17 January 1770

James Cook's Journal: Daily Entries

Table of Contents On this day ... 17 January 1770 Endeavour Voyage Maps James Cook's Journal Ms 1, National Library of Australia Joseph Banks's Journal Sydney Parkinson's Journal The authorised published account of Cook's Voyage by John Hawkesworth 1770 Index Search Contact us Search for Nautical Term in Falconer's Dictionary of the Marine...

17 January 1770 Wednesday 17th Light airs Calm and pleasent weathr     PM righted the Ship and got ready for heeling out the other side, and in ^the evening hauled the Saine and caught a few fish, while this was doing some of us went in the Pinnace into a nother Cove not far from where the Ship lays; in going thether we meet with a Woman floating upon the water who to all appearence had not been dead ma^ny days,  Soon after we landed we meet with two or three of the natives who not long before must have been regailing themselves upon human flesh for I got from one of them the bone of the fore arm of a Man or ^a Woman which was quite fresh and the flesh had been but lately pick'd off which they told us they had eat    they gave us to understand that but a few days before they had taken and Kill'd and eat a Boats crew of their enemies, or strangers, for I beleive they look upon all strangers as enemies; from what we could learn the Woman we had seen floating upon the water was in this boat and had been drownded in the fray. There was not one of us that had the least doubt but what this ^people were Canabals but the finding this Bone with ^ a small part of the sinews fresh upon it was a stronger proof than any we had yet met with, and in order to be fully satisfied of the truth of what they had told us, we told one of them that it was not the bone of a man but that of a Dog but he with great fervency took hold of his fore-arm and told us again that it was that bone and to convence us that they had eat the flesh he took hold of ^the flesh of his own arm ^with his teeth and made shew of eating — AM Careen'd scrub'd and pay'd the Starboard side of the Ship: while this was doing some of the natives came a long side seemingly only to look at us, there was a woman among them who had her arms, thighs and legs cut in several places, this was done by way of Mourning for her husband who had very lately been kill'd and eat by some of their enimies as they told us and pointed to the towards ^the place where it was done, which lay some where to the Eastward. Mr Banks got from one of them a bone of the fore arm much in the same state as the one before mention'd and to shew us that they eat the flesh they bit a[nd] naw'd the bone and draw'd it through their mouth and this in such a manner as plainly shew'd that the flesh to them was a dainty bit — Voyaging Accounts © Transcription by Paul Turnbull of National Library of Australia, Manuscript 1 page 175, 2004 Published by kind permission of the Library To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/cook/17700117.html