Arthur Kitson

“ Almost the only thing to be seen beyond the outline of the coast was the constantly recurring smoke; one point received the name of Smoky Cape on account of the great quantity seen in its vicinity. Cook, of course, was unaware that these "smokes" were probably, many of them, signals from one party of blacks to another of the arrival of something strange on the coast. That these "smokes" are used by the blacks as a means of communication is a well recognised fact, and the news they can convey by this means is perfectly astonishing to a white man. ”

“ When the boats got outside they had to anchor, as a strong tide and breeze were against them, and they did not reach the ship till next morning, when the breeze had increased to a gale, and topgallant yards had to be struck. When the wind dropped, what was left was against them, and the Endeavour would only go with the tide, so Cook took a run ashore to the west side of the bay, but saw nothing of interest, and concluded it was but sparsely inhabited. ”

“ Of the conduct of the crew, Cook says:
"In justice to the ship's company, I must say that no men ever behaved better than they have done on this occasion; animated by the behaviour of every Gentleman on board, every man seem'd to have a just sense of the Danger we were in, and exerted himself to the very utmost."
Banks adds his testimony:
"Every man exerts his utmost for the preservation of the ship. The officers during the whole time never gave an order that did not show them to be perfectly composed and unmoved by the circumstances, however dreadful they might appear." ”

“ For a man of his marked celebrity it is very curious that there should be such a dearth of anecdote that it is difficult to find anything that is unconnected with his profession. Of his own family relations there is also little known, as Mrs. Cook, probably esteeming the few letters she had from him as too sacred to be seen by any other eye than her own, as the late Canon Bennett suggests, destroyed them before her death. ”

“ In hopes of getting a better view Cook went out to Lizard Island, and from there could see, far away to the east, the white breakers on the Great Barrier Reef. This island, on which the only living things to be seen were lizards, they found, from the large piles of shells and remains of fires, was visited periodically by the blacks; a remarkable voyage for their miserable canoes. ”

“ EQUESTRIAN EXERCISE. Cook and Clerke astonished the natives by riding the horses that had been brought out; their progress through the country was always watched with great interest, and Cook thought that this use of the animals impressed the people more than anything else done by the whites. Omai tried his powers on several occasions, but as he was always thrown before he got securely into the saddle, his efforts only produced entertainment for the spectators. ”

“ SURF RIDING. Flies were a terrible pest; they got into everything, and ate off the artist's colours almost as fast as they were laid on. Tar and molasses was tried as a trap for them, but the natives stole it and used it as ointment for sores. The surf-riding struck the visitors with admiration. Swimming out with a piece of board they would mount it, and come in on the crests of the waves; and Banks says he does not believe that any European could have lived amongst the breakers as they did; he especially admired the manner they timed the waves and dived beneath on their way out from shore. ”

“ The continuous and careful observations of the state of the sea, and the absence of currents during the following month, caused Cook to come to the conclusion that the vast southern continent so long supposed to exist somewhere in that part of the globe, and by some people esteemed necessary to preserve its balance, was non-existent. Banks expresses his pleasure in having upset this theory, and observes: "Until we know how the globe is fixed in its position, we need not be anxious about its balance." ”

“ On the 16th a strong gale blew the English ship some distance off the coast, and was followed by a thick fog, during which the French squadron managed to tow out of the harbour, but were in such a hurry to get away that they did not stop to pick up their boats and immediately made sail, being so far out of reach in the morning, that though some of them were seen by the British, it was not realised that they could be the French escaping from a squadron inferior in strength. ”

“ Passing the islands which now bear Furneaux's name, bad weather came on, and he judged it wise to make for his rendezvous, firmly convinced that Van Diemen's Land was joined to New Holland. On 30th March they sighted the South Island, and were greatly retarded in their run up the coast by the heavy swell from the north. On their arrival in Queen Charlotte's Sound, they found the pole erected on Motuara, with the name of the Endeavour and date on it, and several of the inhabitants came forward to trade and enquire after Cook and Tupia. ”

“ After another unsuccessful attempt to find Cape Circumcision, the ship's head was turned towards the Cape of Good Hope on 23rd February, and Cook had the satisfaction of feeling he had solved the problem of the non-existence of any southern continent except in close proximity to the Pole. He firmly believed from his observations of the icefields that such a continent in the far south did exist, but he asserted that further exploration in that direction would be of little service to navigation, and would be hardly worth the cost and danger that must be incurred. ”

“ Few men have introduced into their ships more novelties in the way of victuals and drink than I have done; indeed, few men have had the same opportunity or been driven to the same necessity. It has, however, in a great measure been owing to such little innovations that I have always kept my people, generally speaking, free from that dreadful distemper, the Scurvy."
This extract shows how bitterly Cook felt the stupid ingratitude of his men for the constant care he took of them, and is one of the very few passages in his Journals in which he speaks in their disfavour. ”

“ Wales was enabled to get a sight of the moon for the second time since leaving the Cape of Good Hope, and, taking several observations, fixed the position of the ship with tolerable accuracy. Changing the course to East-South-East, very foggy weather was encountered, accompanied by great cold, which coated the rigging with ice, rendering it very pretty to the eye but difficult and unpleasant to work. Cook says that, though this suggested very intense cold to the mind, in reality the thermometer was rather higher than it had been, and the sea was far less encumbered with ice. ”

“ Some of the natives were anxious to go away with them, and Banks persuaded Cook to let him take Tupia, a man supposed to be of priestly rank, who had proved himself very useful on several occasions, and he was allowed to take with him a boy as servant. Cook records, on leaving, that during the three months' stay they had been on very good terms with the natives, and the few misunderstandings that did occur rose either from the difficulty of explaining matters to each other, or else from the inveterate habits of theft on the part of the natives—iron in any shape being simply irresistible. ”

“ It seems one of the young gentlemen had given a small handful of red feathers he had obtained at Tonga for a small pig, and now nothing else would be accepted, so they sailed for Otaheite on the 11th. Cook was very much annoyed at the ill success in obtaining fresh provisions, for though none of the crew were ill, he thought they stood in need of a change of food. He describes the inhabitants as the finest race he had seen in the South Seas, almost as fair as Europeans, and their language very similar to that of Otaheite. ”

“ The king, Otoo, came to visit the camp, bringing as his present a dozen pigs and some fruit, and then with some of his friends went on board ship to dinner, and to receive the return present. It was then found that the red feathers were greatly valued, a very fortunate thing as articles of trade were running short. Cook, after the disappointment in securing supplies at the last visit, intended to make a very short stay, but the place now appeared to be very thriving, houses and canoes were being built in all directions, and there was every sign of prosperity, so he decided to remain and refit. ”

“ It must be remembered that this act of leaving employment which, to most men of his position, would have seemed most satisfactory, was not the act of hot-headed youth, no step taken in mere spirit of adventure, but the calmly reasoned act of a man of twenty-seven years and some eight or nine years experience of both the rough and smooth sides of maritime life. ”

“ The ships very much crowded with Indians and surrounded by a multitude of canoes. I have nowhere in this sea seen such a number of people assembled at one place, besides those in the canoes, all the shore of the bay was covered with people and hundreds were swimming about the ships like shoals of fish. We should have found it difficult to have kept them in order had not a chief or servant of Terreeoboo's, named Parea, now and then [shown] his authority by turning or rather driving them all out of the ship. ”

“ When the Endeavour arrived at Funchal, the only British man-of-war there was H.M.S. Rose, which sailed the following day with her convoy, and neither her Captain's Journal nor his ship's log make any reference whatever to a dispute with the Portuguese. No other British man-of-war came into the port whilst the Endeavour was there, and afterwards, at Rio, Cook expressly informed the Viceroy that he had been well received by the Portuguese at Madeira. ”

“ The Forsters infer that Cook was unreliable because he suppresses mention of the bombardment of the Loo fort at Madeira, an event which never happened; and because he places Valparaiso (where he had never been) in the position given on the Admiralty chart supplied to him, which proved to be some 10 degrees out. The Master who had refused to give up his cabin was, of course, never forgiven; and as for Mr. Wales, who had observed the Transit of Venus at Hudson's Bay in 1769, for the Royal Society, he, poor man, had neither knowledge nor experience in astronomical science. ”

“ The surrounding country was too thickly timbered for them to see much, but one day, being out in a boat trying to find the end of the inlet, Cook took the opportunity of climbing a thickly timbered hill, and from there saw, far away to the eastward, that the seas which washed both west and eastern coasts were united, and that one part of New Zealand, at any rate, was an island, and he had thus solved one of the problems he had given him in England. ”

“ Tupia proved himself an excellent pilot, with great knowledge of the localities, and, having sent down a diver at Huaheine to ascertain the exact draught of the ship, he was very careful she never went into less than five fathoms of water. He had evidently had great experience in navigating these seas in canoes, boats of whose construction and sailing qualities Cook speaks in the highest terms. ”

“ Loughnan, a merchant of Funchal, who entertained some of the party at his house throughout the stay, obtained permission for the Forsters to explore the island, and procured for the ships the stores that were required. Here Cook, with his eye on the scurvy, purchased as many onions as he thought would keep good, and ordered them to be served out regularly to the crews as long as they lasted. A further stock of fresh food in the shape of fowls, pigs, goats, and fruits—chiefly oranges and bananas—was laid in at Port Praya, where they had called for water. On the 19th the first death occurred ”

“ Cook conjectured, rightly as it proved, that being a little to the south of Tasman's track, Furneaux would make for the rendezvous he had been given at New Zealand, and therefore felt himself free to push on to the south-east, as he judged that if any large body of land was in the vicinity, it must lie in that direction, for the swell coming from the south-west precluded the possibility of any mass of land being in that quarter. ”

“ LAND IN NEW ZEALAND. Nearing the coast a bay was discovered into which the ship sailed, and let go her anchor near the mouth of a small river, not far from where the town of Guisborne now stands. Plenty of smoke was seen, showing the country was inhabited, and the pinnace and yawl were manned and armed, and Cook landed on the east side of the river. Some natives were seen on the other side, and, to try to open communications, the yawl, pulled by four boys, entered the river, whilst Cook followed up the natives, who had retreated towards some huts about 300 yards away. ”

“ About 4000 pounds weight of ship's bread was found unfit for food, and another 3000 pounds nearly as bad; they were very fortunate, therefore, in getting a plentiful supply of scurvy grass and wild celery, and a small quantity of vegetables from the gardens they had previously laid out.
Any doubts that may have been felt about the cannibalism of the New Zealanders was set at rest by some of the officers who surprised a party engaged in a feast. A human head was purchased from the feasters and taken on board, and a piece of the flesh being offered to a Maori, it was greedily devoured. ”

“ Edgar, seeing Cook and King running along the shore, thought it right to detain the second canoe, which unfortunately belonged to Parea, who at the time of the theft was in Clerke's cabin and, promising to obtain the tongs, had immediately left for the shore. He tried to regain possession of his canoe, but was knocked down by a sailor, and then some of the natives, who before this had been quietly looking on, began to throw stones, and so roughly handled the sailors in the pinnace that, being unarmed, they beat a retreat, swimming to some rocks out of reach of the missiles. ”