16 October 1769

Joseph Banks's Journal: Daily Entries

Table of Contents On this day ... 16 October 1769 Endeavour Voyage Maps James Cook's Journal Ms 1, National Library of Australia Transcript of Cook's Journal Sydney Parkinson's Journal The authorised published account of Cook's Voyage by John Hawkesworth 1769 Annotations Index Search Contact us Search for in Falconer's Dictionary of the Marine

16 October 1769 16. Mountains coverd with snow were in sight again this morn so that there is probably a chain of them runs within the countrey. Land makes in smooth hills like downs with little or no wood in sight; after breakfast white cliffs again look as barren as ever. Vast shoals of fish were about the ship, pursued by as large flocks of brownish birds a little bigger than a pigeon Nectris munda. Their method of fishing was amusing enough, a whole flock of birds would follow the fish who swam fast along: they continualy plungd themselves under water and soon after rose again in another place, so that the whole flock vanishd sometimes, at others a large part of it and rose again often where you did not expect them, and in less than a minutes time they were down again and so alternately as long as we saw them. Before dinner we were abreast of another cape which made in a bluff rock, the upper part of a reddish coulourd stone or clay the lower white; beyond this the Countrey appeard pleasant with little smooth hills like downs. The Captn thought it not nescessary to proceed any farther on this side of the coast so the ships head was again turnd to the northward and the cape from thence call Cape Turnagain. At night we were off Hawks bay and saw two monstrous fires inland on the hills: we are now inclind to think that these and most if not all the great smoaks and fires that we have seen are made for the convenience of clearing land for tillage, but for whatever purposes intended they are a certain indication that where they are the countrey is inhabited. Voyaging Accounts © Derived from State Library of NSW 1998 Transcription of Banks's Endeavour Journal page (vol.2) 45, 2004 Published by kind permission of the Library https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/banks/17691016.html