On this day ...
15 March - 14 April 1771
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
Cape of Good Hope, Saint Helena and Return to England
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After the boobies had left us, we saw no more birds till we got nearly abreast of Madagascar, where, in latitude 27° ¾#190; S. we saw an albatross, and after that time we saw them every day in great numbers, with birds of several other sorts, particularly one about as big as a duck, of a very dark brown colour, with a yellowish bill. These birds became more numerous as we approached the shore, and as soon as we got into soundings we saw gannets, which we continued to see as long as we were upon the bank which stretches off Anguillas to the distance of forty leagues, and extends along the shore to the eastward, from Cape False, according to some charts, one hundred and sixty leagues. The real extent of this bank is not exactly known; it is however useful as a direction to shipping when to haul in, in order to make the land.
While we lay here, the Houghton Indiaman sailed for England, who, during her stay in India, loft by sickness between thirty and forty men; and when she left the Cape had many in a helpless condition with the scurvy. Other ships suffered in the same proportion, who had been little more than twelve months absent from England; our sufferings therefore were comparatively light, considering that we had been absent near three times as long.
Having lain here to recover the sick, procure stores, and perform several necessary operations upon the ship and rigging, till the 13th of April, I then got all the sick on board, several of whom were still in a dangerous state, and having taken leave of the Governor, I unmoored the next morning, and got ready to sail.
The Cape of Good Hope has been so often described, and is so well known in Europe, that I shall mention only a few particulars, which in other relations are omitted or misrepresented.
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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 784 - 785, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/hv23/784.html