On this day ...
3 November 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
The Range from Tolaga to Mercury Bay
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About one o’clock three canoes came off to us from the main, with one and twenty men on board. The construction of these vessels appeared to be more simple than that of any we had seen, they being nothing more than trunks of a single tree hollowed by fire, without any convenience or ornament. The people on board were almost naked, and appeared to be of a browner complexion; yet naked and despicable as they were, they sung their song of defiance, and seemed to denounce against us inevitable destruction; they remained, however, some time out of stones throw, and then venturing nearer, with less appearance of hostility, one of our men went to the ship side, and was about to hand them a rope; this courtesy, however, they thought fit to return by throwing a lance at him, which having missed him, they immediately threw another into the ship: upon this a musquet was fired over them, which at once sent them away.
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Voyaging Accounts |  |
© Derived from Vols. II-III of the London 1773 edition: National Library of Australia call no. FERG 7243, pages 329 - 330, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/hv23/330.html