On this day ...
27 - 29 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
Mercury Bay to the Bay of Islands
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At eight o’clock the next morning, we were within a mile of a group of islands which lie close under the main, at the distance of two and twenty miles from Cape Bret, in the direction of N.W. by W. ½ W. At this place, having but little wind, we lay about two hours, during which time several canoes came off, and sold us some fish, which we called Cavalles, and for that reason I gave the same name to the islands. These people were very insolent, frequently threatening us, even while they were selling their fish; and when some more canoes came up, they began to pelt us with stones. Some small shot were then fired, and hit one of them while he had a stone in his hand, in the very action of throwing it into the ship: they did not, however, desist, till some others had been wounded, and then they went away, and we stood off to sea.
The wind being directly against us, we kept plying to windward till the 29th, when we had rather lost than gained ground; I therefore bore up for a bay which lies to the westward of Cape Bret; at this time it was about two leagues to leeward of us; and at about eleven o’clock we anchored under the south west side of one of the many islands which line it on the south east, in four fathom and an half water; we shoaled our water to this depth all at once, and if this had not happened I should not have come to an anchor so soon. The Master was immediately sent out with two boats to sound, and he soon discovered that we had got upon a bank, which runs out from the north west end of the island, and that on the outside of it there was from eight to ten fathom.
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Voyaging Accounts |  |
© Derived from Vols. II-III of the London 1773 edition: National Library of Australia call no. FERG 7243, page 362, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/hv23/359.html