Page 296

Voyages in the Southern Hemisphere, Vols. II - III

Table of Contents On this day ... 11 October 1769 Endeavour Voyage Maps James Cook's Journal Ms 1, National Library of Australia Transcript of Cook's Journal Joseph Banks's Journal Sydney Parkinson's Journal Description of Poverty Bay Index Search Contact us

CHAP. II.A Description of Poverty Bay, and the Face of the adjacent Country. The Range from thence to Cape Turnagain, and back to Tolaga; with some Account of the People and the Country, and several Incidents that happened on that Part of the Coast THE next morning, at six o’clock, we weighed, and stood away from this unfortunate and inhospitable place, to which I gave the name of POVERTY BAY, and which by the natives is called TAONEROA or Long Sand, as it did not afford us a single article that we wanted except a little wood. It lies in latitude 38° 42’ S. and longitude 181° 36’ W.; it is in the form of an horse-shoe, and is known by an island lying close under the north east point: the two points which form the entrance are high, with steep white cliffs, and lie a league and a half or two leagues from each other, N.E. by E. and S.W. by W.: the depth of water in the bay is from twelve to five fathom, with a sandy bottom and good anchorage; but the situation is open to the wind between the south and east: boats can go in and out of the river at any time of the tide in fine weather; but as there is a bar at the entrance, no boat can go either in or out when the sea runs high: the best place to attempt it, is on the north east side, and it is there practicable when it is not so in any other part. The shore of the bay, a little within its entrance, is a low flat sand; behind which, at a small distance, the face of the country is finely diversified by hills and valleys, all clothed with wood, and covered with verdure. The country also appears to be well inhabited, especially in the valleys leading up from the bay, where we daily saw smoke rising in clouds one behind another to a great distance, till the view terminated in mountains of a stupendous height. Voyaging Accounts © Derived from Vols. II-III of the London 1773 edition: National Library of Australia call no. FERG 7243, pages 296 - 297, 2004 Published by kind permission of the Library To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/hv23/296.html