The Life of Captain James Cook, the CircumnavigatorKitson, Arthur
History
The Life of Captain James Cook, the Circumnavigator
Kitson, Arthur
Cook, James, 1728-1779; Explorers -- Great Britain -- Biography; Geographers -- Great Britain -- Biography
In Admiralty Bay, which he entered to refit for the homeward voyage, the
sails were found to require a thorough overhaul, for, as Banks says,
they:
"were ill-provided from the first, and were now worn and damaged by the
rough work they had gone through, particularly on the New Zealand coast,
and they gave no little trouble to get into order again."
The two points forming the bay were appropriately named after the
Secretaries of the Admiralty, Stephens and Jackson.
The opinion was expressed that European fruits, grain, etc., would grow
well in New Zealand, and an agricultural population would be successful.
Timber of excellent quality was plentiful, and it was believed that New
Zealand flax promised to be of considerable commercial value. Fish was
found in great quantities, the lobsters and oysters being specially
remarkable for quality and quantity. No quadrupeds except dogs and rats
were seen, and birds did not seem very plentiful. The minerals, in Cook's
opinion, did not appear of much value, but he admitted that he was not an
authority on the subject. Banks notes the southern islanders appeared to
be an inferior race to those of the north, the latter probably more
closely allied to the Otaheitan type; many of their customs were similar,
and their language practically identical. Tupia had no difficulty in
making himself understood.
It would seem that even at this time founding a colony in the southern
hemisphere had been under discussion, for Cook says that if a settlement
were decided on in New Zealand, he would recommend the Estuary of the
Thames and the Bay of Islands as most suitable for the purpose.
Speaking of his chart of New Zealand, Cook points out frankly the places
where he thinks he may have fallen into error, and gives his reasons for
so thinking, and the opinions of others are worth recording.
A DULL SAILOR.
Admiral Wharton says:
"Never has a coast been as well laid down by a first explorer, and it
must have required unceasing vigilance and continual observation in fair
weather and foul, to arrive at such a satisfactory conclusion, and with
such a dull sailor as the Endeavour was, the six and a half months
occupied in the work (2,400 miles of coast) must be counted as a short
interval in which to do it."
M. Crozet, second to M. Marion du Fresne in command of the French
expedition that was out in the following year, says:
"As soon as I obtained information of the voyage of Cook, I carefully
compared the chart I had prepared of that part of the coast of New
Zealand along which we had coasted, with that prepared by Captain Cook
and his officers. I found it of an exactitude and of a thoroughness of
detail which astonished me beyond all power of expression. I doubt
whether our own coasts of France have been delineated with more
precision. I think therefore that I cannot do better than to lay down our
track of New Zealand on the chart prepared by the celebrated English
navigator."
CHAPTER 10. 1770. AUSTRALIA.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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