Whilst near the Equator, great inconvenience was felt from the damp heat; everything was mouldy or rusty, and several of the crew were on the sick-list with a sort of bilious complaint; but it fortunately did not grow into a serious matter.
RECEPTION AT RIO.
They struck soundings on 6th November, and on heaving the lead again found a difference of less than a foot in three or four hours. Land was sighted near Cape Frio, Brazil, in latitude 21 degrees 16 minutes South, on the 8th, and they came across a boat manned by eleven blacks who were engaged in catching and salting fish. Banks purchased some fish, and was surprised to find they preferred to be paid in English rather than Spanish coin. On the 13th they arrived off Rio de Janeiro, where they were very ungraciously received by the Viceroy. They were not permitted to land except under a guard; some of the men who had been sent ashore on duty were imprisoned. Mr. Hicks, who had gone to report their arrival and ask for the services of a pilot, was detained for a time, and it was only with difficulty, and at an exorbitant rate, that they obtained fresh food and water. Consequently little was seen of the place, except from the ship, and Cook took all possible observations from thence, and made a sketch map of the harbour, to which he added all the information he was able to pick up from the pilot. Writing to the Royal Society, he says he is quite unable to understand the true reason of his treatment, and contrasts it with that received by a Spanish ship which came in whilst he was there. This Spanish ship willingly undertook to carry to Europe and forward to the Admiralty copies of the correspondence that passed between Cook and the Viceroy, which Cook describes as
"a paper war between me and His Excellency, wherein I had no other advantage than the racking his invention to find reasons for treating us in the manner he did, for he never would relax the least from any one point."
To every remonstrance the Viceroy pleaded his instructions and the custom of the port. He seems to have been quite unable to grasp the object of the expedition, and Cook says his idea of the transit of Venus was, "the North Star passing through the South Pole. His own words." The crew were accused of smuggling, and it was repeatedly asserted that the Endeavour was not a king's ship. Parkinson, one of Mr. Banks's staff, says that frequently some of them let themselves down from the cabin window at midnight into a boat, and driving with the tide till they were out of hearing of the guard boat established over them, rowed ashore and made short excursions into the country, "though not so far as we could have wished to have done."
Banks, speaking of the supplies obtained at Rio, says the beef was cheap but very lean and dry; the bread tasted as if made with sawdust, and justified its name of Farinha de Pao (wooden meal); the fruits, excepting the oranges, were very indifferent, and he takes particular exception to the banana, which he had not tasted before, it was not at all to his liking. The water also was very bad, and the crew preferred what they had brought with them, though it was very stale.
M. de Bougainville reports that when he visited Rio he was at first received in a very friendly manner by this same Viceroy, but after a time the treatment was altered, and he had to put up with even greater insolence than Cook.
THE SECOND DEATH.
When the stores had been received on board, the anchor was weighed in order to take up a more favourable position for making a start, but, unfortunately, shortly after the ship got underway, a man named Peter Flowers fell from the main-shrouds into the sea and was drowned before assistance could be rendered: the second death since leaving England. The next day the wind was contrary, but every one was so anxious to turn their backs on the place that Cook ordered out the boats to tow, but they were immediately brought up by a shot from the fort of Santa Cruz. A remonstrance was sent ashore, and received the lame excuse that the permit for leaving had been signed but had been delayed on its way, and the officer in command could not allow the vessel to leave till it was received. Another attempt to get away was soon after made, but the anchor fouled a rock, and there was again delay; at length, on the 7th December, they were able to make a start, discharge their pilot, and bid farewell to the guard boat which had so constantly kept watch over them. They were informed that an Englishman, named Foster, an officer in the Portuguese service, who had been of great use to them, was imprisoned for his kind attentions.
On 9th December they met with bad weather and lost their foretop-gallant mast, but the rough handling they got was credited with improving the sailing qualities of the ship, as it took some of the stiffness out of her upperworks. A meteor was noted on the 23rd, like a small bright cloud, emitting flames, travelling rapidly westward, and disappearing slowly with two sharp explosions. The same day an eclipse of the sun was observed.