26 December 1770

James Cook's Journal: Daily Entries

Table of Contents On this day ... 26 December 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...

26 December 1770 Wednesday 26th In the P.M. My self Mr Banks and all the Gentlemen came on board and at 6 in the AM we wiegh'd and came to sail with a light breeze at SW. The Elgin India man saluted with three Cheers and 13 Guns and soon after the Garrison with 14 both of which we returnd — Soon after this the Sea breeze set in at NBW which obliged us to anchor just without the Ships in the Road - The Number sick on board ^at this time amounts to 40 or up wards and the rest of the Ships company are in a Weakly condition having been ev[er]y one sick except the Sail maker an old Man about 70 or 80 Years of age and what is ^was still more extraordinary in this man his being generally more or less drunk every day. But notwithstanding this general sickness we lost but Seven Men in the whole   the Surgeon three Seamen, Mr Greens Servant and Tupia and his servant both of which fell a sacrifice to this unwholsom climate before they had reached the Object of their wishes. Tupia['s] death canno indeed cannot cannot be said to be owing wholy to the unwholsom air of Batavia, the long want of a Vegetable diat which he had all his life before been use'd to had brought upon ^him all the disorders attending a sea life. He was a Shrewd Sensible, Ingenious Man, but proud and obstinate which often made his situation on board both disagreable to himself and those about him and tended much to promote the deceases which put a period to his life — Voyaging Accounts © Transcription by Paul Turnbull of National Library of Australia, Manuscript 1 page 336, 2004 Published by kind permission of the Library To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/cook/17701226.html