Captain Cook: His Life, Voyages, and Discoveries

by William Henry Giles Kingston

raging, roaring sea leaped up on either side; the breeze filled the sails; the tide swept rapidly onward; and in a short time the Endeavour was within the reef, safe from present danger, and anchored in nineteen-fathom water.

Captain Cook now resolved to keep the land close on board, in spite of all dangers, for fear of missing the channel. Numerous islands and headlands were passed and named, and rocks and reefs were escaped, and at length perseverance and sagacity were rewarded by the discovery of York Cape, the northern promontory of the country, and the southern side of Torres Straits, through which the Endeavour triumphantly passed.

As Captain Cook was now about to leave the eastern coast of New Holland, which he had followed up from latitude 38 degrees, and which he was confident no European had ever before seen, he landed on an island, which he named Possession Island, and once more took formal possession of the whole eastern coast of the mainland, in right of His Majesty King George the Third. He gave to the country, with all its bays, rivers, and islands, the name of New South Wales. Three volleys of small arms were then fired, and these were answered by the same number from the ship. Ten natives were seen on the island when this ceremony was performed, and seemed astounded, as they very well might be.

They were seen to be armed with spears; one of them had also a bow and a bundle of arrows, which weapons had not before been seen. Two of them had large ornaments of mother-of-pearl hanging round their necks. It was expected that when the boats approached they would have made a show of opposing a landing, but instead of that, they walked leisurely away. They and their descendants have never been disturbed in their possession of the island, and at the present day it is exactly in the state it was when Cook visited it.

Some time was occupied in the intricate navigation of the straits, and the Endeavour then steered north, along the south-western coast of New Guinea, but the water being shallow, at such a distance from the shore that it could scarcely be seen from the ship. Still, as the commander wished to ascertain the character of the country and the appearance of the inhabitants, he steered in for the land till about three or four miles from it, and in three-fathom water, when the ship came to an anchor on September 3.

The pinnace being hoisted out, Captain Cook, with Mr Banks and his servants, Dr Solander and the boat’s crew, in all twelve persons, well armed, embarked in her and pulled directly for the shore. But the water was so shallow that they could not reach it by about two hundred yards; they therefore waded the rest of the way, and left two seamen to take care of the boat. As yet no inhabitants had been seen, but when the party landed they discovered the print of feet on the sand below high-water mark, showing that people had lately been there. A thick wood came down to within a hundred yards of the water. To avoid the risk of being cut off by an ambush, the explorers proceeded cautiously, skirting the wood till they came to a grove of cocoanut trees of small growth which stood on the bank of a little stream. The trees were well hung with fruit, and near them was a small hut, round which lay a number of the freshly picked shells. Tempting as was the fruit, it was not considered safe to climb the trees to obtain it; they were obliged, therefore, to leave the grove without tasting a nut. Farther on they met with a bread-fruit tree and some plantains, and had got about a quarter of a mile from the boat when three blacks rushed out of the wood with a hideous shout, and ran towards them. The foremost threw something from his hand which burnt like gunpowder, and the other two darted their lances at the strangers. As it was necessary to keep these savages at a distance, they were fired at with small shot, but as this did not make them retreat, and they threw another dart, some bullets were discharged at them. The effect was to make them run; but it was hoped that none of them were wounded. As Captain Cook says, he had no desire to invade the country, either to gratify appetite or curiosity; he judged it right and merciful to retreat at once, so as not to have to destroy more of the ignorant savages. There was no time to lose, as the men in the boat made signs that more natives were collecting. They had succeeded in getting safely on board, when they saw nearly a hundred savages, who shouted and threw fire-darts, several at a time, towards them. On board ship it was supposed, from the effect produced, that the natives had fire-arms, and even from the boat, had they not been so near, the English would have fancied, from the flash and smoke, that the blacks were firing musketry; the sound only was wanting. Some muskets being fired over their heads, they walked leisurely away.

In appearance these natives were very similar to those of New Holland, though their skin was not quite so dark. They were all stark naked. The land was low, and covered with a luxuriance of wood and herbage that can scarcely be conceived. Some of the officers wished to send on shore to cut down the cocoanut trees for the sake of the fruit, but the commander refused to comply with their proposal, feeling that it would be cruel and criminal to risk the lives of the natives, who would certainly try to defend their property, merely for the sake of a transient gratification. The boat was therefore hoisted in, and sail made to the westward.

The more interesting portion of Captain Cook’s first voyage round the world was now accomplished. He had successfully made the important observation for which he was sent out; he had become intimately acquainted with the inhabitants of Otaheite and several of the adjacent islands, though, from the cunning of the people, he had failed to discover that it was among the darkest of “the dark places of the earth.” He had shown that if there was a great southern continent it must be in a very high latitude; he had proved that New Zealand consisted of two great islands, and had cause to suspect the existence of a third smaller one. He had sailed along the coast of New Holland, and had made the acquaintance of its inhabitants and many of its animal and vegetable productions. Though he had seen the coast of Tasmania, and admired its beauty, he had not discovered that it was separated from New Holland; but he had settled the point before in dispute—whether that little-known land was or was not joined to New Guinea—by sailing between them; and he had shown that the eastern coast of the island-continent of Australia was fit to become the habitation of civilised men. This great fact was, after all, the most important result of the voyage.

The condition of the Endeavour had, by this time, become very critical. So battered were her lower timbers and planks, and so out of order were her pumps, that a heavy sea might at any moment have sent her to the bottom. It was absolutely necessary to find a harbour where she might be hove down to undergo a complete refit. Under these circumstances the commander of the expedition determined to go to Batavia, the capital of the Dutch settlements in the island of Java, and at that time the centre of commerce in those seas. He had, indeed, no option, for there was not another port which he could hope to reach, where the ship would receive the necessary repairs. He was not, indeed, ignorant of the unhealthiness of the climate; but he hoped not to be detained there long, and that his hardy crew would be able for a short time to withstand its ill effects.

The first island of any size which the Endeavour sighted after leaving New Guinea was Timor, along the shore of which she coasted. Notwithstanding the wishes of some of his officers, Captain Cook declined to put in there, as he was anxious to reach Batavia without delay. Between that island and Java, however, he fell in with a small island, which at first he thought was a new discovery; but on steering for it, and getting close in with the north side, houses, plantations, and numerous flocks of sheep were seen. The temptation of obtaining fresh meat and vegetables was not to be resisted, as there were many sick on board; and accordingly Mr Gore was sent on shore to open a communication with the natives. Two persons were seen riding on the hills as if for their amusement, and often stopping to look at the ship. This made the voyagers suspect that there must be a settlement of Europeans on the island. Such was in fact the case. The Dutch East India Company had a short time before taken possession of it, and sent a resident to superintend their affairs, though the native rajah or chief was still retained as the nominal ruler of the island. This island proved to be Savu, at that time so little known that it was not to be found on any of the charts on board. It is about thirty miles long, and was then very thickly populated.