The lances of the Australians were of wood, sometimes with a shaft made of cane or the stem of a bulrush. The actual weapon itself was of hard wood, the point of which would be smeared with a resin which gave it a polish and made it enter deeper into what it struck. In the southern regions these lances usually had four prongs, each pointed with bone or sharp shells, and barbed. All such insertions of substances into the wood were held in their places by resin (Eucalyptus or Dammara gum). They could become terrible weapons, for they were thrown with great force, and, owing to the smooth resin, entered far into the flesh of the person aimed at, and could never be drawn out without tearing the flesh or leaving sharp ragged splinters of bone or shell behind. When fighting at close quarters the lances were aimed with the hand, but at a greater distance were thrown by an instrument which Cook calls a throwing-stick. This was a plain, smooth piece of hard wood, highly polished, about 2 inches broad, ½ inch thick, and 3 feet long, with a small knob or hook at one end and a crosspiece about 3 or 4 inches long at the other. The knob at one end caught into a small dent or hollow, which was made for that purpose in the shaft of the lance near its point, but was not made sufficiently deep or rough to detain the lance when violently projected. When it was intended to hurl a lance by this means it was laid along the machine, being held in position by the knob entering the small hollow in the shaft, and the person throwing it held both lance and throwing-stick over his shoulder. He then, after a preliminary shake, hurled both the throwing-stick and the lance with all his force, but the stick being stopped by the cross-piece, which came against the shoulder with a sudden jerk, the lance went forward with incredible swiftness and with so good an aim that at a distance of 50 yards these black Australians were more certain of their mark than the white men often were with their guns. The only tools the people possessed seemed to be adzes with stone blades, wooden mallets, sharp shells, and fragments of coral; but for polishing their throwing-sticks and the points of their lances they rubbed down the wood with a leaf of a kind of wild fig tree, the underside of which had a very rough surface, which bit upon the wood almost as keenly (remarks Cook) as the shaving grass of Europe which was formerly used by English joiners.
As the Endeavour sailed along the south coast of New Guinea the breezes from the shore would be strongly impregnated with the trees, shrubs, and herbage, which was pleasantly aromatic. At some point on the south coast of New Guinea about 130 miles to the east of Valsche Cape (False Cape) the Endeavour anchored for a short time whilst Cook, Banks, and a small party of men went on shore, in all twelve persons well armed. The coast was very low, and covered with a luxuriance of wood and herbage that can scarcely be conceived. They were obliged to wade 200 yards till they reached the strand, where they saw the prints of human feet. Walking along the outskirts of the forest they came to a grove of coconut trees on the banks of a little brackish stream. They looked at the fruit very wistfully, but, not thinking it safe to climb, were obliged to leave without tasting a single nut. Suddenly three Papuans rushed out of the forest with a hideous shout, and as they ran towards them the foremost threw something out of his hand which burnt exactly like gunpowder but made no report. The other two instantly threw their lances, and as there was now no time to be lost the Eurupeans fired their guns, which were loaded with small shot. Several still came on. Bullets were used, and then they ran away, whilst the white men retreated to the water and a boat. As they waded away from the shore a number of Papuans came out to attack them, which they did by discharging some flaming substance through a short piece of stick, probably a hollow cane. "This wonderful phenomenon was observed from the ship, and the deception was so great that the people on board thought they had firearms." Having made this attack they retired, and the people of Cook's party picked up the fire-producing weapons. They were found to be light darts about 4 feet long, of reed or bamboo, pointed with hard wood in which were many barbs. They were apparently hurled with a throwing-stick like the lances of the Australians.
Passing by the south end of Timor they saw unexpectedly an island, which they thought at first was a new discovery. It was Savu, midway between Timor and Sumba, or Sandalwood Island. To their great surprise they saw not only people dressed more or less after the fashion of Europeans, but numerous flocks of sheep. The second lieutenant landed and was received with great civility. Moving round to a better anchorage they saw the Dutch colours. The raja or chief of the island, who had with him a Portuguese interpreter, explained that he would be delighted to afford them stores and other assistance, if they could first obtain the permission of the Dutch East India Company, without which he was not able to trade with any other people. This Company was represented in Savu at that time by a German named Lange. He came on board and behaved with great civility, bringing with him the raja of the island. But in spite of fine words it was with the utmost difficulty, and after many delays, that Cook's party obtained any supply of fresh provisions, the Dutch Company's agent pretending that he had received instructions from his superior officers on the Island of Timor to render no assistance. In fact, Cook would have fared very badly had it not been for the inherent good nature of the Malay people of the island. He pleaded with the raja for liberty to purchase one pig and some rice, as they were so urgently in need of fresh provisions. The king replied graciously that he would give them a dinner himself.
"About five o'clock dinner was ready; it was served in six-and-thirty dishes, or rather baskets, containing alternately rice and pork, and three bowls of earthenware, filled with the liquor in which the pork had been boiled; these were ranged upon the floor, and mats laid round them for us to sit upon. We were then conducted by turns to a hole in the floor, near which stood a man with water in a vessel made of the leaves of the fan-palm, who assisted us in washing our hands. When this was done, we placed ourselves round the victuals, and waited for the king. As he did not come, we enquired for him, and were told that the custom of the country did not permit the person who gave the entertainment to sit down with his guests; but that, if we suspected the victuals to be poisoned, he would come and taste it. We immediately declared that we had no such suspicion, and desired that none of the rituals of hospitality might be violated on our account. The Prime Minister and Mr. Lange were of our party, and we made a most luxurious meal; we thought the pork and rice excellent, and the broth not to be despised; but the spoons, which were made of leaves, were so small that few of us had patience to use them. After dinner, our wine passed briskly about, and we again enquired for our royal host, thinking that though the custom of his country would not allow him to eat with us, he might at least share in the jollity of our bottle; but he again excused himself, saying, that the master of a feast should never be drunk, which there was no certain way to avoid but by not tasting the liquor. We did not however drink our wine where we had eaten our victuals; but as soon as we had dined made room for the seamen and servants, who immediately took our places: they could not despatch all that we had left, but the women who came to clear away the bowls and baskets, obliged them to carry away with them what they had not eaten."
At length the old man who was the king's Prime Minister, and who was won over by the present of a spyglass and a broadsword, intervened with a show of force, and the Dutch-German factor and his Portuguese colleague had to give way. Cook purchased 9 buffaloes, 6 sheep, 3 pigs, 360 fowls, a few limes, some coconuts, dozens of eggs, a little garlic, and several gallons of palm syrup—a most welcome addition to the food supply of the ship, which by this time had been reduced in the matter of fresh provisions to a single sheep, and probably the saving of life for many invalids on board. The sheep which he bought on the island were like those of Southern India, with hair instead of wool, very long, pendent ears, and arched noses.
This small island of Savu was densely inhabited, and could raise from out of the five principalities into which it was divided an army of at least 7700 men armed with muskets, spears, lances, and pole-axes. The people were somewhat elaborately dressed, and had a great variety of food owing to the abundance of domestic animals and of vegetables. They were made hideous by the abuse of the betelnut, the chewing of which with lime darkened their teeth and wore them down to the gums. But they were very proud of their pedigrees, which they traced back for generations. Each raja set up in the principal town of his province a large stone which served as a memorial of his reign. Many of these stones were so large that it is difficult to conceive by what means they were raised to their present position on summits of hills. Muhammadanism had not yet reached them, nor had Christianity. Their religion was described as "absurd", inasmuch as each man chose his own god and determined for himself how he should be worshipped. Nevertheless, their morals were irreproachable. They were honest, and although warlike in disposition kept the peace amongst one another. Their style of living was remarkable for delicacy and cleanliness. They appeared to be healthy and long-lived.
From Savu the Endeavour reached without difficulty Batavia, the capital of Java and of the Dutch Indies. But her arrival at Batavia, together with the facilities which were given to Cook by the Dutch Government for repairing his ship—to say nothing of the pleasure of finding oneself amongst Europeans and even Englishmen for the first time after having sailed half round the globe—were of small consolation in the presence of a terrible sickness which seized on all of them owing to the unhealthy nature of the place. Tupia and his boy Taito, who had come with them all the way from Tahiti, and who had been through such wonderful adventures in New Zealand and elsewhere, and who showed themselves so intensely delighted with the varied aspect of civilization at Batavia, both succumbed to illness, and died. Banks and Solander were so bad that they also nearly died; Monkhouse, the surgeon, and several seamen perished. Cook himself was very ill. Every individual, in fact, of the Endeavour's crew was ill except the sailmaker, an old man between seventy and eighty years of age. Five Englishmen out of the crew were buried at Batavia, besides the two Tahitians.
From Java they sailed to the Cape of Good Hope, where they stayed for rest and refreshment, and after calling at St. Helena the Endeavour anchored in the Downs off Deal, and at that place Cook landed on 12 June, 1771, after his circumnavigation of the world, which opened a new epoch in colonial history.
Cook was commended highly by the Admiralty for his services, and he was made a Fellow by the Royal Society, very small rewards for such a wonderful achievement. [To excuse their niggardliness in this respect the Government of the day said, after Cook was dead, that had he lived to return from his third voyage he might have been made a baronet!] But perhaps the most striking evidence of the insolent indifference to Cook's interests was displayed by the Board of Admiralty in regard to Cook's Journals and Banks's elaborate records of the ethnology, botany, and zoology observed in the course of the wonderful voyage. All this material was placed in the hands of a Dr. Hawkesworth by Lord Sandwich, the dissolute and vicious Minister[90] at the head of the Admiralty, simply because Hawkesworth had been introduced to him by the actor Garrick as a writer of plays for the stage. Wishing to help Hawkesworth with funds, without putting his hand in his pocket, Lord Sandwich handed over to him Cook's Journals, and induced Banks to do the like with his own work. Hawkesworth then sold the joint work of Cook and Banks to publishers and booksellers for £6000, which he invested on his own behalf, and which—for he died soon afterwards—passed to his widow without benefiting Cook (Banks being rich did not need it) in the least. Banks, it must be remembered, had spent something like £8000 on the expedition.