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The object sought to be attained by the publication of the “Historical Records“ of New Zealand can best be understood by a perusal of the preface to the “Historical Records“ of New South Wales, printed in this volume. The reason why the method is adopted of explaining one set of Records by quoting the preface to another is that this volume comprises almost exclusively those documents among the “Historical Records“ of New South Wales which concern the Islands of New Zealand. Those belonging to the years prior to 1811 have been extracted from the printed, those after that date from the manuscript “Historical Records,“ lying in Sydney, which latter, by the kindness of the New South Wales Government, were put at the disposal of this country. The New South Wales sources are therefore our sources, their preface our preface.
So clearly are the objects to be gained by the publication of the material and the sources from which it has been procured stated in the preface to the “Historical Records“ of New South Wales, that the Editor sees no necessity to deal at any length with the task of justifying or explaining the publication of this volume. The documents, it may however be mentioned, are arranged in chronological order, and it is intended to continue the issue of fresh volumes from time to time as the material obtained justifies that course. Already a very large amount of additional material, sufficient to warrant the belief that another two years should see a second volume emerge from the printer’s hands, is ready for the compositor.
The plan of issuing volumes without waiting until the whole of the material is to hand is explained by the fact that the work was undertaken by the Editor to enable the incidents in our country’s early history to be put at the disposal of the people of the Dominion as soon as possible. To wait until all was collected would be to indefinitely postpone the publication of what was available, without the certainty of finality ever being reached. Interim publications will effect the object the Editor has in view.
The “Historical Records“ of New South Wales are published with the object of affording the fullest information obtainable concerning the foundation, progress, and government of the mother colony of Australia. It was with a similar purpose that the publication was commenced, more than two years ago, of the “History of New South Wales, from the Records.“ All the material that the Government could command was placed at the disposal of the writer, and in the volume issued from the Government Printing Office in June, 1889, this reservoir of information was largely drawn upon. But when Vol. II. of the History was in preparation it was considered desirable to make a change in the plan. It was determined that while the publication of the History should go on, the records themselves, with the exception of those that are trivial or formal, should be printed in full, in separate volumes, so that the public might have, on the one hand, a historical work founded on official documents, and on the other, the material upon which the narrative is based.
The adoption of this course serves a double purpose. In the first place, it enhances the value of the History, for it enables the reader to turn at any point from the narrative of the writer to the fuller information which the reports and despatches supply. The advantage gained by this treatment of the official papers is obvious. No matter how faithfully a writer of history may perform his task, he cannot cover all the ground; no matter how acutely he may criticize the actors who take part in the scenes he describes, he cannot exhibit them in so clear a light as they are shown in their own writings. Thus the publication of the Records may be regarded as desirable from the historical point of view.
In the second place, the printing of the Records gives immediate and lasting public value to State papers which would otherwise be of service to the few—only those, in fact, who have leisure to search the bulky manuscripts which have been collected by the Government. In the absence of printed records, the inquirer who endeavours to learn in what manner New South Wales was founded—how the settlement was governed in the early days—by
It is not entirely a new departure that has been taken. The importance of preserving and reproducing national records is recognised in most civilised countries, and especially so in Great Britain. In earlier times, when Ministers of the Crown treated official despatches as their private property, and on quitting office carried to their own houses manuscripts which belonged to the nation, little care was taken of the records, and such, a thing as giving information to the public concerning them does not appear to have had any place in the minds of those in authority. This indifference no longer exists. All public documents are carefully preserved; inventories of them are taken, and they are accurately described in printed calendars. With a few exceptions, the State papers are gathered together in one place, the Public Record Office, London, and are kept in the custody of the Master of the Rolls, who by the Public Records Act (1 and 2 Viet., c. 94) is constituted Keeper of the Archives. With the exception of certain manuscripts in the British Museum and a few public libraries, most of the public muniments of the realm are now placed in one repository, and under the supervision of the Master of the Rolls.—“Encyclopædia Britannica,“ ninth edition, vol. xx., p. 313.
Under the direction of the Master of the Rolls, and by the authority of Her Majesty’s Treasury, the publication was commenced thirty-four years ago of “The Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages. “The first volume (published December, 1857) contained an official
More than half a century before the publication of the “Chronicles and Memorials“ was commenced, that is to say in the year 1800, a Select Committee of the House of Commons had recommended that the public records should be printed. This recommendation is referred to by the Honourable Board of Commissioners on the Public Records in its report to the King-in-Council of the 7th February, 1837. The Commissioners express their approval of the proposition in the following words: “In this opinion [the opinion of the Select Committee that the Records should be printed] we have entirely coincided. We regard the press as at once the only perfectly secure preservative of the information which the National Archives contain, and the only means by which that information can be diffused beyond a very narrow circle of inquirers.“ The publication of the “Chronicles and Memorials“ is the outcome of these recommendations.
In Canada the Records are scrupulously kept, and their contents disclosed for the information of the public. In 1872 the Dominion Government appointed an Archivist, and founded an Archives Office at Ottawa, where all the public records, with the exception of those retained by the provincial authorities, are stored. The papers consist partly of original documents, and partly of copies of old despatches and other manuscripts transcribed by a staff of writers from originals discovered by the Archivist in the London Record Office and Departments of State, and in the archives of Paris and other European cities. From time to time reports are issued in which the records are described, and, when considered necessary, printed in full. In this manner the public is placed in possession of information of the highest interest and importance relating to the early history of Canada which had never before seen the light.
In New South Wales, owing to the shorter period of time, and the smaller quantity of material to be dealt with, it is possible to do what would be impracticable under other circumstances, that is to say, to publish in full the Records of the colony from its foundation. It has also been decided to publish all available correspondence concerning Captain Cook and his connection
When the settlement at Port Jackson was established the chief authority was vested in the Governor, who not only governed the colony, but administered its affairs. The civil business was conducted nominally by a staff, but much of the work fell upon the Governor, who was troubled with matters of a kind which would be settled in the present day by an ordinary clerk. He was also at the head of the naval and military forces, and was the principal, it may almost be said the only, channel of communication between the Colonial Government and the English authorities. The reasons which led the English Government to plant a convict settlement in New South Wales are only briefly indicated in the scanty papers discovered in the State Departments; but when the colony had been established its affairs formed the subject of periodical letters from the Governors, who wrote fully about the concerns of the settlement, receiving in reply despatches for their guidance and instruction. Most of this correspondence has been preserved in the English Departments of State, either in the original or in official copies. Its value is inestimable. The despatches are full of information. The Governors were required by their instructions to keep the Home authorities well informed about matters great and small, and in the despatches sent to London almost every transaction that took place is minutely described. More than this, copies of all the Proclamations and Orders issued by the Governor and the military commander were forwarded for the information of the English authorities. These documents are recorded with the other State papers.
The early history of New South Wales is founded mainly upon the despatches sent by the Governors to the authorities in England, and the despatches received by them in reply. The Records are comprised within measurable bounds, and, as they are the chief material out of which history must be made, it has been decided to print them as they stand.
This course has been adopted on the recommendation of a Board, consisting of the late Hon.
While the best use has been made of the material at command, the Records of the early days of the colony cannot be presented in an absolutely complete form. Every paper of consequence that has been discovered, or may be discovered hereafter, will be published; but, unfortunately, manuscripts of great interest and importance, which are known to have existed, cannot now be found. The most valuable of the early Records are the despatches sent to England by the Governors, and the despatches received by the Governors from the authorities in London. At Government House, Sydney, there are a number of letter-books containing copies of the despatches sent to England, and the original despatches received from the Home authorities; but these Records, instead of going back to 1788, the year in which New South Wales was founded, begin with 1800. Of the despatches received and sent before that date, during the Governorships of Phillip and Hunter, and the Lieutenant-Governorships of Grose and Paterson, there is no trace. What has become of them it is impossible to say. A hundred years ago State papers were not so carefully guarded as they are now; the English system was loose, and it would have been surprising if greater care had been taken in Sydney than in London. Some of the early Australian Governors may have taken their papers with them when they left office. On that supposition the disappearance of the despatches from 1788 to 1800 is readily explained; but even then the whole case is not met, for public Records of which the Governors were not the custodians are also missing.
There are circumstances, however, which discourage the view that Governors’ despatches in the early days were treated as the property of those to whom they were sent. It is certain that they were not so treated by Governor King, and there seems to be no reason why Phillip and Hunter, Grose and Paterson, should have followed a different practice. We have the means of knowing exactly the course pursued by Hunter’s immediate successor. The Hon. Philip Gidley King, M.L.C., has placed at the disposal
What, then, has become of these manuscripts? Most probably they have been destroyed; but by whom or with what object can only be conjectured. That the missing despatches met with this fate is the more likely from the fact previously stated, that public records of corresponding dates, for which the Governors were not responsible, have also disappeared. A strongroom in the Colonial Secretary’s Office, Sydney, contains all the original records of New South Wales that can be found. These papers have been examined and scheduled, and it may be seen at a glance of what they consist. They begin with a General Order, dated 7th August, 1789, “Instructions to the Night Watch.“ Two other orders of no particular importance follow, and these are all out of the many hundreds issued during Phillip’s Governorship that appear to have been preserved. There are no official papers whatever belonging to the administration of Lieut. – Governor Paterson—December, 1794, to September, 1795; and only one of the time in which Lieut.-Governor Grose ruled—December, 1792, to December, 1794. Hunter’s Governorship, which covered more than five years—11th September, 1795, to 27th September, 1800—is represented by one book containing copies of the orders made from September, 1795, to December, 1797, and five or six papers of minor importance. Papers belonging to the King period, 1800 to 1806, are more numerous; but the Records are scanty and intermittent until the term of Governor Macquarie is reached, January, 1810. There are no despatches
The Records, so far as Sydney is concerned, are thus defective, in two respects. In the first place, the despatches from the foundation of the colony up to the beginning of 1800 are wanting; in the second place, the Orders, Proclamations, and other official papers showing how authority was exercised in the early days are found only in fragments—in fact, they can scarcely be said to exist.
But for the active search made in London by Mr. James Bonwick, F.R.G.S., the early Records of New South Wales would have been little better than a blank. The despatches sent to England by the Governors, as well as the despatches and letters transmitted to them, have been preserved, if not as completely as could have been wished, yet to a very large extent, in the Departments of State. These sources of information have been thrown open to the Government, and the transcriptions that have been made repair, so far as it can be repaired, the misfortune the colony has sustained in the loss of its early Records.
The first step to tap these valuable sources of information was taken in April, 1887, when the Colonial Secretary, Sir Henry Parkes, G.C.M.G., through the Agent-General, authorised Mr. Bonwick to make copies of certain despatches which he had discovered. In the following year, in view of the publication of the “History of New South Wales from the Records,“ authority was given for the transcription of documents relating to the period during which Governor Phillip was at the head of affairs—i.e., 1788–1792. The information obtained in this way proved so interesting and valuable that Mr. Bonwick was instructed to continue his researches, and the work has since gone on without interruption. The purpose in view is to collect from every available source all the authentic information it is possible to obtain relating to the foundation of the colony and its government during the early part of its existence.
An awkward gap is thus filled up. The information, however, was not easily obtained. The manuscripts were not readily accessible; they were gathered from many Departments. The Governors in the early days were not only responsible to the Home Office, which had the colonies in its charge, but, as naval officers, they owed allegiance to the Admiralty. They had to correspond with the Home Secretary and the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and with the Under-Secretaries of those departments. Each department and sub-department kept two letter-books, one for the Minister and the other for the Under-Secretary, so that it was necessary to examine four different sources of information for
In dealing with the Records belonging to a still earlier period—that in which the establishment of a settlement in New South Wales was discussed—the ground to be covered was wider still, though not so productive. In making preparations for the despatch of the first fleet many departments and sub-departments were engaged—the Home Office, which had general direction of the business; the Admiralty, which undertook the equipment and officering of the ships, and the appointment of the force of marines which guarded the transports and formed the garrison at Port Jackson; the Treasury, which made the financial arrangements; the Transport Office, which had to do with the convict-ships; and the Victualling Department, which provisioned the fleet. When the marines were replaced by the special corps raised by Major Grose, known afterwards as the New South Wales Corps, another Department of State, that of War, was brought into operation; and, accordingly, correspondence between that department and the Home Office, and between the officials at the War Office and the officers of the corps, takes its place amongst the records. Three of the transports which constituted, with the warship “Sirius“ and its tender the “Supply,“ the vessels forming the first fleet, were under charter to the East India Company to take cargoes of tea from China to London after landing convicts and stores at Port Jackson; and at a subsequent stage, the company, owing to the obstacles it threw in the way of Australian trade with the East, figured largely in the official correspondence relating to New South Wales. The records of the India Office are therefore another source of information.
The transcripts which have been despatched to Sydney are thus gathered from a wide field, embracing as it does the Public Record Office, the British Museum, the Home Office, the Colonial Office, the War Office, the Privy Council Office, the Admiralty, the India Office, and Somerset House. The documents had to be searched for, and the work was not without difficulty, owing to the imperfect and unsystematic way in which official records were kept in the early days. Some documents—the earlier Orders and Proclamations, for example—cannot be found at all; others, which were believed to be missing, such as the commissions of the early Governors, have been discovered in the Home Office, after a patient search, in which valuable assistance was given by the officers of the Department. A number of the despatches copied by the transcribers in London escaped notice in the first instance because they had been placed amongst papers relating to the American colonies.
While the principal storehouse of facts concerning the early days of the colony is the Public Record Office and the Departments of State in London, information has been obtained from other sources. Six years ago the Agent-General, Sir Saul Samuel, acting under instructions from the Government at Sydney, purchased from Lord Brabourne a valuable collection of papers relating to the settlement and early history of New South Wales. They were once known as “The Brabourne Papers“; they are now known as “The Banks Papers.“ The grandfather of the present Lord Brabourne was related to Sir
The manuscripts of Governor King, which have been lent to the Government by the Hon. Philip Gidley King, M.L.C., are extensive and important. They consist of a Journal, in two volumes, kept partly on board the “Sirius“ King came out to New South Wales as Second Lieutenant of the “Sirius.“
Discoveries from time to time of manuscripts which were believed to have been lost, or the existence of which was unknown, may interfere to some extent with the consecutive printing of the Records; but it has been considered better to begin publishing at once than wait an indefinite time to make sure that all possible sources of information have been exhausted. The plan of the work contemplates the publication of the Records in chronological order, and the rule will not be departed from except in cases where despatches of a given date contain enclosures of earlier dates. Under such circumstances, to place the manuscripts in strict chronological order would cause confusion, instead of helping the reader. The plan of arranging matter according to subjects has its advantages, but it is considered that what might be gained in this way would be outweighed by the disadvantages of a system under which the reader would be obliged to look through half a dozen volumes to find one piece of information relating to a particular day in a particular year. It is believed that by printing the Records in chronological order, and giving with each volume a comprehensive index, the Records will be of greater value for purposes of reference than if they were dealt with under separate heads.
As the papers given in these volumes form the basis of the Official History which is published concurrently, they are presented without comment, and without any attempt to explain the story they tell. The proper place for description, analysis,
It will be noticed in examining the Records from 1783 to 1789 that duplicates are given of some of the documents printed in Vol. I. of the Official History. It was impossible to avoid this repetition. The Records stand by themselves, and they must be given intact. For this reason, the documents published in Vol. I. of the History have been reprinted; in future issues, however, repetitions will not occur. In the Historical Records will be found the full text of the papers; in the history they will be digested and explained. The writer of Vol. I. made such use of the manuscripts as the space at his disposal allowed; the broader plan now adopted gives the simple facts in one set of volumes and the historical narrative in another. In this way the full Records will appear in print, while the history will not be burdened by long extracts and quotations. It is believed that by the adoption of this course the convenience of the reader will be consulted and the object which the Government has in view carried into effect.
Page 219: last line of Note—For 1796 read 1795.
Page 225: third line of Notes—For September read October.
Page 242: first line of Note—For September read October.
Page 758—For 1835 read 1839.
N.B.—The errata on pages 219, 225, and 242 were copied from the “Historical Records of New South Wales.”
Please to acquaint my Lords Commiss’rs of the Admiralty that I left Rio de Janeiro the 8th of December, 1768, and on the 16th of Jan’y following arrived in Success Bay, in Straits La Maire, These straits separate Staten Island from the mainland of Tierra del Fuego. This island, now known as Tahiti, was discovered by Captain Wallis, in June, 1767, and by him named King George the Third’s Island. De Bougainville landed there in April, 1768, without any knowledge of Wallis’s discovery. He adopted the native name, and called itTaiti. Cook, landing in April, 1769, retained the native name, but added the vowel prefix, used by the Islanders in conversation, and for many years it was known as Otaheite. Dalrymple surmised that Otaheite was identical with the island Quiros named La Sagittaria. He accounts for Quiros finding neither a harbour nor refreshments at the island, by the fact that he attempted to land on the isthmus, Hawkesworth, vol. ii, p. 107.i.e., the south-east part, whereas Wallis, Bougainville, and Cook landed at Matavai Bay, on the northern part. There can now be little doubt but that Dalrymple was right; and that the islands Quiros named La Encarnacion, St. Juan Baptista, St. Elmo, Los Coronades, and La Conversion de St. Pablo, belonged to the large group now known as the Paumotu or Low Archipelago; the island he called La Dezena being identical with that called by Cook (and still known as) Maitea; and which Wallis called Osnaburg, and Bougainville, Le Boudoir.
Some days preceding the 3rd of June I sent Lieutenant Hicks to the eastern part of this island, and Lieut. Gore John Gore, third lieutenant. He accompanied Wallis, in the Dolphin, during the voyage round the world, 1776–80, “as one of the mates.“— ( Hawkesworth, vol. ii, p. 140.Hawkesworth, vol. i, p. 470.) He also sailed with Cook as first lieutanant of the Resolution during the voyage in search of a north-west passage in 1776–80. On the death of Captain Cook he succeeded Captain Clerke as captain of the Discovery; and when the latter died, Gore, being next in command, took his place as captain of the Resolution and commander of the expedition.
It was the 13th of July before I was ready to quitt this island, after which I spent near a month in exploring some other islands which. lay to the westward, These islands (six in number) Cook called the Society Islands. Ohetiroa Island, one of the group now known as the Austral Islands. The island itself is now called Rurutua.
On the first of April, 1770, I quitted New Zealand, and steer’d to the westward, until I fell in with the coast of New Holland, in the latitude of 30° So. I coasted the shore of this country to the No., putting in at such places as I saw convenient, until we arrived in the latitude of 15° 45′ So., where, on the night of the 10th of June, we struck upon a reef of rocks, where we lay 23 hours, and received some very considerable damage. This proved a fatal Stroke to the remainder of the voyage, as we were obliged to take shelter in the first port we met with, were we were detain’d
I send herewith a copy of my journal, It is, unfortunately, impossible to say what has become of this copy. It would probably be in the handwriting of Cook’s clerk, by whom this letter was written. This is the first mention the Records contain of the “so much talked of southern continent.“ Singularly enough, no allusion is made thereto in the correspondence which passed between the Admiralty and Navy Boards in the spring of 1768, when the expedition was first projected. The Endeavour, so far as the official letters indicate, was merely intended to convey,“ to the southward such persons as shall be thought proper for making observations on the passage of the planet Venus over the sun’s disk.“ The letter from the Admiralty to Cook informing him of his appointment contains no allusion to the objects of the voyage; nor does Cook himself mention the matter in any of his earlier letters. Care must be taken not to confound the land known to geographers of Cook’s time as the Terra Australis incognita, or the “Great Southern Continent,“ with New Holland. They were not in any way identical. New Holland was not a terra incognita. Its western, northern, and part of its southern shores had been known to geographers for very many years. But it was thought that, in addition, a large continent stretched across the South Pacific from Tierra del Fuego to New Zealand. This was the Terra Australis incognita of the early voyagers. In Cook’s time, the eminent hydrographer Alexander Dalrymple was the most prominent champion of this theory. Even after Cook’s return, Dalrymple still believed in the existence of a great southern continent. He proclaimed it to be the “greatest passion of his life“ to discover it. He estimated its extent as “equal to all the civilised parts of Asia from Turkey to China inclusive,“ and located it as reaching from the South Pole to 30° S. latitude.—(Historical Collection of Voyages and Discoveries, pp. xxiii, xxiv, and xxv.) From a comparison of the proportion of land to water in the northern hemisphere, it was held that a continent was wanting in the southern hemisphere “to counterpoize the land in the north, and to maintain the equilibrium necessary for the earth’s motion.“ The second voyage of Cook, i.e., the one of 1772–5, effectually disposed of this visionary continent. In the Introduction to his Voyage towards the South Pole, Cook alludes to Quiros as being the first who had any idea of the existence of a southern continent. It is evident that he intended to dismiss as pure fiction the reports of the discovery of a southern continent by
The plans I have drawn of the places I have been at were made with all the care and accuracy that time and circumstances would admit of. Thus far I am certain that the latitude and longitude of few parts of the word are better settled than these. In this I was very much assisted by Mr. Green, who let slip no one opportunity for making of observations for settling the long’de during the whole course of the voyage, and the many valuable discoveries made by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander in natural history and other things useful to the learned world, cannot fail of contributing very much to the success of the voyage. In justice to the officers and the whole of crew, I must say they have gone through the fatigues and dangers of the whole voyage with that cheerfulness and alertness that will always do honor to British seamen, and I have the satisfaction to say that I have not lost one man by sickness during the whole voyage. This is not quite correct; a Seaman named Sutherland died of consumption at Botany Bay. But, doubtless, Cook, by “sickness,“ meant the terrible scourge of scurvy, which wrought such havoc with the crews of previous circumnavigators. His next letter told a very different tale.
I hope the repairs wanting to the ship will not be so great as to detain us any length of time. You may be assured that I shall make no unnecessary delay, either here or at any other place, but shall make the best of my way home.
The list is printed as it appears in the books of the Admiralty. The letters D. and DD. stand respectively for “discharged“ and “died.“ The list does not include the name of Mr. Weir, master’s mate, who was drowned at Madeira, on 12th September, 1768; nor that of John Bootie, midshipman, who died at sea, apparently in the early part of the year 1771.
N.B.—The ship sailed from Plymouth Sound 17 August, 1768, and from the Madeira 14 Sept., 1768.
John Edgcombe, serg’t; Jno. Trusslove, corp’l; Tho’s Rositer, dium; W’m Judge, private; H’y Paul, private; Mich’l Bremer, private, D, 19 Aug., 1768; Dan’l Preston, private; W’m Wiltshire, private; W’m Greenslade, private; Sam’l Gibson, private; Tho’s Dunster, private; Clement Webb, private; John Bowles, private.
No date; evidently June or July, 1771.
The sanguine and well-grounded expectations of the certain efficacy the wort possesses to cure the sea scurvy, and the very great probability of that distemper raging at some time or other in the course of a long voyage, induced, I apprehend, the Rt. Honour’ble the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to send out a quantity of malt in the Endeavour, as well to determine and fix its character in that respect as through an humane and tender care for the preservation of the crew. It may at first sight appear strange that I reckon this last motive secondary to the first, but a recollection of the ample and various assistance the same provident minds had afforded for that purpose will remove this seeming absurdity.
Sour krout, mustard, vinegar, wheat, inspissated orange and lemon juices, saloup, portable soup, sugar, melasses, vegetables (at all times when they could possibly be got), were some in constant, others in occasional use. These were of such infinite service to the people in preserving them from a scorbutic taint that the use of the malt was, with respect to necessity, almost entirely precluded. Again, cold bathing was encouraged and enforced by example. The allowance of salt beef and pork was abridged from nearly the beginning of the voyage, and the sailors’ usual custom of mixing the salt beef fat with their flour, &c., strictly forbad. Upon our leaving England, too, a stop was put to issuing butter and cheese, and throughout the voyage raisins were serv’d with the flour instead of pickled suet.
I have enumerated all the above preventives lest Mr. McBride, David McBride, M.D.
Upon our leaving Madeira the capt. gave every man a quantity of onions. In crossing the (Equator a bilious disorder affected the ship’s company; it was general, but very slight. To prevent scorbutic complaints next making their appearance, which is frequently the case after a colliquation of the juices by prior illnesses, the wort was first prepared, as directed, October the 23rd, 1768. A quart a day was given to each of the convalescents; the valetudinarians, too, had the same quantity, which was also given to each of the cooks, who were supposed more obnoxious to scurvy from their duty ab’t the fire. Here, then, it was used by way of prevention, and the consequence was our arrival at Rio Janeiro without a scorbutic symptom amongst us.
On our passage from this place to Le Maire’s Straits the wort was continued to our invalids, of whom we had three, one through age and two of broken constitutions from debaucheries. At Terra del Fuego we collected wild celery, and every morning our breakfast was made of this herb and ground wheat and portable soup. January, 1769, we pass’d Cape Horn, all our men as free from scurvy as on our sailing from Plymouth.
Case 1st, March 14.—Richd. Hutchins, age 28, of an active, lively disposition and florid complexion, complained of his gums being sore, and of several small fungous ulcerations in one leg. His gums were swell’d and painful upon pressure, but still adhering to the teeth. The sores in the leg were seated abt. the ankle, were somewhat œdematous and of a livid circumference; his body was sufficiently open; did not find his appetite impair’d nor felt the usual lassitude. He took a pint of wort pr. day, had portable soup, and was order’d to use flour in lieu of salt meat. The wort gave him a stool more in the twenty-four hours without griping or uneasiness. After the first ten days the gums were perfectly sound and the ulcers in the leg assuming a kindly aspect; promised a speedy cure, wch. was accordingly perfected in another week. The wort was continued to April 8.
Case 2nd, March 24.—Wm. Wiltshire, marine, aged 27, complain’d of sore and bleeding gums; his teeth were loosen’d; he had no other scorbutic symptoms. This man had a pint of wort, which quantity was repeated regularly every day till the 12th of April. His complaint gradually mended, and after twelve days taking the med’cine were entirely removed. The effects of the wort gently solutive only.
Case 3rd, April 2.—Saml. Jones, seaman, aged 26, naturally brisk and active, complain’d of having for some days been troubled
Case 4, April 3.—I took a quart of the wort for some days before an unusual langour and lazyness had infested me; no posture was so easy as lying down, and a swelling of a phlegmonoid type had appeared on my left leg. The part had been bruis’d many years before, and an induration had remained. The integuments were discolour’d from the calf downward. the apex of the tumour painful to the touch, but the rest hardly at all. To this I applied a discutient plaister, and kept from lying down as much as possible. The wort at first griped me, but not violently. On the 6th I first observ’d amendment in the aspect of the tumour, the discolouration more circumscribed and the apex falling. My spts. were indisputably more alert. From this day I mended fast, and on the 12th left off the wort, being within sight of our port at Otaheite. Where the tumour had been there was now a circle of a deep blue, and round that a light tinge of yellow.
When Hutchins complain’d, which was the first alarm, the wort was also order’d for our invalids, older people, cooks as before, and others of the men who were suspected of lax solids and more dissolv’d state of the blood. These continued it till the 12th of April without any shadow of scurvy.
From this time while at sea the wort became a part of our diet, so that, excepting five cases, three happening in port at New Holland and two while on the coast of New Zealand, not a man more suffer’d any inconvenience from this distemper. In the cases I have mention’d a trial was made of the robs, and attended with success.
It is impossible for me to say what was most conducive to our preservation from scurvy, so many being the preventives used; but from what I have seen the wort perform, from its mode of operation, from Mr. McBride’s reasoning, I shall not hesitate a moment to declare my opinion, viz., that the malt is the best medicine I know, the inspissated orange and lemon juices not even excepted.
General Evening Post, July, 27, 1771.—“An authentic account of the natives of Otahitee, or George’s Island, together with some of the particulars of the three years’ voyage lately made by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander in the years 1768, 1769, and 1770; being the copy of an original letter from——, on board the Endeavour, to his friend in the country:—
“We left Woolwich upon the 20th of July, 1768, and returned to the same place upon the same day in 1771. Our passage to Madeira was eighteen days. We left England on the 29th of August. The Endeavour, tho’ well contrived for stowage and a heavy sea, was, without exception, a very dull sailing vessel; to corroborate which you will not find eight knots an hour upon our log-book in the whole voyage. Upon this island Mr. Captain Wallis, of the Dolphin.
“This convinced us of a prior visiter, which was afterwards confirmed to us upon our arrival at Batavia. It was a French ship that had made this voyage upon observation or jealousy of our repeated visits to these seas, and, to disguise their scheme, had always appeared under Spanish colours. But to return to George’s Island. This island is about 30 leagues in circumference, of a circular form, situated amidst a number of other isles, some famed for turtle, fruits, or fish, but no other animals but hogs and dogs, which we devoured with great appetite, and found nothing equal to dog’s flesh but young lamb. The islanders are very expert in fishing, which they pursue for their daily sustenance, and cocoanuts, palm wines, plantains, the bread-tree, and some wild herbs is the only produce of this spot. The earth is sandy, and capable of producing corn, but amongst the variety of seeds and grains which we had carried out we could get nothing to grow but mustard and cresses, the seeds being certainly damaged by the length of time and the dryness of the air, or not properly packed up for so long an expedition. Their implements of war and agriculture are composed of wood and stone. A hatchet is made by tying a sharp flint stone upon a piece of wood, which cuts with uncommon sharpness; their fish-hooks are composed of mother of pearl, and their lines of women’s hair, which is strong, black, and long. They use bows and arrows, and javelins of wood, which they throw with uncommon dexterity, and will strike birds in the air or fishes in the sea with them.
“Their religion acknowledges one Supreme Being, whom they conceive to be too great to attend to the prayers of man. They, therefore, invoke him through mediators, who, they believe, are in general their great men departed. They don’t kneel to an image; they only offer up a sacrifice of everything they mean to partake of—saying, ‘Sure the Deity has a right to an offering of what he gave.’ Their burials are more singular than any other custom: when a man dies, he is placed upon a bier, and a shed is erected over him, made of leaves of trees; this mausoleum is placed very often near their houses, and
“The Origin of Man they believe to be from a chosen pair made by the great God, and that we are all descendants of them—that the Deity formed the earth of continents and isles—and that the Europeans who visit them are of the great land—but when that he had formed the sea, he towed the great earth by a string upon it, which going so quick, made many parts to break off, and those composed islands. Their women are of a copper colour, well made and well featured, with jet-black hair, which they always wear braided up with false hair. They wear a kind of cloth over their bodies, made from the cloth-tree, which is very thin, and not strong; but when they want it for warmth, they make many folds of it, and stick it together by gums; they have another kind, which they call mourning-cloth, stained with yellow on one side and brown on the other. They marry at nine and ten; they bear many children, and at twenty-two are old and ugly. A virgin is to be purchased here, with the unanimous consent of the parents, for three nails and a knife. I own I was a buyer of such commodities, and after some little time married one of my nut-brown sultanas, and then became so habituated to their manners and a hut that I even left my lady and the island with reluctance. They have but one fashion amongst them, which is of a singular outrée nature—and that is, of painting their posteriors of a jet black, which no woman is suffered to neglect. They are not very decent in their amours, having little regard to either place or person; this is not general amongst them, though it is often done and seen.
“Upon occasions of festivity the women dance in the most indecent manner, performing a thousand obscene gesticulations, like the Indostan dancing girls. The only instruments of music to divert them at these times are large drums, and flutes made of reeds, in the form of our common flute, which is played upon by the wind of the nose instead of the mouth.
“We passed more than three months with these people, and upon our departure two of them voluntarily solicited us to come to England. Tobia was one of these—a sober, discreet, intelligent man; from him we learnt the language, and an account of above forty more islands, which were contiguous to George’s Island. When we sailed from this isle we were in tolerable good health, but it was near three months before we reached New Zealand, in which passage we were at times greatly distressed for provisions. We sailed round New Zealand, where we found
“These are a brave, warlike people, and tho’ we staid fourteen days at one part of the isle, yet, whenever we attempted to land at another, they always attacked us with great fury. They have one weapon of a strange construction, which, by turning it round very quick, produces a great smoak. This they always made use of; but we could not discover that anything issued out of it, or that it made any explosion.
“From hence we steered towards Batavia, and stopped at a small Dutch settlement in our passage, which had but one Dutchman upon it; but the island had a great number of Indians, over whom he stiled himself the King of Kings. After we had properly gratified his mercenary disposition, the Indians brought us down buffaloes, fowls, vegetables, and fish in abundance. From thence we pursued our course, but upon a reef of rocks five leagues from the land of New Holland we struck, and lay seven hours on shore; but at last we happily got her off, and arrived safe at Batavia, where we repaired and refitted her.
“We were all afflicted at this place with a violent flux and fever, which swept off six of our people in a morning. It was here we lost the ingenious Mr. Green, the faithful Tobia, and his comrade. But no sooner had we quitted this unwholesome shore, but those who came away sick recovered at sea, and the fruits and vegetables of the Cape of Good Hope restored us to health and spirits. We left this earthly paradise for St. Helena, and sailed from thence with the Portland; but we lost her company, and arrived in England with the loss of 45 people out of a complement of 90, in a voyage of three years. Before I conclude I must not omit how highly we have been indebted
“I have herein, sir, related the heads of this long voyage from memory, our books of remarks being all taken from us at Batavia, which were the only satisfactory rewards for our toils. But juniors must give way to superiors. I don’t know, in this long epistolary narrative, that I have exaggerated a circumstance. If it gives any entertainment to you, it will well reward
Herewith you will receive the bulk of the curiositys I have collected in the course of the voyage, as under mentioned, which you will please to dispose of as you think proper.
1 chest of So. Sea Islands cloth, breast-plates, and New Zeland clothes; 1 long box, or So. Sea Island chest, of sundry small articles; 1 cask’qt, a small carved box from New Zeland, full of several small articles from the same place; 1 drum, 1 wooden tray, 5 pillows, 2 scoops, 2 stone and 2 wooden axes, 2 cloth-beaters, 1 fish-hook, 3 carved images, and 8 paste-beaters, all from the So. Sea Islands; 5 wooden, 3 bone, and 4 stone patta pattows, and 5 buga bugaes, from New Zeland; 1 bundle of New Zeland weapons; 1 bundle of So. Sea Islands weapons; 1 bundle of New Holland fish gigs; 1 bundle of a head ornament worn at the Heivas at Ulietea.
After having waited at the Cape of Good Hope the time limeted by the rendezvous, viz., six weeks, you are hereby required and directed to put to sea with the sloop you command, and carry into execution, as far as in you lay, the enclosed instructions, which are an exact copy of those I have from their Lordships.
On all such land as you may discover in your rout to the southward, and can land thereon, you are to erect on the most conspicuous parts of the coast posts or marks, at the feet of which
sic] a meeting as you had done before, all of which I myself will put in execution in case I shall happen to be before you.
Given under my hand, on board his Majesty’s sloop Resolution, at sea, this 15th of July, 1772.
Whereas scurvey grass, sellery, and other vegitables are to be found in most uncultivated countrys, especially in New Zealand, and when boil’d with wheat or oatmeal, with a proper quantity of portable broth, makes a very wholesome and nourishing diet, and has been found to be of great use against all scorbutick complaints, which the crews of his Majesty’s sloops Resolution and Adventure must in some degree have contracted after so continuance at sea, you are therefore hereby required and directed, whenever vegitables are to be got, to cause a
Given under my hand, on board his Majesty’s sloop Resolution, in Dusky Bay, this 28th day of March, 1773. At the time this letter was written the Adventure was lying in Queen Charlotte’s Sound. The ships had separated in a fog on the 8th February, 1773, near Kerguelen Island, and it was not until the 18th May, 1773, that they joined company again.
By Capt. James Cook, &c.
Whereas several months must elapse before his Majesty’s sloops Resolution and Adventure can proceed on discoverys to the south, my intention therefore is to employ that time in exploring the unknown parts of the sea to the east and north, by first proceeding to the east, between the latitude of 41° and 45° south, untill I arrive in the longitude of 140° or 135 west of Greenwich. If in this rout I discover no land, then to proceed directly to the Island of Othahiete, where I intend to take in water and wood, refreshments as are to be got, afterwards to return back to this place by the shortest rout, and after taking in wood and water to proceed to the south, in order to explore the unknown parts of the sea between the meridian of New Zealand and Cape Horn. You are therefore hereby required and directed to put to sea, and proceed with me with his Majesty’s sloop under your command; and in case of seperation by any unavoidable accident before we reach Otahiete, you are first to look for me in the same place you last saw me, and not meeting me in three days you are to proceed to Matavai Bay, in the Island of Otahiete, where you are to waite untill the 20th of August; if I do not arrive before that time then to put to sea, and make the best of uyour way back to this place, where you are to waite untill the 20th of November. Not being join’d by me by that time, you are to put to sea and carry into execution there Lordships’ instructions.
Given under my hand, on board his Majesty’s sloop Resolution, in Queen Charlotte’s Sound, N