The 25th of April was the eighth fair day our people had successively enjoyed; and there was reason to believe that such a circumstance was very uncommon in the place where they now lay, and at that season of the year. This favourable weather afforded them the opportunity of more speedily completing their wood and water, and of putting the ship into a condition for sea. On the evening of the 25th, it began to rain; and the weather was afterwards extremely variable, being, at times, in a high degree wet, cold, and stormy. Nothing, however, prevented Captain Cook from prosecuting, with his usual sagacity and diligence, his search into every part of Dusky Bay; and, as there are few places in New Zealand where necessary refreshments may be so plentifully obtained, as in this bay, he hath taken care to give such a description of it, and of the adjacent country, as may be of service to succeeding navigators. Although this country lies far remote from what is now the trading part of the world, yet, as he justly observes, we can by no means tell what use future ages may derive from the discoveries made in the present.

The various anchoring places are delineated on our commander's chart, and the most convenient of them he has particularly described. Not only about Dusky Bay, but through all the southern part of the western coast of Tavai-poenammo, the country is exceedingly mountainous. A prospect more rude and craggy is rarely to be met with; for, inland, there are only to be seen the summits of mountains of a tremendous height, and consisting of rocks that are totally barren and naked, excepting where they are covered with snow. But the land which borders on the sea-coast is thickly clothed with wood almost down to the water's edge; and this is the case with regard to all the adjoining islands. The trees are of various kinds, and are fit for almost every possible use. Excepting in the river Thames, Captain Cook had not found finer timber in all New Zealand; the most considerable species of which is the spruce tree; for that name he had given it, from the similarity of its foliage to the American spruce, though the wood is more ponderous, and bears a greater resemblance to the pitch pine. Many of these trees are so large, that they would be able to furnish mainmasts for fifty-gun ships. Amidst the variety of aromatic trees and shrubs which this part of New Zealand produced, there was none which bore fruit fit to be eaten. The country was not found so destitute of quadrupeds as was formerly imagined.

As Dusky Bay presented many advantages to our navigators, so it was attended with some disagreeable circumstances. There were great numbers of small black sandflies, which were troublesome to a degree that our commander had never experienced before. Another evil arose from the continual quantity of rain that occurred in the bay. This might, indeed, in part proceed from the season of the year: but it is probable that the country must at all times be subject to much wet weather, in consequence of the vast height and vicinity of the mountains. It was remarkable that the rain, though our people were perpetually exposed to it, was not productive of any evil consequences. On the contrary, such of the men as were sick and complaining when they entered the bay, recovered daily, and the whole crew soon became strong and vigorous. So happy a circumstance could only be attributed to the healthiness of the place, and the fresh provisions it afforded; among which the beer was a very material article.

The inhabitants of Dusky Bay are of the same race with the other natives of New Zealand, speak the same language, and adhere nearly to the same customs. Their mode of life appears to be a wandering one; and though they are few in number, no traces were remarked of their families being connected together In any close bonds of union or friendship.

While the Resolution lay in the bay, Mr. Wales made a variety of scientific observations relative to latitude and longitude, the variation of the compass, and the diversity of the tides.

When Captain Cook left Dusky Bay, he directed his course for Queen Charlotte's Sound, where he expected to find the Adventure. This was on the 11th of May, and nothing remarkable occurred till the 17th, when the wind at once flattened to a calm, the sky became suddenly obscured by dark dense clouds, and there was every prognostication of a tempest. Soon after, six waterspouts were seen, four of which rose and spent themselves between the ship and the land; the fifth was at a considerable distance, on the other side of the vessel; and the sixth, the progressive motion of which was not in a straight, but in a crooked line, passed within fifty yards of the stern of the Resolution, without producing any evil effect. As the captain had been informed that the firing of a gun would dissipate waterspouts, he was sorry that he had not tried the experiment. But, though he was near enough, and had a gun ready for the purpose, his mind was so deeply engaged in viewing these extraordinary meteors, that he forgot to give the necessary directions.

On the next day, the Resolution came within sight of Queen Charlotte's Sound, where Captain Cook had the satisfaction of discovering the Adventure; and both ships felt uncommon joy at thus meeting again after an absence of fourteen weeks. As the events which happened to Captain Furneaux, during the separation of the two vessels, do not fall within the immediate design of the present narrative, it may be sufficient to observe, that he had an opportunity of examining, with somewhat more accuracy than had hitherto been done, Van Dieman's Land, and his opinion was, that there are no straits between this land and New Holland, but a very deep bay. He met, likewise, with farther proofs, that the natives of New Zealand are eaters of human flesh.

The morning after Captain Cook's arrival in Queen Charlotte's Sound, he went himself, at daybreak, to look for scurvy-grass, celery, and other vegetables; and he had the good fortune to return with a boatload, in a very short space of time. Having found, that a sufficient quantity of these articles might be obtained for the crews of both the ships, he gave orders that they should be boiled with wheat and portable broth, every day for breakfast; and with pease and broth for dinner. Experience had taught him, that the vegetables now mentioned, when thus dressed, are extremely beneficial to seamen, in removing the various scorbutic complaints to which they are subject.

Our commander had entertained a desire of visiting Van Dieman's Land, in order to inform himself whether it made a part of New Holland. But as this point had been, in a great measure, cleared up by Captain Furneaux, he came to a resolution to continue his researches to the east, between the latitudes of 41° and 46°; and he directed accordingly, that the ships should be gotten ready for putting to sea as soon as possible. On the 20th, he sent on shore the only ewe and ram that remained of those which, with the intention of leaving them in this country, he had brought from the Cape of Good Hope. Soon after he visited several gardens, that by order of captain Furneaux had been made and planted with various articles; all of which were in such a flourishing state, that, if duly attended to, they promised to be of great utility to the natives. The next day, Captain Cook himself set some men to work to form a garden on Long Island, which he stocked with different seeds, and particularly with the roots of turnips, carrots, parsnips, and potatoes. These were the vegetables that would be of the most real use to the Indians, and of these it was easy to give them an idea, by comparing them with such roots as they themselves knew. On the 22nd, Captain Cook received the unpleasant intelligence, that the ewe and ram, which with so much care and trouble he had brought to this place, were both of them found dead. It was supposed that they had eaten some poisonous plant; and by this accident all the captain's hopes of stocking New Zealand with a breed of sheep were instantly blasted.

The intercourse which our great navigator had with the inhabitants of the country, during this his second visit to Queen Charlotte's Sound, was of a friendly nature. Two or three families took up their abode near the ships, and employed themselves daily in fishing, and in supplying the English with the fruits of their labour. No small advantage hence accrued to our people, who were by no means such expert fishers as the natives, nor were any of our methods of fishing equal to theirs. Thus, in almost every state of society, particular arts of life are carried to perfection; and there is something which the most polished nations may learn from the most barbarous.