4. Between 1768 and 1779, Captain Cook made three voyages of discovery from end to end of the great Pacific Ocean, from the impassable barrier of ice in the south to that in the north. During that time he did more to fill up the blanks on the map of the world than any man before or since. In his first voyage Captain Cook set sail in the Endeavour—a mere collier of 370 tons, but stout and strong, built for safety rather than speed, and worked by a crew of eighty-five men. The explorer made direct for Tahiti, and after refitting his ship and refreshing his men at this earthly Paradise set sail for New Zealand.
5. Though discovered long ago by Tasman, no white man had yet set foot on it. During his three voyages Cook thoroughly explored and mapped out its coasts. He often landed and made the acquaintance of some of the chiefs. The natives, who called themselves Maoris, proved to be a warlike race of cannibals, who not only ate human flesh, but boasted of the practice. The natives derived much benefit from the visits of the explorer; for he introduced many useful animals and plants, including pigs, fowls, potatoes, and turnips.
6. The captain in his Journal tells us that the Maoris paid no attention to musketry fire unless actually struck, but "great guns they did, because they threw stones further than they could comprehend. After they found that our arms were so superior to theirs, and that we took no advantage of that superiority, and a little time was given them to reflect upon it, they ever after were our good friends." He also found in them a sense of honour which kept them true to any bargain or agreement they had made.
7. The great explorer next sailed for Australia, then almost an unknown land. Cook was the first to visit the East Coast, which he explored with great care. The first point of Australia seen by his look-out man was Cape Howe, in the south-east corner of the country. A few days later the Endeavour anchored in Botany Bay, which owes its name to the great variety of new plants seen there.
8. The English made there their first acquaintance with the natives, who on seeing the strange vessel near the shore did not seem to take the slightest notice; "they were," says Cook, "to all appearance wholly unconcerned about us, though we were within half-a-mile of them." And even when the sailors threw among them little presents of beads and pieces of cloth, they regarded such things with indifference. The only thing they cared to accept was food, and this, when given them, they greedily devoured. They were neither excited to wonder by the ship nor overawed by the sound of its guns. They were evidently savages of a low order, not intelligent enough to be curious. They stood sullenly aloof, and would enter into no relation with the stranger.
Captain Cook Presenting Pigs and Fowls to the Maoris.
9. For the next three or four months the explorer proceeded northwards, making a careful survey of the coasts. At one time it seemed likely that the ship and its crew would perish. After sailing 1300 miles along the East Coast without meeting with any accident, the Endeavour suddenly struck on a part of the Barrier Reef, whose existence at that time was unknown. A great hole was knocked in the vessel. A sail, with a quantity of wool and oakum lightly stitched to it, was placed beneath the ship with ropes, and served in some measure to stop the leak. The ship was at length got off the rock, brought to land and beached for repairs, at a spot in Queensland where now stands Cooktown.
10. Cook afterwards completed the survey of the East Coast and gave the name of New South Wales to the whole country, from Cape York to Cape Howe. Already at Botany Bay, and at other landing places, Cook had hoisted the British Flag, and now, before quitting Australia on his homeward way, he once more landed and took formal possession in the name of King George. Thus he added what turned out a whole continent to the British Empire, and that without sacrificing a single life in battle; and thus in great measure he made up for our loss in the New World by opening the door of a newer world which our people might enter and occupy.