Extract from the Journal kept by William Bayly,
Astronomer, on H.M.S. Adventure, Captain Furneaux,
during Capt. Cook's Second Voyage.

This morning we had heavy squalls with rain in large drops which continued most part of the day at times. This day saw some bird as black as ravens which we have not seen the like before during our passage from the Cape. Latd. at noon 41½° S. Long. 168° 35′ East of Green'ch, the Cape Farewell south side of the entrance of Cook's Straits at New Zeeland bore N. 76° 10′ East dist. 85 leagues.

Was very squally most part of the Day with wind at N.N.W. but about ½ past 2 P.M. the wind shifted to the NE we tack'd & stood NNW p. compass with continual rain. Latd. 41° 17′ S. Long. 170¾ East of Green'ch.

At day brake the weather cleared up & we discovered land bearing N. b E. It proved to be the land between Rockey point & Cape farewell, or the S.W. point opening Cooks Straits, or the N. W. point of the Southern Island or half of New Zeeland. Our Latd. at noon 40° 40′ S. this part of New Zeeland laying NE by SW nearly. We stood along shore at about 3½ leagues distance; this land is in general very mountanious from rockey point almost to the Straits mouth when it runs low & rockey which forms cape farewell. The Hills seemed to be covered with shrubs or trees. In the evening about 6 o'clock we were abreast of Cape farewell, it being a very fine clear night & the moon shining we stood into the Straits mouth until 10 o'clock when we brought too to wait for the morning.

Was very fine pleasant wr. In the morning we discovered Mount Egmont on NW opening of the Straits but being becalmed most part of the day we made but little way into the Straits. The tide flows very strong from the SE and ebbs to the SW thro' the Straits. We laid too all night but by the sea breeze & tide together we were carried a good way into the Straits.

This morning there came a gentle land breeze which carried us to the SE side of Admiralty Bay when it came round to SE ½ E & soon sunk away & the tide coming against us we droped an anchor & waited the turn of tide. From a number page 202 of obsns. of the Sun & ☽ & *s the Longd. of Admiralty Bay = 1.

Having little winds we came to anchor in the mouth of Charlotte Sound to wait the turn of the tide, but about one P.M. there spring up a breeze at North which carried us round to the anchoring place p. Cooks (chart) where we came to anchor about 5 o'clock in —–fathom water.

This morning we found the ship had drove a great way, the boats was employed most part of the day in warping her back & mooring her. In the evening I observed an eclipse of the Moon, noting the time per No. 1. The moon was ⅔ of her Diam'r submerged in the shadow.

This morning went out in a boat to the opening of the Bay & observed several Alts. of the sun for ascertaining the time of obsn. of the ☽'s eclipse. In the evening went with Capt. Furneaux to a small island where there is an Indian town for-saken by the inhabitants, neither have we seen one Indian since we have been in the country.

This morning I went on shore with two men & my servant to make a good road up to an Indian town (as mentioned before) but presently we saw two canoes coming across the sound; the Capt. seeing them likewise sent a boat for us and we went immediately on board & about noon they came alongside, at some distance (about 20 or 30 yards) where they halted, calling Tobia Tobia (meaning the man that came from Otahiti with Mr. Banks) until one of our boats went alongside the canoes & made them several presents of old shirts & waistcoats, breeches, beads; but large spike nails was what they seemed to value most & gimblets they put a high value on & several of them came on board. In the course of the trafficking we saw something rapped up in some matting (they make of silk grass) & on opening it we discovered the head & neck of a man cut off close down to the shoulders but they instantly rapped it up again & very dextrously conveyed it away from place to place in the canoos & notwithstanding the endeavours of some of our people they could not get it & the man that had it seemed in great terror, & they all presently withdrew to the other side of the Bay, where they continued fishing until evening when they came along side with great quantities of fish which they were desirous of giving us & often would receive nothing for them however we purchased a few trifles of them, & they retired to a bay about a mile & half from the ship.

In the morning about 8 o'clock we discovered 3 more canoos coming round a point of land & soon after were joined by the two which was alongside the day before. They came alongside without fear, offering everything they had for sale a spike page 203 nail being the price of anything we chose. There was 46 men & women, & two children, many of the men came on board & began to pool the ropes with the seamen as they were raising casks out of the Hold & it was with some difficulty we made them take to their canoes, for all the signs was of little effect till we got some muskets with Bayonets fixed at the sight of which they took to their Boats & put off to some distance & soon after left us, paddling back from whence they first came —this about noon. In the afternoon I went on shore on the Island—completed a place to receive the tents and instruments, & returned again in the evening.

Was rather hazy with a strong wind at South blowing most part of the day, the water was rather rough so that we saw no Indians all day.

Being very fair with wind at NNW & NW. We were visited by 8 or 9 canoos, some double & some single in which were 109 Indians of whom we bought or bartered many things, giving them nails & beads & looking glasses for what they had, going into the canoes among them without fear & they came on board with the same freedom & some would willingly have stayed on board if we would have let them, & the carpenter being using some vermillion, many of them desired by signs to be painted which was executed on half the number or more that came alongside the ship, which operation pleased them extremely well. This day there was one canoo much larger than the rest & well carved, in the stern of which was a venerable old man with his hair white as snow, attended by one one sitting behind him. I suppose him some chief among them tho' there seemed very little distinction or respect among them, except the woman which appeared to be at the mens disposal as they seldom moved or did anything but by the direction of the men, they frequently offered them us by signs for a spike nail, to take them on board & cohabit with them & the women readily standing up to go with us if we choose it.

After we had purchased most of what they had we made signs for them to retire but they seemed fond of staying along-side the ship, but by placing a centinel at the ships side with his bayonet fixed they retired to a considerable distance & there stayed some hours & then retired to a part of the Bay where they made fires & stayed all night.

They seem to be in great fear of us, dealing very honestly with us, not offering to deviate the agreement you made with them & very often laugh very heartily when they thought they had a good bargain. But would dextrously pick our Pockets of our handkerchefs or steal anything they could. They are page 204 extremely fond of anything that is red or of spike nails, & on other things they put little or no value at present.

The people in general are strong made healthy looking people but their strength and activity seems to be impaired greatly by their constant squatting themselves on their hams so that the knee joint is much larger than common, and they seem to have a stiffness in it, otherwise they are lusty strong men. Their Whinies (or women) are not regular featured in general as the men, tho' some of them were fine jolly girls. I observed that there was a great diffirince in their complexions for tho' they were all of a yellow colour, some were much fairer than others and even some had sandy hair, tho' in general their hair was black. Some tie it on the crown of the head combing it up smooth all round and stick a large comb in it. Some of these combs were 7 or 8 inches deep in this form [Here follows a sketch of a comb] of a white bone, nearly as white as ivory.

I observed there was nearly three men to one woman in number, among all that we saw, which was about 230 or 240 in all.

They have the venerial disease among them, for one of our young gentlemen catched it, as did likewise several of the sailors; but whether the Endeavours people gave it them, or whether the disease was among them before, is a point not easily determined, but 'tis highly probable the Endeavours people left it there as there was more than 40 on the venerial list quickly after they left Otahiti and the run to New Zealand is but short.

The New Zeelanders are represented as cannibals by the Endeavours people but during our stay among them we could not discover anything that confirmed it, or that even amounted to raise a conjecture of the kind had we not been prepossessed with it before, for we visited their huts both by night & by day and never saw them eat anything but fish and their bread which is made of Fern-roots bruised & made into cakes & dried either in the sun or before the fire.

Their clothing consist of a mantle made square but longer than wide & of a sufficient depth to come half way down the thighs from the shoulder which it hangs loosely round with a string to tie it before on the breast, at the corners of which there is generally some pieces of Dogs skin sewed on, which has long white hair on it in general. This mantle they call an Ahoo. This Ahoo is wrapped round them (viz) one part lap over the other, & to keep it close to the loins they have a girdle made of a sort of small flag which is tied fast with string. Over this they have a rough garment which they call a Buggy, & page 205 these are all the clothing they ware, the other parts being constantly exposed.

The Flax of which they have two sorts, grows here in great plenty; the finer sort resembles the European flax but it is vastly superior both for Beauty and strength; of this they make the Ahoo and fishing lines which are twisted the very same as ours and they knit their nets using the same knot as we do. The coarser sort grow like a Flag, either on the ground or runs up the side of a tree & spreading into great tufts at different heights. (The fine sort grow on the ground & is a flag of a finer texture & of quite a different nature from the coarse sort). Of this they make the Buggys and large ropes. Both sorts are prepared by soaking it in water and rubbing off the huskey part. Some of the Ahoos have feathers worked in with the Flax. They have a method of dying the Flax black, & of an Ochar Couler & by that means make borders of black & yellow, & some chequered all over, & some all black & as close as European canvas, but it was few that had these & they seemed to be chiefs. Some of the women had little mats very curiously worked with fine feathers of the Parrot. These are ardorned with pieces of Mother of Pearl near the size of a half crown piece. This mat the women wear in the same manner as the ladies wear the apron, to cover the Private parts, therefore we called it a fig leaf (from old Eve).

The weapons of defence are of 3 sorts (viz.) when they first ingage they use a long spear of 15 or 20 foot which is cut out of a large piece of heavy tough wood, this they cut & scrape away until they have reduced it to about 2 inches girth, scraped very sharp at each end so that they punch each other with these till they come too near each other, & then they use another weapon of wood & about 6 or 7 feet long, this of exceedingly heavy wood, & at one end resembles the end of an oar that goes in the water, & the other end is like a Spantoon that the officers (in marching regiments) have, & is always curiously carved. This Patow (as they call it) they hold in both hands near its middle so that they can push or chop with it, & their other weapon is for close quarters & is called a Petepetow. It is made like a chopping knife [here 2 sketches of Patus]. This weapon is sometimes made of wood, and sometimes of bone & sometimes of stone & is always carried under the girdle. There is a hole made thro' its small end or handle & a string tied to it that goes over the hand in time of action to prevent its being lost on their being disarmed as it might prove fatal to them for they depend greatly on these when fighting at close quarters. They have adzes made of a greenstone of the —–kind lashed to a piece of a branch of a Tree where there is a small branch page 206 projecting out at almost right angles to serve by way of handle.

All the parts of New Zealand that we saw was very mountaneous, covered with Trees, some of which are very tall & large. The largest are the spruce tree (from the tops of the branches of which we made Spruce Beer which was very good) which are 12 or 14 feet round and 50 or 60 feet high and exceeding strait. The next biggest is a tree whose wood resembles beach tree in England. These bear a flower somewhat resembling the Horse Chesnut flower and bears a nut shaped like a fig but much smaller, with large long leaves. There are other large trees very much resembling our Elms in every respect. There are great numbers of different sorts of trees that do not grow so tall as the above & great variety of beautiful flowering shrubs, &, in many places there is great quantities of a sort of vines somewhat like supplejacks in the West Indies. There is a sort of long pepper grows here in plenty & great quantities of a shrub which is called the Tea tree from our peoples using it instead of Tea, & tho' it was not so good as common Tea from the East, it made very good holesome drink for breckfast. We found a shrub bearing a berry that resembled a large Yellow Gooseberry when ripe which was very platable and greatfull to the stomach. These were the only fruit we saw at Charlotte Sound.

All the trees keep a continual verdure all the year. I saw nettle (?) trees here of 9 or 10 inches round.

The soil is exceedingly rich and fertile in many places & seems capable of producing almost everything with a little cultivation, the climate being so moderate & healthy.

During my whole stay on shore (which was 7 weeks) I never saw any Beast great or small, except a few rats, or snake of any kind, or toad, frog, snail or anything but a few small harmless lizards, notwithstanding I was much in the woods. There are great numbers of large grey Parrots that have very beautiful plumage and small Parroquets flying in great plenty so that I frequently killed two or three at one shot. I saw two kinds of small Hawkes, both being small, & a small grey owl. There are plenty of large Wood Pigeons much the same as Wood Pigeons in England. There are great plenty of a kind of birds much resembling our black birds, except they have a few white feathers in the wings and tail and some fine loose downy feathers round the neck which grow out among the black ones & has the appearance of fine whit hairs intermixed with the feathers & under the throat are 4 fine curling white feathers growing in a tuff. These are called Poey-Birds. They are thought to be the finest eating for delicacy & richness & far to exceed the page 207 Otterlin so much esteemed by the Epicurans. There are like-wise great variety of Beautiful singing Birds which made the Woods ecco with their different Notes which made the greatest harmony. When we came first into Charlotte Sound we found great plenty of Shel-drakes, Curlues, Ducks, & Divers all which we found to be very good eating.

We catched great plenty of good fish & found plenty of a kind of scurvy-grass & wild sallery & a kind of wild pepper-grass which we found very good.

The Zeelanders never eat greens of any kind, nor do they seem to be the least affected with scurvey.

When we first came here we made gardens & sowed Cabbage seed & other sorts of garden seeds, which thrived exceedingly well, so that we had plenty of salad & Cabbage-plants large enough to transplant for Cabbages before we left Charlot Sound.

I went on shore on a small Island called the Hippa by the natives which I named Observatory Island. It is a rock whose sides are perpendicular in many places & indeed the whole was well fortified by nature, there being only one landing place & the passage up from it exceeding difficult, but by hard labour I made steps in the rocks so that its ascent was much easier than before. On the top of this small island was a Town con sisting of 33 houses. The most elevated part was tolerably level for about 100 yards long & 8 or 10 yards wide. This was fortified with strong posts or sticks drove into the ground & those interwoven with long sticks in a horizontal direction & then filled with small brush wood with one place two feet square where was a wooden dore, so that only one man could get in at a time & that on his hands & knees & of course easy destroy'd if at war.

This seems to have been the grand residence of the natives of Charlotte Sound but it was deserted when we came owing I suppose to their communication with another Island, where they fetched water, being cut off by land, the sea having washed a passage thro' between them. The top of this Island was the only place I could find proper to make my observations on; there I built a house for my transit instrument & put up my tent observatory. This I was obliged to do myself together with a young lad who was my servant, for the Capt. & other officers negative assistance in their power in every respect. But however by the assistance of a good natured Welsman, who would always work if I gave him Brandy (he being the only healthy man sent on shore) I soon got everything in pretty good order. My whole force was two marines, one sick & the other well; a Highland piper very bad in the scurvey, three page 208 young lads who were midshipman, two of whom had never been at sea before, & the other seemed very little acquainted [with] any duty, but the first Lieut, thought it a good oppor tunity of sending them out of the way.

The 24th (April) in the afternoon we saw some canoos pass by at a distance & in the [night] about 10 o'clock we saw something on the water at about a mile distant which disappeared soon under the side of an Island but we soon perceived it to be some canoes coming to us. We fired a musket over their heads but they seemed not to mind it; we then fired another near them which made them retreat back to the Island from whence they came, & they never attempted to come again by night during our stay in that place. In consequence of this & my representing the weak condition of the guard I had the Sergeant of Marines and another marine, with two wall-pieces or guns. With this addition we considered ourselves a match for any force the Zeelanders could bring; for by this time, by the good air, & plenty of greens the piper was amazingly recover who when well was a lusty active man, & a stranger to fear & the Sergeant being an active sober good man I thought myself very secure considering our situation.

I continued here making observations without anything material happening until the 18th of May when at daybreak I discovered the Resolution off the mouth of the Sound & in the evening she came to in Ship Cove along side our ship; having been parted ever since the 8th of February last. She steered S. Easterly passing great numbers of Ice Islands & fields of Ice continually. When they came near the Longd. of Zealand they hawled up northerly & went into Dusky Bay where they supplied themselves with wood & water & repaired their ship & rigging & then came to us in Charlotte Sound.

In the afternoon received an order from Capt. Furneaux to get ready to go on board as soon as possible.

Carried my Instruments, observatories &c. on board.

In the morning we discovered a large double canoe coming towards us across the Sound in which was 28 Indians, all lusty well made men who went along side the Resolution. In the starn of the Canoo, was on old venerable well looking man whose hair & beard was as white as snow. He had a fine furred Ahoo or mantle covered with furr, before him sat a lusty middle aged man with a black Ahoo with a few bits of white fur varigated here & there a bit. As soon as they came within about 20 yards distance from the ship the old man or chief stood up & waved a green leaf as did the man that sat before him & likewise flurrished his Papepatoo over his hed & began a speech that lasted near 15′. All the rest was silent even the old Chief page 209 spoke not a word. During the whole the Indian delivered himself relative to voice & gesture, not to be exceeded perhaps by few European orators. As to what he said we were quite at a loss to know as no one understood a single silable. There were several Indians on board of both sex that came dayly with fish for some time. At the sight of this large canoo they seemed to be much terrified, making signs they should be mattied (or killed) & endeavoured by signes to get Capt. Cook to shoot them, but after the oration was finished, the old king came on board the Resolution & joined noses a considerable time with the other old Indian that frequented the ships daily. This old man received him on the gang way squat on his hams & as soon as the old king was got up the Ship's side he squat before him & in this position they joined noses as above muttering some words all the time & then he joined noses with every one of us & presently we began trade with them & were all Friends.

These were by far the finest set of Indians I saw during our stay at Charlotte Sound. The whole community amounted to about 90, viz., men, women & children. They had 5 canoos, the remainder being left [at] an Island about 1 ¾ miles from the Ship. They had many fine Dogs with them of the Fox breed.

The Indians are fond of green stone they have among them which they call Poanamo. It is a kind of Jasper. With this they make their Togie, or ads of & chissles to carve with, & bobs for their years [ears] & gorgets to hang at the breast.

This day being His Majesty's birthday all the superior officers of both ships dined with Capt. Cook & we spent the afternoon very cheerfully.

This morning at 4 o'clock we began to unmoor p. signal from the Resolution, & by 8 was under way with wind at W. (viz. a gentle breeze) in Company with the Resolution, but when we came to open the South Seas, viz. the SE entrance of Cook's Straits, the wind came round to SSW so that we were obliged to work out.

As we were coming out of the Sound in the morning the Indians made off in their Canoos to take a farewell of us as well as they could by signs.

Proved fair with gentle gales at NW. We stood away SSE & SE. Latd. at noon 41° 53′ ½ S. Long. 174° 48′ East of Green'ch.

This morning I had a fine view of the North part of the Southern Alps of New Zeeland. They appear very high & covered with snow which is always the case even in the midst of summer, as Capt. Cook informed me, he being at page 210 New Zeeland in the midst of the Southern Summer in the year 1769.

(Note.—The Adventure parted company with the Resolution in the voyage from the Cape of Good Hope. The vessels met again at Ship Cove on the 18th May. They left Queen Charlotte Sound on 7th June in company to continue the voyage, & finally parted from each other on the 22nd October, 1773, in a gale, whilst off the coast of New Zealand. Captain Furneaux reached England on the 16th July, 1774, but Captain Cook did not finish his voyage till nearly a year later.)

At 6 A.M. saw the land bearing WNW.

It proved to be Table Head on the NE coast of New Zealand. Latd. at noon 39° 67½' S. Longd. 178° 26′ E. p. good obs'ns of the Sun & Moon. Var. 13° 20′ E. We stood inshore, & then along the Coast at 7′ or 8″ [leagues are probably meant] Dist. off shore. The coast is heigh and bluff with the country mountaneous but the Hills are covered with trees even to the tops in general. We saw many large fires on the Hills; but no canoe. At 6 PM was abreast of the North side of Hawkes Bay. We stood on SW & SW b. S during the night & at 4 in the morn. the 22nd was abreast of Cape Kidnappers which is the south side of Hawkes Bay it being 21 Leag's across nearly.

At 7 AM saw several canoes put off but they could not come up with us. Latd. at Noon 40° 15′ Longd. 176° 30′ p. good obs'ns of ⊙ & ☽. In the afternoon the wind came to the West. We could not keep along shore. At 2 PM some canoes came along side the Resolution but did not stay as she had a fresh breeze off shore.

Had strong gales of wind at West & WNW with very hard rain. This morning at day break had lost the Resolution, we supposed she was got to windward. The Gale continuing at West & WSW with a great head sea we were drove N Easterly, the wind blowing with great violence from 6 in the morning till 4 or 5 in the after noon & then dying away to a calme each day so that we frequently saw the land in the morning & lost sight of it in the afternoon.

At 11 AM saw the Resolution a great way to leeward. The wind a little abated she made sail & joined us about 3 PM. In the afternoon observed two good sets of distances of the sun & moon which gave the Longd of the ship 175° 26′ East of Green'ch when Cape Palliser bore West true 10 or 12 Leagues.

Encountered a very heavy gale at WNW with a great sea so that we lay too under the mizen stay sail. This lasted all day & all night with a heavy sea. Our Vaheine Man^* was page 211 much horrified having never seen the like before, but our ship being an excellent sea boat soon convinced him that he had little to fear. As she rowled very easy with the sea he cryd out with rapture “Pie Miti Middidehay amna Matti,” that is it was a good ship & the sea could not sink her. During this 24 hours we drove to the S by E greatly, having quite lost sight of the land.

This morning at 3 AM the wind abated to almost a calm & at 5 AM it came to the S by E blowing a brisk gale. We made sail in comp'y with the Resolution, standing WNW & at Noon was in Latd. 42° 33′ Longd. 174° 42′ (?) E of Green'ch.

The wind continued to blow very strong from WNW to N b. W with a great sea which frequently drove us out of sight of Land & when it was a little moderate we stood in & made the land, and then drove off again & this way we continued beating about until the 6 of Nov'r when we bore away NNE to Tallico Bay, SE entrance of Cooks Straits.

The 29th at night we lost sight of the Resolution.

Had fine W'r wind at NE when we were about 9 or 10 leag's North of Cape Palliser but there being little wind we did not get round it till the evening. Being about 2 leagues off shore several Canoes came to us, two of whome were very nicely carved & the Indians appeared to be principal people among them, being well clothed in their fashion & had all their implements of War with them which the Capt. purchased for a looking glass.

The principal man in each Canoe was very finelooking old men with their beards very gray, these sat in the starn of the Canoes & just before each was a robust middle aged man, these stood up & made long speeches frequently pointing to the shore, but whether they proposed friendship or war we could not tell, even our Huanei Man knew very little of the matter. The other Canoes were fishermen's who came alongside and sold their fish for pieces of Otaheite Cloth, paying little regard to the size of the piece but taking what was given them. In the evening at 7 o'clock we were in a line joining Cape Camble [Campbell] & Cape Palliser, which line was N 50 E & S 50 W. p. compass. I found the vari'n here 13° 21′ E from a mean of 6 good Azimuths. Latd. of Cape Pall'r 41° 35′ S. Longd. 174° 54′ E of Green'ch. About 10 in the evening the wind came round to NW & blew very strong which increased to a gale about 4 in the morning of the 5th, which drew us back abrest of Cape Pall'sr about 5 or 6 miles off shore, when at 7 it came round to South & blew with great violence accompanied with small thick rain that you could not see twice the ships length. In this situation she drove very fast right on the Cape. We page 212 tried to wear her & stand out but she flew too up in the wind again so that we had nothing but destruction before our eyes for some time, but letting loose the fore-Topsail & Main-sail she wore just time enough that with setting all the sail we could she just weathered the Cape and stood on out to sea, but had she been a little longer before she wore we must inevitably have been on the Rocks of a lee-shore with the wind and sea running mountains heigh right on it.

About 9 the wind abated a little. We stood off shore ENE p. compass till PM & then wore and stood in hoping to have weathered the Cape far enough to run us up the Straits, but it began to blow very hard with thick rain. At 7 it cleared up a little. We found the Cape close under our lee bow about 6 or 7 miles ahead so that we were obliged to wear her & stand out to sea again but in the morning of the 6th the gale increased with a very heavy mountanious sea from the South, the Capt. determined to stand to the North for some of the Bays there & did so according by going NNE.

Having been near a fortnight endeavouring to get in, encountering tempestious winds & seas, which damaged our ship & regging more than all the former part of the voyage.

The 7th and 8th the Gale continued during which we run away before it to the North.

Came to Anchor in Tolaga Bay, from good observations I make its Longd. 178° 33′ 46″ E. Latd. 38° 21′ S. Vari'n E. Dip of the Magt. Needle.

The Natives here behaved very friendly bringing everything they had to sell except the green stone Ads's or the green Images hanging to their necks. Those they did not care to part with on any acc. notwithstanding they are covetous of Iron to excess. We bought great quantities of fine Flax of them, & great numbers of Ahooes or mantles made of the flax exceeding neat. There is plenty of Cray & other fish in this Bay and great quantities of herbs for salading, boiling in broth or soups, &c. & sweet Potatoes but those run small for want of culture I suppose. We stayed in this Bay all day the 10th to get water for the ship.

Am. hoisted in the Boats and weighed & stood out to Sea but had little winds until the evening when it came to blow at SSE so that the Night was spent in endeavouring to work off of the coast right to windward being on a lee shore but the gale increased & became Mountaneous.

We were obliged to put back again in the morning & ½ past 9 AM of the 12th came to & moored ship about half a mile lower in the Bay than before.

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In the morning the Boats endeavoured to go on shore to get wood & water but the Sea tumbled into the Bay greatly; which caused so great a surf that they could not land. I went with them in order to made obs'ns of the Dip of the Magnetic Needle. At 9 AM returned on board again. The wind blew fresh at SE b. E which caused a very great sea in the Bay.

We attempted to get on shore for water. I took the dipping needle with me but the surf ran so high that the Boats were near being swamped & all must have been inevitably lost but we happily escaped & returned on board again at 8 AM & stayed on board all day. The Ship rowling Gunnel too, frequently as she rode at Anchor. In the evening the wind shifted to the SSE & the swell abated very fast so that at 9 in the even'g the water came somewhat smooth. No Indians have been able to come off to us since we come in on acct. of great surf.

The wind came round to the South with serene fine w'r. I went on shore early in the morning with my dipping needle & found from a mean of 40 observations the South was depressed 62°. I went on board to Dinner & went on shore again with the Surgeon & walked a few miles into the Country where we found here & there a few huts. The Indians behaved very friendly. They have small plantations of sweet potatoes near their houses but they run long & small in general. I saw plantations of something that resembles Pompion Plants. They were planted in the same order the Gardeners plant Coucumbers in holes (in England). The plants were about two Inches above ground & out in rough leaf. They first set fire to the Wood & then cut it off about knee high & then turn the earth and cleanse it with sticks which serve instead of spades. During our ramble I saw Wood Pigeons, Parroquets, Grey Parrots, Poey Birds, & Quails & vast variety of singing Birds but no animal great or small or any fruit Trees of any kind whatever.

The wind at west at day break. We weighed & stood out of the Bay, at 8 AM the wind came round to NNE with fine wr. We stood along shore to the South. At Noon was abreast of Gablehead-foreland; this is a remarkable headland resembling the Gable end of a house, consisting of white Clifts of Rocks. I make its Latd. 38° 31½' S. Longd. 178° 27′ East of Green'ch.

We continue our course South Westerly for Charlotte Sound with wind at WNW & fine Wr.

Had little wind at WNW. We continue our course S Westerly along the Coast. Latd. at Noon 40° 0′ S & by a page 214 good set of obsns. of the Sun and Moon in Longd. 177° 44½′ East of Green'ch.

Had strong gales at South & S b W accompanied with a great Sea. We continued standing off & on the Land, sometimes in sight of it & sometimes not. This gale continued until the 22nd. about noon when by obsn. we were near the same place we were the 19th at Noon. 22nd. in the afternoon the wind died away & it came quite calm where we lay like a log all night & most part of the next day in sight of Cape Turnagain, dist. 7 or 8 Leagues.

Latd. at Noon 40° 54′ S. Longd. 175° 51′ 16½” p. a mean of 6 good obsns. of the Sun & Moon taken in the afternoon. From this day untill the 29th had the wind at NNW blowing very strong great part of the time, during which we endeavoured to work into the Straights, to little purpose, for if we got a little way in one day when the wind was moderate, we were drove out again the next.

At 4 P.M. the wind came round to S & S b. E with moderate breezes. We made sail into the Straits.

At 8 A.M. was nearly abreast of Cape Terrawitty & at ½ past 1 P.M. came to Anchor in Ship Cove (Charlotte Sound New Zeeland) & moored ship. In the afternoon Capt. Furneaux went on shore at the Watering place & found a letter (in a bottle) from Capt. Cook, by which we learned that the Resolution made Charlotte Sound the 3rd of Novr. & sailed from thence the 26th. do. He said he intended to cruise 3 or 4 days in East mouth of the Straits & then pursue his Voyage to the South, but how he passed out without our seeing him, I am at a loss to acct. for. as [we] were generally in sight of both shores.

I went on shore with Capt. Furnx. to look for a proper place for my Obsy. & returned on board at Noon.

This day had 3 or 4 Canoes along side with fish &c.

Staid on board all day.

Went on shore with my Tent & Instruments & set all up. From this to the 6th P.M. had blowing weather with much rain so that I could not make any observations untill the 7th when we had very fine Wr. I remained on shore till the 16th. when I carried everything on board again.

The 9th there was many Canoes in the Bay some of which came where we was & we suffered them to come on shore & sit down on the beach for some time, but obliged them to retire to some other part of the Sound before night.

About Midnight the Sentry had occasion to go into the Tent & at his return he saw an Indian sitting by the fire which page 215 was burning at little dist. from the Tent. As soon as the Indian saw him he retired into the Wood. The Centry acquainted the Lieut. (who was commanding officer) of it & all hands got up but could see nothing of him & they called me, my Tent observy. in which I slept being at a little dist. from the Ships Tent; I got up & called up my servt. who lay in a little tent by my obsy. I looked about but could not see any Indian or Canoe stirring, so that I went & lay down on my bed in my clothes after I had ordered the Sentry to call me the momt. he discovered any Canoe or Indian. The Moon shone bright so it [was] impossible for them to come unseen. Soon after, the Sentry informed me he saw a Canoe cross the Bay. I got up & we saw another double canoe cross the Bay & then a single one for the same point of the Bays mouth; we went along the beach & discovered all three canoes moving down by the side of the Rocks under the shade of the trees. I sent the Centry to acquaint the officer & people of it & as soon as they came within hail I told them to go away or we would kill them (in their language) upon which they held a consultation for some minutes & then one canoe moved towards me slowly, upon which I fired a shot just above their heads which made them retire with precipitation. By this time the officer and people arrived, but we had no further trouble with them that night.

From the 9th to the 14th many Canoes came trading with the Ship & frequently visited us on shore but this 14th. there came several canoes to us to trade & seemed to re-connoitre our situation, but we behaved in a friendly manner [to] them & at night the Centry had orders to keep a good look out.

I was up late observing & having taken some altitudes of Stars to the East & having set my Alarem to call me, to take them to the west, I went to bed, having nailed my old great coat at the entrance of my tent, at the inside of which I always placed the outside case of my Astronomical Quadrant to keep the wind out at bottom & at the same time keep my great coat from blowing to one side. In this box I kept my Lumber, such as tools, nails, &c., the lid of which was screwed down when the Quadt. was in it, but it was in two, & only laid on it. After I had been in bed & had slept some time, I was awaked by the rattling or noise of the lid of the box. I jumped up in the bed & took my gun which stood always at the head of my cot, calling at the same time, who is there, but could neither hear nor see anything. I sat up in the bed for sometime during which my Allarem went off to call me to get up which induced me to dress myself. Soon after I searched for my hat but could not find page 216 it, but this I attributed to its being carelessly laid down & having a cap on I proceeded with my lanthorn to get a light but in going out of the Tent Obsy. I found it open & half the lid of the box at some dist. from the tent, & by feeling I found my hatchet & saw & hammer were gone out of the box. This I concluded the Centry had taken or was privy to its being taken. I then went into my tent & took my gun & went to the Centry & found him busi washing his linnen by the fire; & accused him of taking my things but he protested his innocence. I then lighted my candle & went along the beach but could not discover either Indians or Canoes, the centry being with me but without arms having left them by the fire side. When we returned to the Watering place by the Ships Tent I looked round & saw a man coming out from the Ships tent towards as & challenged him by “Who are you?” (not being certain whether it was not one of our own people), but the Indian threw awray part of his load & run for it & I after him & coming within stroke of him I clubbed my gun to knock him down when my foot struck against a stone, I was near on falling but just recovered myself. I shot at him, having only shot in my gun & then pursued him & was near taking him when he entered the wood, at the edge of which I halted. By this time the officer & people were up & some under arms but in great confusion. I took one man with me & placed ourselves among the Rocks at some distance from the beach, up the side of the Bay, immagining the Indians would endeavour to make their escape over the Rocks, it being low water, & thereby cut them off which would certainly have been the case had not one of our people ran towards where we were with a Lanthorn just as two Indians had joined in the wood & was getting out on the rocks; but they seeing the candle coming toward them retired back into the wood to get farther on before they left it. When we found that I moved forward softly on the rocks to intercept them, but I had not passed far when I heard an Indian cry hist, hist, which I answered, moving forward at the same time & soon discovered an Indian at a considerable distance. I still went forward untill I had the misfortune slip of a stone which made some noise tho' attend with no damage. Then I immagined the Indian was flying for the woods on which I levelled my piece & let fly at him but missed him with a ball & the Indian fled to the woods & when I came to the place there was great quantities of things which they had stole from us, part in their canoes & part on the rocks so that we recovered everything & a Canoe. The Indians made their escape thro' the Woods & got clear off.

page 217

This evening saw a very large meteor—NNE, it appd. at about 40° altd. & fell toward the horizon.

In the evening I packed up my instruments & 16th A.M. carried all on board the ship, as the Capt. purposed sailing the 18th.

In the morning our great cutter was sent to get greens for the people to a place called Grass Cove (it being the place where Capt. Cook usually cut grass for his Sheep). There was 6 rowers, the Cockswain, a Mate, a Midshipman & the Capt's Black servant in her. They had 5 muskets, two fowling pieces & three cutlashes with them. They left the ship at 5 o'clock in the morning

After breakfast the Surgeon & myself with three Midshipmen & the Ships Cooper went in a small cutter to some Bays near the ship to get flags for the Coopers use & what greens we could. We returned about Noon with our boat well loaded with greens, but the large cutter not returning in the evening as expected, (Saturday) 18th in the morning the Longboat was sent well manned & armed in search of her. The first cove they went into there was 3 canoes laying on the beach. The Indians behaved friendly at first but rather saucy at our boats departure, but the officer took no notice of it. The next bay they entered were 7 or 8 canoes on the beach & many Indians who behaved very sivil. Going out of this cove our people obs'd a large canoe coming toward them but when the Indians saw them they ran the canoe into a little creek & fled to the Woods and disappeared, which made our people suspect something was the occasion. On inspecting into the contents of the Canoe they found baskets full of roasted human flesh & in one of them was a mans hand cut off a little above the rist on the Back of which was T.H. in Roman letters, which was directly known to be one of the boats crew's hand viz. Thomas Hill's. (This mark was made by the natives of Otaheite, being what they call Tattowing, it being used by all the natives of the Islands near the Line, in the South Seas by way of ornament.) This discovery convinced our people that the boats crew was destroyed. They broke the canoe to pieces & proceeded to Grass Cove (from whence the canoe seemed to come), where was a great number of Indians to the amount of an hundred or more, making merry, dancing & skipping about on a little hill near the beach. As soon as our boat came near the shore they invited them on shore but our people fired a broadside at them & a second which they seemed not to mind notwithstanding several fell down. They then fired two wall pieces loaded with a number of pistol balls & the Marines kept page 218 up a brisk fire which put them to flight, they making a great cry. They saw several crawling on their hands and knees into the Bushes & the dead was dragged off. Our people went on shore & found the Intrails of 4 or 5 men together with the Hearts & Lungs & 3 heads roasted, one of which appeared to be the Capt's Black serv'ts by its make. They found the left hand of a man which was known to be Mr. Howe's by a cut on the middle of the fore finger which was just healed up. They likewise found some feet & other parts but all much defaced by roasting except one foot. They demolished the canoes there & night coming on they returned on board with the melancholy news. They saw great numbers of Indians dancing round a large fire on a hill, 1 or 2 furlongs off but could not see the Boat.

We suppose they went on shore to gather greens, the Indians appearing friendly as usual untill they saw an opportunity & seized them & killed them at once before they had time to defend themselves.

People lost.	Mr. John Rowe, Mate, & Acting Lieutenant.
People lost.	Thos. Woodhouse, Midshipman.
People lost.	Frans. Murphy, Quartermaster & Cockswain of the Boat.M
People lost.	Thos. Hill.	Seamen, & James Sevilly the Capt's Black serv't or steward.
People lost.	John Cavenor	Seamen, & James Sevilly the Capt's Black serv't or steward.
People lost.	Mich'l Bell	Seamen, & James Sevilly the Capt's Black serv't or steward.
People lost.	Will'm Milton	Seamen, & James Sevilly the Capt's Black serv't or steward.
People lost.	John Jones	Seamen, & James Sevilly the Capt's Black serv't or steward.
People lost.	Wm. Facy	Seamen, & James Sevilly the Capt's Black serv't or steward.

Mr. Rowe had been accustomed to Indians in America for many years having been in America the greatest part of his time & put too great confidence in them, for had he been more doubtful of them he might have saved his life and that of his Crew.

In the morning we unmoored & stood out into the open part of the Sound but it falling little wind we came too in 8 fathom where we remained until the 22nd, having strong gales at NW at Times & at other times Calme. During which time no Indian appeared either in Canoe or otherwise.

In the afternoon we weighed & stood out of the Sound with Gentle gales at WNW.