On 31 March, 1770, the Endeavour sailed from Cape Farewell on the north coast of the South Island of New Zealand, and on 19 April sighted the coast of what Cook still knew as "New Holland", which was, of course, the south-eastern extremity of Australia near Cape Howe. Cook then sailed along the coast to the northward, seeing smoke in several places, by which he knew the country to be inhabited. A camel-like mountain was called Mount Dromedary, a peaked hill, which resembled a square dovehouse with a dome at the top, was called Pigeonhouse, names which seem to have disappeared from the map of Australia. An attempt to land near the place now called Sutherland[82] was defeated by the heavy surf which lashed the white cliffs, while the natives on the beach, whose presence had attracted them, ran away. They were therefore obliged to guess at the landscape from a distance, and even then they observed that although there were numerous trees there was no underwood.

At last a bay—the celebrated Botany Bay, as it was subsequently named—opened before the Endeavour. The astonished natives appeared again on the beach, gazing at the ship as she slowly made her way into sheltered waters. They were absolutely naked, but their faces were dusted over with a white powder, and their bodies were painted in stripes of the same colour, which, passing obliquely over their breasts and backs, appeared like the belts worn crosswise in those days by British soldiers. Similar streaks were drawn round their legs and thighs like broad garters. They were armed with long wooden pikes, and "a wooden weapon shaped somewhat like a scimitar". This was the celebrated boomerang, the curved or crooked flat piece of wood which was one of Man's earliest weapons. Hurled by a practised hand it will whirl through the air, and unless it strikes the object aimed at with its sharp, flat edge, it returns almost to the spot from which it has been thrown. The boomerang has been in use at one time or another from West Africa to east Australia, and was once used in ancient Egypt. Reproduced in metal it is the origin of the throwing-knife of North Central Africa.

On Saturday, 28 April, 1770, the Endeavour anchored in Botany Bay, abreast of a small village consisting of six or eight houses. As the sailors were preparing to hoist out the boat they saw an old man, followed by three children, come out of the forest carrying firewood, and each of the children had also its little burden. Other children came out to meet them, and all alike gazed at the ship without either fear or surprise. The women set to work to kindle a fire, and four canoes came in from fishing. The men landed, and, having hauled up their boats, began to dress their dinner, to all appearance wholly unconcerned about this wonderful arrival, though the Endeavour was anchored within half a mile of them. As soon, however, as Cook and his party landed, two men of the native Australians came down to dispute their landing, whilst the others ran away. Each of these men was armed with a wooden lance about 10 feet long, and a short stick. They called out to the white men in a very loud tone in a hard, dissonant language, which neither the Englishmen nor Tupia, their Polynesian interpreter, understood in the least. They brandished their weapons and seemed resolved to defend their coast to the uttermost, though they were but two and the white men forty in number. Unwilling to provoke hostilities, Cook ordered the boat to lie upon her oars, and commenced to parley by signs, and to bespeak the goodwill of these stark-naked savages, throwing them at the same time nails, beads, and other trifles, which they took up and seemed to be well pleased with.

These overtures were of no use, however. As soon as the boat neared the shore the men again opposed the landing. A musket, consequently, was fired in the air, and upon hearing the report the younger of the two men dropped a bundle of lances, then in an instant snatched them up again and threw a stone, upon which a musket was fired with small shot, which struck the elder man in the legs. He immediately ran to one of the houses, which was distant about 100 yards, but only to return with a shield for his defence. As soon as he came up he threw a wooden lance, and his comrade another. Fortunately none of the white men was struck. A third musket with small shot was then fired at them, another lance was thrown, and at last the Australians ran away sufficiently far into the woods to make it prudent for the white men to venture into the village. Amongst these huts they found the children, who had hidden themselves behind a shield and some bark. They were left in their retreat, but beads, ribbons, and pieces of cloth and other presents were thrown into the huts to secure the goodwill of the inhabitants. Some of the lances lying about were taken away. They were from 6 to 15 feet long, and all of them had four prongs, each of which was armed with fish bone, and very sharp. They were in reality a kind of fish harpoon. The canoes are described as having been the worst that Cook had ever seen, between 12 and 14 feet long, and simply made (as already described in Chapter II) out of the bark of a tree removed in a single piece, tied at each end, and the middle kept open by sticks used as thwarts from gunwale to gunwale.

Crossing over to the north side of the bay, fresh water was found trickling down from the top of the rocks. None of the presents left in the huts were taken, nor were the natives inclined to enter into friendly relations. The face of the country round about Botany Bay was finely diversified by woods and grassy lawns. The trees were tall and straight, and standing at such a distance from each other that the whole country (wrote Cook) might be cultivated without cutting down one of them. Between the trees the ground was covered with grass, of which there was great abundance, growing in tufts about as big as could be well grasped in the hand. They had a transient view of an animal about as big as a rabbit, and came upon traces of what was really a kangaru, together with the footsteps of a beast like a wolf (a dingo or native dog), and the tracks of a polecat or weasel (the small white-spotted native "cats" or dasyures). The branches over their heads abounded with birds of exquisite beauty, particularly parrakeets and cockatoos, which flew in flocks of several scores together. Many of the trees had been barked, and one or two had been felled by some blunt instrument. Those that were standing, especially such as yielded gum, had had steps cut into their trunks, about 3 feet distant from each other, so that the natives could climb them. Some of the trees bore fruit that in colour and shape resembled a cherry; the juice had an agreeable tartness, but little flavour. About the head of the bay they traversed natural lawns which seemed to Cook the finest meadows in the world.

On the beach there was an abundance of mussels and oysters, some of which latter had been already roasted by the natives, and were eaten by Cook and his party. Banks shot a number of quails resembling those of England. One of the midshipmen accompanying a party sent to get into touch with the natives (who did nothing but run away whenever they were approached) strayed from his companions and suddenly found himself in the presence of a very old man and woman and some little children. They showed no signs of fear, and did not attempt to run away. The midshipman gave them a parrot which he had just killed, but they refused to accept it. All these people seemed a dark chocolate brown in colour. Both men and women were grey-headed. The hair of the men was long and ragged, while the women's hair was cropped short.

On the north shore of the bay there were no trees, and the ground resembled an English moor, its surface being covered with a thin scrub of plants about as high as the knees.

On Sunday, 6 May, 1770, the Endeavour sailed out of Botany Bay (as the place had been named, on account the abundance of wild flowers), and as she passed northwards Cook noticed a harbour which seemed to promise great things, and named it Port Jackson. This was the celebrated harbour of Sydney, one of the most remarkable inlets of the sea for beauty, extent, and the variety and number of deep and sheltered anchorages, to be found anywhere in the world. As the Endeavour sailed northwards the land gradually increased in height, so that it became actually mountainous, with a pleasing variety of hills and plains all clothed with woods. Cook sighted the large islands off the pleasant town of Brisbane (the capital of Queensland), and named one of them Cape Moreton. The coast of Queensland (as long afterwards it came to be called) was less hilly than that of New South Wales. Rounding the great promontory of Sandy Cape, the Endeavour anchored in what was then and there called Bustard Bay, from the killing and eating of a fine large bustard as big as a turkey.[83] "We all agreed that this was the best bird we had eaten since we left England." The landing parties found innumerable oysters—some of them pearl-producing, others hammer-shaped—on the mud banks under the mangroves. Upon these mangroves also were swarms of small green caterpillars, the bodies of which were thick-set with hairs. "They were ranged upon the leaves side by side, like a file of soldiers, to the number of twenty or thirty: when we touched them we found that the hair of their bodies had the quality of a nettle, and gave us an acute though less durable pain." Among the shoals and sandbanks were many water birds, especially the large black-and-white pelicans, but the country inland was not so attractive as the region round Botany Bay, being dry and sandy, though the sides of the hills were covered sparsely with trees, most of them eucalypti, yielding a yellow gum. The natives seen in the distance from time to time were few in numbers, and seemed to lead an even more barbarous life than those of New South Wales, to be without houses as well as clothes, and to sleep in the open air. But they made use of fire, and even constructed rough drinking vessels out of bark, and made bark beds, and shelters against which they slept.

The Endeavour again came to an anchor in the vicinity of Keppel Bay (near Rockhampton). The water had become very shallow, and they had to stop to find a channel. Banks took advantage of this halt to fish from the cabin windows with hook and line, and in this way managed to catch some of the crabs which swarmed over the sea bottom. One of these was an exceedingly beautiful creature, adorned with the finest blue that can be imagined, with a white under side, and so exquisitely polished that its blue and white resembled old china. Another crab was marked with vivid ultramarine upon his joints and toes, and had on his back three large brown spots of singular appearance. A landing was made in Shoalwater Bay, and they found the ground covered with a kind of grass, the seeds of which were very sharp and bearded backwards, so that when they stuck into the clothes they worked inwards by means of the beard till they got at the flesh.[84] There were also clouds of mosquitoes which tormented the landing party with their bites. As usual the trees seemed to be mainly gums of the eucalyptus type. On the branches of some of these were large ant nests made of clay, as big as a bushel. There were also an incredible number of butterflies: for the space of 3 or 4 acres the air would be so crowded with them that millions must have been visible in every direction, while the branches and twigs of the trees were covered with those that were not in flight. They also found a small fish (the Periophthalmus or mud-skipper) "about the size of a minnow", with two very strong breast-fins, in places that were quite dry, where it might have been left by the tide. It did not seem to feel the want of water, but leapt about by means of the breast-fins as nimbly as a frog. Even when found in the water it leapt out and pursued its way upon dry ground, and in shallow water it liked to progress by leaping from stone to stone above the surface.

On the islands off this coast of northern Queensland they noted that the natives were provided with outrigger canoes, showing that Melanesian or Polynesian influence had once reached this part.

All this was a dangerous coast where the sea in many parts concealed shoals which suddenly projected from the shore and rocks that rose abruptly, like a pyramid, from the bottom to within a few inches of the surface. For more than 1300 miles the navigation of the Endeavour had been a source of the utmost anxiety to Cook and to her sailing-master. Anxiety was to be followed by actual misfortune near Cape Tribulation, a point which lies to the north of a very mountainous part of the north Queensland coast region, where the peaks rise to altitudes of nearly 6000 feet. On this coast the water shallowed suddenly, the ship struck, and remained immovable, except for the heaving of the surge which beat her against the rocks on which she lay. In a few moments everyone was on deck with countenances fully expressing the horror of their situation. The rock was evidently of coral, which is the most fatal kind owing to its hardness and sharpness. Against these pinnacles the bottom of the ship was being rubbed away by the rising and falling of the swell. The sails were at once taken in, and it was found that the Endeavour had been lifted over a ledge of the rock by the surge and lay in a hollow inside it, in about 18 to 24 feet of water. For hours they strove by means of anchors and cables to warp her off the rock into deeper water and so get her out to sea; but she was immovable, and yet all this time continued to beat with great violence against the rock, so that it was with the utmost difficulty her crew could keep upon their legs. To add to their distress of mind they saw by the light of the moon the shifting boards from the bottom of the vessel floating around her, and at last her false keel, so that every moment the time was coming nearer in which the sea would rush into the ship and swallow her up. Land was actually about 24 miles distant. However, the wind gradually died away. Had it continued, the ship must inevitably have gone to pieces, and Cook and all his party would probably never have been heard of again; for the boats were insufficient to carry them all at once on shore, and even if they had reached the land it is doubtful whether they could have survived, for their northward march along the Cape York Peninsula would have been dogged by hostile natives, who would in the end have succeeded in killing and eating them. Even supposing they had reached Torres Straits and managed by means of native canoes to cross over to New Guinea, a similar fate awaited them there, for that part of New Guinea was then quite out of touch with the Dutch possessions.

However, the wind and swell having died down, everything that they could possibly throw overboard was thrown out of the ship (now heeling over dangerously to starboard). The pumps were incessantly at work keeping at bay the appalling inrush of the sea through the cracks and holes made by the injuries to the ship's sides and bottom. At last with the rise of the tide the Endeavour righted herself so that she rode on an even keel and was apparently floating off. But even then they dreaded that when she was free of the rocks she might founder with the inrush of water through the leaks. "We well knew that our boats were not capable of carrying us all on shore, and that when the dreadful crisis should arrive, as all command and subordination would be at an end, a contest for preference would probably ensue that would increase the horrors even of shipwreck and terminate in the destruction of all of us at the hands of each other.... To those only who have waited in such a state of suspense, death has approached in all its terrors; and as the dreadful moment that was to determine our fate came on, everyone saw his own sensations pictured in the countenances of his companions."

However, the capstan and windlass were manned with as many hands as could be spared from the pumps, and the ship floating about twenty minutes after ten o'clock, a great effort was made, and she was warped and heaved into deep water. It was some comfort to find that she did not now admit more water than she had done upon the rock; and though, by the gaining of the leak upon the pumps, there was no less than 3 feet 9 inches of water in the hold, yet the men did not relinquish their labour, and held the water, as it were, at bay. "But having now endured excessive fatigue of body and agitation of mind for more than four-and-twenty hours, and having but little hope of succeeding at last, they began to flag: none of them could work at the pump more than five or six minutes together, and then, being totally exhausted, they threw themselves down upon the deck, though a stream of water was running over it from the pumps between 3 and 4 inches deep; when those who succeeded them had worked their spell, and were exhausted in their turn, they threw themselves down in the same manner, and the others started up again, and renewed their labour; thus relieving each other, till an accident was very near putting an end to their efforts at once. The planking which lines the inside of the ship's bottom is called the ceiling, and between this and the outside planking there is a space of about 18 inches: the man who till this time had attended the well to take the depth of water, had taken it only to the ceiling, and gave the measure accordingly; but he being now relieved, the person who came in his stead reckoned the depth to the outside planking, by which it appeared in a few minutes to have gained upon the pumps 18 inches, the difference between the planking without and within. Upon this, even the bravest was upon the point of giving up his labour with his hope, and in a few minutes everything would have been involved in all the confusion of despair. But this accident, however dreadful in its first consequences, was eventually the cause of our preservation: the mistake was soon detected, and the sudden joy which every man felt upon finding his situation better than his fears had suggested, operated like a charm, and seemed to possess him with a strong belief that scarcely any real danger remained."

The men now renewed their efforts with such alacrity and spirit, that before eight o'clock in the morning the leak no longer gained upon them, but the pumps gained considerably upon the leak. They cut most of their cables with the consequent loss of anchors, but got once more under sail and stood for the land.

It would, however, have been impossible to continue indefinitely the frightful labour of pumping out the sea water as fast as it poured in through the leaks, and the expedition would only have received a miserable respite but for the ingenious suggestion made by the same reckless midshipman, Monkhouse, who had been so ready to open fire on boisterous natives. He approached his commander, and proposed an expedient he had once seen used on board a merchant ship, which sprung a leak that admitted more than 4 feet of water an hour, and yet by this expedient had been brought safely from North America to London.[85] To midshipman Monkhouse, therefore, the care of the expedient, which is called "fothering" the ship, was immediately committed, four or five of the people being appointed to assist him, and he performed it in this manner: "He took the lower studding sail, and having mixed together a large quantity of oakham and wool, chopped pretty small, he stitched it down in handfuls upon the sail, as lightly as possible, and over this he spread the dung of our sheep and other filth. When the sail was thus prepared, it was hauled under the ship's bottom by ropes, which kept it extended, and when it came under the leak, the suction which carried in the water, carried in with it the oakham and wool from the surface of the sail, which in other parts the water was not sufficiently agitated to wash off. By the success of this expedient our leak was so far reduced that, instead of gaining upon three pumps, it was easily kept under by one. This was a new source of confidence and comfort; the people could scarcely have expressed more joy if they had been already in port." Cook goes on to observe in his journal that even when everything looked at its worst both officers and crew exhibited perfect possession of mind, and that everyone exerted himself to the uttermost, "with a quiet and patient perseverance, equally distant from the tumultuous violence of terror, and the gloomy inactivity of despair".

Sailing away with this device, which reduced the leaking of the ship to only about 15 inches of water an hour, easily kept at bay by the pumps, Cook passed close to two small islands, which at one time had seemed almost unattainable, and which out of gratitude he called Hope Islands. "In all the joy of our unexpected deliverance we had not forgotten that there was nothing but a lock of wool between us and destruction." At last they managed to reach the right kind of harbour at the place where the great town of Cooktown now stands. Here the ship was run up against a steep part of the shore, the stores, provisions, and the men were all transferred to the beach, where a camp was made and tents were put up for the sick; for, in addition to their other troubles, scurvy had broken out. Amongst other people thus affected was Tupia, the invaluable Polynesian interpreter, who, however, no sooner got on shore than he caught plenty of fresh fish and obtained herbs which cured his scurvy. Banks explored the country in all directions. There were many traces of the natives, but none of these people were visible. In his walks he met with vast flocks of pigeons and crows[86], and the pigeons (the plumage of which was exceedingly beautiful) proved most welcome as stores of fresh food.

On examining the main leak of the ship it was found that the coral rocks had pierced through four planks even into the timbers of her construction. There was not a splinter to be seen, but all was as smooth as though it had been cut by sharp instruments. The vessel would have been inevitably swamped but that a portion of the leak was filled up by fragments of rock broken off the spikes of coral.

On shore, palms yielding "cabbages" were found, which proved to be a grateful supply of vegetable food, and they even met with clumps of wild bananas yielding small fruit with nice-tasting pulp, but full of hard black seeds. "As I was walking this morning at a little distance from the ship", wrote Cook in his journal, "I saw myself one of the animals which had been so often described. It was of a light mouse colour, and in size and shape very much resembled a greyhound. It had a long tail also.... I should have taken it for a wild dog if instead of running it had not leapt like a hare or bird." It was, in fact, a kangaru. They also saw two animals like dogs (dingoes), of a straw colour. There were very large fruit-eating bats, "as big as a partridge", with wide-stretching black wings.

At last, after they had been many days on shore, they succeeded in getting into touch with the natives, who were more amenable to reason than the savages farther south. Their skin was dark chocolate, the hair was black, in some cases lank and in others curly, but never woolly like the Papuans. Their bodies were painted with streaks of red and white, the features of their faces were agreeable, and their voices were soft and tuneful. One of them wore the bone of a bird 5 or 6 inches long thrust through the gristle between the nostrils. However, the kindness shown them led these people on to acts of great presumption. They began to pester the party on land with requests for food, and, when this was denied them, gave way to transports of rage, and finally, seizing brands from a fire, set light to the dry grass. Having in this way nearly succeeded in destroying the camp, it was necessary to shoot at them with muskets. With great difficulty peace was made, which was perhaps fortunate, for the seamen, straying out in all directions in search of food, encountered parties of native Australians who might otherwise have killed them had they not been reassured as to the intentions of the white men. In one such instance a seaman found himself alone in a little camp of four natives, who had kindled a fire and were broiling a bird over it together with part of a kangaru. The seaman, being unarmed, was very much alarmed, but had the presence of mind to assume a placid demeanour. He sat down with the people and offered them his knife, but after examining it they returned it to him politely. They examined his hands and face and clothes with the greatest attention, and then made signs that he could go away if he wished, a leave which he hastened to take. It was invariably found, however, that presents given to these people, whether cloth, beads, trinkets, or iron, were thrown away as useless lumber. The expedition also obtained a specimen of phalanger, a marsupial often misnamed the Australian opossum.[87] These phalangers or cuscuses had already been sent home to European collections from the Dutch East Indies, and had been described and named by Buffon, the great eighteenth-century French zoologist. Among the birds seen at Endeavour Harbour, where the ship was laid up for repairs, and where the chief fresh food of the crew was the green turtle, were Australian crows, kites, hawks, black cockatoos and white cockatoos, many beautiful parrots and parrakeets, a variety of pigeons, tree-ducks (noted for their whistling cry), geese, and curlews. On the islands off the coast which they touched at as they sailed northwards there were large Monitor lizards; and the nests of great eagles could be seen, mostly built on the ground. In their passage northward they were again and again within a few yards of destruction amongst the shoals, the coral reefs, the sudden storms, and the holes of unfathomable water. The dangers of navigating the unknown parts of the vast Pacific Ocean were greatly increased by having a crazy ship and by being short of provisions, "yet the first adventures of a first discoverer made us cheerfully encounter every danger".

On Tuesday, 21 August, 1770, Cook rounded Cape York and realized that he was quitting the shores of Australia and had found a passage between that island continent and New Guinea—the straits through which the Spaniard, Torres, had sailed in 1607, the existence of which had been entirely overlooked or forgotten. Cook, believing that he had at last found a passage into the Indian Ocean, landed on a little islet, climbed its highest hill, and hoisted the British flag, taking possession of the whole eastern coast of Australia (by the name of "New South Wales") on behalf of His Majesty King George III, "with all the bays, harbours, rivers, and islands situated upon it".

No clue is given in Cook's journals to his reason for giving the very inappropriate name of New South Wales to the eastern side of the Australian continent.

Almost unconsciously they rounded the northernmost extremity of Australia, feeling their way between islands, sandbanks, and shoals. On 23 August, 1770, they saw an open sea to the westward and realized that they were passing Tasman's Gulf of Carpentaria, and that they had discovered (in reality, rediscovered) the important strait between New Guinea and Australia, proving that the last-named (which they knew as "New Holland"), though continental in size, was in reality a separate island, and not connected with New Guinea.

New South Wales and much of Queensland was found by Cook to be fairly well watered, with innumerable small brooks and springs, but no great rivers. Access to the coast was much obstructed by the dense mangrove thickets. Eucalyptus was the most prominent type of tree in the forests. Cook observed two sorts of this "gum tree", with its "narrow leaves not much unlike those of a willow", and its gum of a deep-red colour. The pine trees[88] he mentions were probably species of Araucaria and Frenela (miscalled Callitris). They found three different kinds of palm[89], that which grew in the southern part of New South Wales had fan-shaped fronds, and the heart of the palm (namely, the undeveloped fronds—the cabbage, as it was called by the mariners in those days, who depended on it so much for vegetable food) was exceedingly sweet to the taste. The nuts which it bore in great abundance were good food for pigs. The second palm, also producing an edible cabbage, had large pinnated fronds like those of the coconut; and the third kind, which, like the second, was found only in northern Queensland, was seldom more than 10 feet high, with fronds resembling those of a large fern. It bore no cabbage, but a plentiful crop of nuts the size of a large chestnut only rounder, nuts that were probably roasted and eaten by the aborigines. Nevertheless, when eaten by Europeans, they proved almost poisonous, causing them to vomit and to be purged with great violence.

The conclusions at which Cook arrived in regard to the aborigines of Australia were singularly accurate, considering that he had only landed about five times on the coast of New South Wales and Queensland, and had in addition only the scanty records of Dampier and the Dutch seamen regarding the western coast of Australia. He argues from the utter savagery of these coast natives, and from the Dutch accounts of the desolate, parched nature of the south and west coasts of Australia, that the interior is probably mainly desert and uninhabitable. Their houses, which were seen at their best at Botany Bay, were just high enough for a man to sit upright in, and not large enough for him to lie down at full length. They were built with pliable rods as thick as a man's finger, in the form of an oven, the two ends being stuck into the ground. These withes were then covered with palm leaves and broad pieces of bark, and the door was nothing but a large hole at one end. In other words, they were precisely like the houses built by the pygmies in some parts of the Congo Forest. Inside these huts they slept three or four in number, coiled up. Their only implements seemed to be made of bark or netted fibre. Pieces of bark were tied at the two ends with some lithe twig which served as a handle, and these bark basins or buckets would then hold water. In addition the natives roughly knitted together long fibres into bags, which they slung by a string over the head. But their fish hooks were very neatly made of shell, and some exceedingly small. For striking turtle they had a barbed wooden harpoon, the detachable end of which was fastened into a staff of light wood, to which was tied a line of fibrous string, while the other end of the bush rope was fastened to the harpoon. After striking the turtle the barbed end of this weapon would become detached in the animal's body, while the staff, being of light wood, rose to the surface and served as a float by which the victim could be traced, and also as a drag on his speed. They were able to make string from some fibre which ranged from the thickness of a half-inch rope to the fineness of a hair, and argued some skill on their part. Their cooking was done by broiling on coals or baking in a hole with the help of hot stones. They had no nets for catching fish, though they used a hook and line and also the harpoon. The boomerang was almost their only weapon for bringing down birds. They produced fire by whirling a drilling-stick into a piece of soft wood, getting a spark in less than two minutes. "We have often seen one of them running along the shore, to all appearance with nothing in his hand, who, stooping down for a moment at the distance of every 50 or 100 yards, left fire behind him, as we could see first by the smoke and then by the flame amongst the driftwood and other litter. We had the curiosity to examine one of these planters of fire when he set off, and we saw him wrap up a small spark in dry grass, which when he had run a little way, having been fanned by the air that his motion produced, began to blaze. He then laid it down in a place convenient for his purpose, enclosing a spark of it in another quantity of grass, and so continued his course."

By setting fire to the bush the natives managed to surround and kill a number of animals—kangarus, emus, lizards, &c.

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.