men who have not experienced things of this nature will cencure my conduct in fireing upon the people in this boat nor do I my self think that the reason I had for seizing upon her will at all justify me, and had I thought that they would have made the least resistance I would not have come near them, but as they did I was not to stand still and sufFer either my self or those that were with me to he knocked on the head".--Voyage of the "Endeavour" (Hakluyt Society edition), pp. 170-1; Captain Cook in New Zealand, pp. 35-6.
36   "According to W. L. Williams, the correct spelling of the first name was 'Te Haurangi', but E. F. Harris gives it as 'Te Hourangi'. Both agree as to the spelling of the other two names-Ikirangi and Marukauiti": Mackay, p. 36.
37   Banks's account of this episode is much fuller than Cook's.
38   Banks presumably agreed with Cook's decision to name the bay Poverty Bay "because it afforded us no one thing we wanted".
39   This was paua shell. The vividness and exactitude of Banks's whole description are remarkable.
40   This is hard to interpret unless they were deserted pas. Such an interpretation seems to be borne out by the remarks on p. 74 below. They are perhaps the rails shown in Plate 18. of Hawkesworth's Voyages.
41   The Mahia Peninsula is meant.
42   "From the bearings given it seems probable that Cook was looking at the Ruahine range".--Voyage of the "Endeavour" (Hakluyt Society edition), p. 177 (note by Dr J. C. Beaglehole).
43   This cloth, commonly known in the Pacific Islands as tapa, was known in New Zealand as aute but was a great rarity; see below, p. 126.
44   This interesting detail is not mentioned in Cook's account of the episode: Voyage of the "Endeavour" (Hakluyt Society edition), p. 177; Captain Cook in New Zealand, p. 42.
45   See above, p. 40 note.
46   This surmise was probably right.
47   This is now generally identified as Anaura Bay. Mackay (p. 50 note) holds that Tegadu is a rendering of Te Ngaru (breakers) and was the word used by the Maoris to describe the surf on the shore, not the place.
48   The red feathers would be of the kaka. The Otago Museum has a cloak with red tufts of wool, an obvious imitation of the red feather cloak. Cook mentions the visit of course, but not the chiefs' dress.
49   "I resolved to stay one day at least to fill a little water and to give Mr. Banks an opportunity to collect a little of the produce of the country"--Voyage of the "Endeavour", p. 182; Captain Cook in New Zealand, p. 45.
50   Banks apparently regarded the New Zealand bracken as a distinct species from English bracken, then known as Pteris aquilina. Some modern botanists regard them merely as varieties of one highly variable species.
51   The plant would be a gourd. Lagenaria vulgaris or hue, brought by the Maoris from Polynesia like the two food plants just mentioned. The cocos is the taro, Colocasia antiquorum. Cook, though mentioning none of these details of cultivation, states that "we purchased of the natives about 10 or 15 pounds of sweet Potatoes".--Voyage of the "Endeavour", p. 183; Captain Cook in New Zealand, p. 46.
52   This might be spear-grass (taramea), hut the species does not occur north of East Cape and the description suggests Hierochloe redolens, a grass with a vanilla-like smell when drying, known to the Maori as karetu.
53   The dunghill would not he used for manure: the idea would have been offensive to the Maori.
54   Such Maori tops are known, but some are of other shapes.
55   The true Maori name, according to Mackay, was Te Pourewa. Cook called it Sporing's Island, doubtless because of the incident mentioned later; but "the native name for the island... has outlasted that given to it by Cook".--Mackay, P. 55.
56   It would be interesting to know if Banks had a copy of The Arabian Nights in his shipboard library. This sounds like a dream of a roc.
57   Apium prostratum, closely related to the cultivated Apium graveolens.-- Professor G. T. S. Baylis.
58   These "lobsters" were New Zealand crayfish. There are two New Zealand species, Jasus lalandii and Jasus hugelii.
59   Whale Island or Motuhora. See Captain Cook in New Zealand, p. 53 note.
60   This is not the same island hut Motunau.--Voyage of the "Endeavour", p. 190 note; Captain Cook in New Zealand, p. 54 note.
61   This may seem obvious; but no Polynesian people had developed the art of fortification so far as the Maori.
62   This "Te Ratu" is a mystery; for the three "canoe areas" of the Ngati Kahungunu in Hawke's Bay, Ngati Porou on the East Coast to the north of this and Arawa in the Bay of Plenty would be highly unlikely to recognize a common chief. In any case the Maori polity did not admit of a "dominion" or "kingdom" in the European sense. Dr Beaglehole's solution of the mystetry is that a geographical name (te ra to - the setting sun, i. e. the West), was mistaken for a personal name.--Voyage of the "Endeavour", Introduction, pp. cli-iii.
63   Banks must surely have taken the lead in this game, being the most likely man to know the names and appearance of the aldermen of the City of London.
64   Cook in his journal notes that "if we should be so fortunate as to obtain this Observation the Longitude of this place and Country will thereby be very accurately determined".--Voyage of the "Endeavour", p. 193.
65   Presumably the oyster-catcher (Haematopus longirostris). The "sea-pie" is the English oyster-catcher, a bird of the same genus, but not black.
66   See below, p. 125 note.
67   John Gore. Cook comments on this incident: "I must own that it did not meet with my approbation because I thought the punishment a little too severe for the Crime, and we had now been long enough acquainted with these People to know how to chastise trifling faults like this without taking away their lives."--Voyage of the "Endeavour", p. 196 (with interesting note by Dr Beaglehole); Captain Cook in New Zealand, p. 59.
68   The depth of the cuts would be proportionate not to the emotion but to the skill of the mourner.
69   Tellina is a genus of bivalve shellfish.
70   Banks's taste for the "romantic" (here equivalent to the "picturesque") was in the fashion. See Rose Macaulay, Pleasure of Ruins (London, 1953). Hawkesworth, Plate 18 of this pa bears a family resemblance to some of the plates in Miss Macaulay's book.
71   "These fighting stages ate usually termed puhara and puwhara... Williams gives pourewa": Elsdon Best, The Pa Maori (Dominion Museum Bulletin No. 6, Wellington, 1927).
72   This remark throws some light upon the method of preparing sketches for the future botanical plates.
73   Cape Colville.
74   The Waihou. Cook and Banks however appear to apply the name "River Thames" to the Hauraki Gulf.
75   The dimensions here left blank are supplied by Cook. "The tree... girted 19 feet 8 Inches 6 feet above the Ground, and having a quadrant with me I found its length from the root to the first branch to be 89 feet."--Voyage of the "Endeavour", p. 206; Captain Cook in New Zealand, p. 70.
76   These trees are identified by Hooker and others as kahikatea or white pine, Podocarpus dacrydioides. But it is hard to believe that a wood chiefly used for making butter boxes proved "heavy and solid, too much so for mast"; and we are told below (p. 127) that it "was a leaf not unlike Yew and bears small hunches of berries". This reads more like matai (Podocarpus spicatus), which is nearly twice as heavy as kahikatea. A standing matai, according to Professor Baylis, would be hard to distinguish from a standing kahikatea. The tall tree measured by Cook may well have been a kahikatea (which would doubtless predominate on such swampy ground) but the "young one" which was cut down was almost certainly a matai.
77   Zachary Hicks.
78   This is identified by Mr J. Moreland, Zoologist of the Dominion Museum, as a snapper, Chrysophrys auratus.
79   This type of tattooing is illustrated by Major-General H. G. Robley, Moko (London, 1896), p. 20 "from a thigh-skin in my possession".
80   The whole of this adventure, one of the most dangerous of the entire voyage, is unaccountably omitted by Hooker. Cook, who had accompanied Banks and Solander "with the Pinnace and yawl Man'd and Arm'd", as usual makes light of the danger.--Voyage of the "Endeavour", pp. 214-16; Captain Cook in New Zealand, pp. 78-9.
81   The island of Motu Arohia. Banks appears to use Motuaro for the anchorage until the name Bay of Islands was given by Cook to the bay.
82   Two points are noteworthy here. Banks still uses "Taoneroa" for "Poverty Bay": he was more interested to discover native names than Cook, who was presumably thinking of charts for future navigators. His use of the word "continent" suggests that, though not accepting all Dalrymple's arguments, he was still disposed to accept his conclusion that New Zealand was part of a great southern continent.
83   Banks, the European observer, was more concerned for the moment to describe the custom in a scientific spirit, "brutal" though it might be. Tupia, the Polynesian, seems to have felt it a disgrace to Polynesians, for it seems clear that his exhortations were not due to promptings from the Europeans.
84   Botanists now know the plant (a native of Eastern Asia) as Broussonetia papyrifera. It was introduced by the Maoris but did not flourish in New Zealand as it did in the tropical South Sea Islands. There is an interesting note on the plant in E. D. Merrill, The Botany of Cook's Voyages, p. 343.
85   Once again Cook makes light of this danger.--Voyage of the "Endeavour", p. 219; Captain Cook in New Zealand, p. 83.
86   The name Muriwhenua is still in use.--Voyage of the "Endeavour", p. 228 (note by Dr Beaglehole).
87   This "country" might in Dr. Skinner's opinion be Rarotonga.
88   The "Three Kings" was Tasman's name, given because he was there in 1643 on 6 January, the Feast of the Epiphany, the manifestation of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles in the person of the three wise men of the East, who became "kings" by a later tradition.
89   This is the southern gannet (Sula senator).
90   Again it has not been possible to identify the particular species of petrel meant.
91   The "high hill" is of course Mount Egmont (8260 feet). The height of Tenerife is about 12,300 feet.
92   Hooker (p. 209 note) identifies these as "clumps of the remarkable Raoulia mammillaris... or an allied species, called 'vegetable sheep' in New Zealand". But Raoulia mammillaris is recorded only in the South Island. Cockayne however in The Vegetation of New Zealand notes (p. 313) that "large white hummocks--greyish when dry--of Rachomitrium pruinosum [a moss] on certain parts of the mountain give a characteristic aspect to the scene".
93   Tasman's chart shows Mordenaers Baij (Murderers' Bay). The name later became Massacre Bay and the discovery of gold, which led to a minor gold rush to the Aorere in 1857, changed it to Golden Bay.
94   The island was Motuara, now a scenic reserve. The anchorage "about long Cannon shot from the Fort" was Ship Cove, so called of course from this visit by Cook.
95   This is another reference to the plate in Dalrymple's hook reproduced (not exactly) from Tasman's. See p. 42 above and p. 133 below.
96   The plate at p. 297 of Augustus Hamilton's Maori Art (Wellington, 1896-1900) shows a type of headdress similar to that here described. Reference to plates (and doubtless also to many pictures not available in New Zealand) of fashionable women about this time will give some idea of what Banks meant by "foretops"; but the only comparable meaning of the word given by the Oxford English Dictionary is a generation later, so perhaps Banks was using a nautical metaphor.
97   Hutton and Drummond in their Animals of New Zealand (various editions) and E. F. Stead, Life Histories of New Zealand Birds (London, 1932) ascribe this delightful passage on the note of the bell-bird (Anthornis melanura) to Cook. There is no sign in his own journal that the matter of fact Cook cared for the bell-bird's note or any other kind of music, whereas Banks's ear for music is perceptible on many occasions. It is time that the scientists corrected this most unscientific error.
98   Later a trade developed in these preserved heads. There is a plate, with an interesting note and some further references, in The Letters and Journals of Samuel Marsden, 1765-1838 (ed. J. R. Elder) (Dunedin, 1932) facing p. 496.
99   The hill is identified by A. Hugh Carrington, Life of Captain Cook (London, 1939) (p. 133) as Kaitapeha (1268 feet) near the south-western end of Arapawa Island, which lies between Tory Channel and Queen Charlotte Sound. Dr Beaglehole accepts the identification.--Voyage of the "Endeavour", p. 238 note.
100   If the "idea had occurred to us all" it is odd that Banks had referred to the North Island as "the continent" (see above, p. 41). He had by no means abandoned the continental theory hut now had to rest his hopes upon the South Island (see below, p. 113). Cook's "high spirits", not often noticed in him, might possibly have been all the higher if he and Banks had had arguments on this subject; and this might help to account for Banks's self-justification in the matter of the strait.
101   There is something mysterious in this description. The tying of hair to branches of trees was not a Maori custom.
102   The resemblance to a cross would appear to be accidental.
103   Cook did not hear of this brush with the Maoris until the 29th, when he records his view that "the reasons for fireing upon them are not very justifiable". Cook says "the master" (Robert Molineux) fired; Parkinson (p. 116) says "Mr. Monkhouse" but the surgeon and one of the midshipmen both bore that name. The surgeon was out on an expedition on the 21st (see above, p. 102) but it is not clear whether it was the same expedition. Another doubtful point is whether a Maori was killed as Topaa later said (see below, p. 107)--Voyage of the "Endeavour", p. 241; Captain Cook in New Zealand, p. 106.
104   Banks hardly seems to regard mosses as plants. Julius von Sachs, in his History of Botany, 1530-1860, notes "the very subordinate attention still paid to the Cryptogams" as characteristic of this period. Mosses, with ferns, algae, lichens and fungi, having no stamens and pistils, did not really suit the Linnaean system of classification and were relegated by Linnaeus to his last class.
105   "This hill may have been one of those between Onehunga Bay and Onauku, near Cape Koamaru."--Note by Dr Beaglehole in The Voyage of the "Endeavour", p. 240.
106   This is a slip for the 21st. Cook confirms the date earlier given by Banks (see above p. 103).
107   The whole paragraph is interesting but presents difficulties. Dr Beaglehole suggests that the island "which might be sailed round in 3 or 4 days in their Canoes" may have been Arapawa, which Cook did not know to be an island--hence his application of the remark to the South Island, to which it was (and must have been known by the Maoris to he) absurdly inapplicable. "Aehee no Mauwe" can hardly be the familiar Te Ika a Maui (the fish of Maui): it might he He ahi no Maui (a fire of Maui) as suggested in a note to Captain Cook in New Zealand (p. 108) or He hi no Maui (a thing fished up by Maui), as suggested by Mr J. M. McEwen to Dr Beaglehole. "Terawhitte" (for Terawhiti) presents no difficulties. "Heawije" (for Hawaiki) is of course the subject of a whole literature, which cannot be summed up in a note: the prevailing view is that the Maori came from the Society Islands (Savai'i, which corresponds to Hawaiki, is an old name of Ra'iatea). The tradition of the two large canoes had better be left in the indefiniteness in which Banks's remarks place it. "Olimaroa" is also mysterious, though J. R. Forster, in his Observations made during a Voyage round the World (London, 1778) (p. 519) says: "O-Rima-Roa coincides nearly with the situation of the Isles of Disappointment, seen by Admiral Byron in 1765." These small and isolated atolls, the northernmost in the Tuamotu archipelago, now known as Napuka and Tepoto, are curious islands, however, for such a story.--See Dr Beaglehole's note in The Voyage of the "Endeavour", pp. 243-5.
108   This was no doubt Tapuaenuku, the highest point of the Kaikoura Range (9467 feet).
109   The northern tribes were no doubt more prosperous than those of the south, having more fertile land, a greater variety of food and more leisure to pursue the arts.
110   Another unidentifiable species of petrel.
111   The "new island" was no island but a peninsula, destined to be named after Banks himself.
112   Akaroa harbour.
113   This point has been discussed in the note at pp. 107-8 above.
114   This is not a slip for "whistling" as might be supposed. The first meaning of "whiffle" in the Oxford English Dictionary is "to blow in puffs or slight gusts".
115   See note at p. 37 above.
116   A penguin could hardly be a Diomedea. It may have been a slip of the pen for Eudyptes demersus, the rock-hopper penguin.
117   Banks at last has to abandon his belief that New Zealand formed part of a great southern continent but not the belief that such a continent existed: see below, p. 153.
118   Cook notes that "there were some on board who wanted me to harbour at any rate without in the least considering either the present or future consequences". A letter by Banks to Robert Brown, the botanist with Flinders, in 1803, shows that he remembered his disappointment.--Voyage of the "Endeavour", pp. 265-6 (with Dr Beaglehole's note); Captain Cook in New Zealand, p. 130.

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