DOCSLIB.ORG

The Endeavour Journal of Sir Joseph Banks, 1768-1771

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Endeavour Journal of Sir Joseph Banks, 1768-1771 The Endeavour Journal of Sir Joseph Banks, 1768-1771. Banks, Joseph (1743-1820) A digital text sponsored by State Library of NSW University of Sydney Library Sydney 1997 http://setis.library.usyd.edu.au/ozlit/ © University of Sydney Library, State Library of NSW. The texts and Images are not to be used for commercial purposes without permission The text file of this work was obtained from the State Library of New South Wales. Source Text: Prepared from the manuscript The Endeavour Journal of Sir Joseph Banks, 1768—1771 held at the State Library of NSW. All quotation marks retained as data All unambiguous end-of-line hyphens have been removed, and the trailing part of a word has been joined to the preceding line. Author First Published 1771 Pre-1840 Australian Etexts european discovery botany prose nonfiction pre-1810 28th October 1997 Creagh Cole Coordinator Final Checking and Parsing 3rd September 1998 Gladney OakneyStaff Spell Check The Endeavour Journal of Sir Joseph Banks, 1768–1771 1771 Joseph Banks. The Endeavour Journal Number of documents 935 Provenance Note [State Library NSW] Sir Joseph Banks' manuscript journal of the voyage of HMS Endeavour was first sold at auction by Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge on 17 June 1886. It was offered for sale by Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen, Lord Brabourne, a collateral descendent of Banks. It was purchased at this time by Quaritch of London who later sold it to Australian collector Alfred Lee. In 1906 the journal was bought from Lee by David Scott Mitchell who bequeathed it to the Mitchell Library in 1907. The journal was previously located at ML Safe 1/12-13. Background Note: The collier Earl of Pembroke was purchased in March 1768 by the Royal Navy for conversion to HMS Endeavour. The Endeavour, under the command of Lieutenant James Cook, was to undertake a voyage of discovery to the Pacific. Cook received his final secret instructions for the voyage on 30 July 1768. The reasons for Cook's first Pacific voyage were threefold. The first was an astronomical imperative. Cook was instructed to establish an observatory at Tahiti to view the Transit of Venus on 3 June 1769. The data obtained from this and similar observations at stations throughout the known world would be important in determining the distance between the sun and the earth, information vital to navigation. The second goal was the more obvious one of geographical discovery. After leaving Tahiti Cook was to search for the southern continent, and make other discoveries in the name of George III. The final aim of the expedition was natural history observation and discovery. This innovation and its execution were inspired, financed and directed by the 25 year old Joseph Banks. In addition to the usual complement of officers, marines and seamen, the Endeavour also included Banks and his party of natural scientists, artists and servants. Banks was accompanied by his friend and colleague Dr Daniel Solander, a Swedish botanist who had trained under Linnaeus. His party also included natural history artists Sydney Parkinson and Alexander Buchan; secretary and artist Hermann Sporing; and Peter Briscoe, James Roberts, George Dalton and Thomas Richmond as servants and field assistants. Banks also took along his two greyhound dogs. The Endeavour set sail from Plymouth on 25 August 1768. At sea and on land Banks was engaged in natural history pursuits at every opportunity, when not incapacitated by seasickness. The Endeavour moored first at the Portuguese occupied island of Madeira in September 1768 providing Banks and his party with six days collecting on land. During their next stop at Rio de Janeiro in November, despite a stay of 24 days Banks achieved very little. The local authorities denied the men the opportunity to go ashore and only a few risky and illegal expeditions on land were attempted. In January 1769 the Endeavour rounded Cape Horn. The six days spent at Tierra del Fuego almost ended in the deaths of Banks and members of his party caught unexpectedly overnight on land in blizzard conditions. Two of Banks' party, George Dalton and Thomas Richmond, died as a result. In April 1769, the Endeavour moored at Matavai Bay, Tahiti. Over three months were spent at Tahiti preparing for the Transit of Venus on 3 June. On departing Tahiti on 13 July the Endeavour carried two extra passengers: the Tahitians Tupia, who joined Banks' party, and his servant boy Tiata. After sailing to the Society Islands, Cook reached New Zealand and circumnavigated the north and south islands during the final months of 1769 and early months of 1770. Time ashore was employed in botanising and restocking supplies before sailing west from New Zealand in March 1770. The Endeavour reached the east coast of Australia at Botany Bay in April 1770. After a brief, and for Banks fruitful sojourn, the expedition sailed north along the Australian east coast. The Australian experience was dominated largely by the desperate struggle to keep the Endeavour afloat after she struck part of the reef along the Queensland coast on 10 June 1770. Repairs were carried out at the mouth of the Endeavour River near present day Cooktown. The Endeavour sailed out of Australian waters in August. After successfully passing through Torres Strait, the fortunes of the expedition declined. A voyage marked by success, including an exemplary health record, was devastated by the effects of dysentery and malaria in the East Indies where in Batavia extensive vital repairs were carried out on the Endeavour during the months from October until December 1770. A total of 34 men died as a result of illness at or after leaving Batavia. Banks' talented young artist, Sydney Parkinson, was among them. Another five died at Cape Town or during the last leg of the voyage. The voyage of HMS Endeavour was completed on 12 July 1771. For Cook the voyage was distinguished by the excellence of his survey work and the discoveries he made, notably the east coast of Australia, and New Zealand. For Banks the achievement of the voyage was the identification and documentation of around 1,400 plants and more than 1,000 animals previously unknown to European science. Banks kept his journal conscientiously during the three year voyage making an entry for almost every day. He added headers at the top of each page, summarising the location or direction of the expedition, at a later stage. Series 3 Contents Series 03.001 Endeavour journal, 25 August 1768 Series 03.002 Endeavour journal, 26 August 1768 Series 03.003 Endeavour journal, 27 August 1768 Series 03.004 Endeavour journal, 28 August 1768 Series 03.005 Endeavour journal, 29 August 1768 Series 03.006 Endeavour journal, 30 August 1768 Series 03.007 Endeavour journal, 31 August 1768 Series 03.008 Endeavour journal, 1 September 1768 Series 03.009 Endeavour journal, 2 September 1768 Series 03.010 Endeavour journal, 3 September 1768 Series 03.011 Endeavour journal, 4 September 1768 Series 03.012 Endeavour journal, 5 September 1768 Series 03.013 Endeavour journal, 6 September 1768 Series 03.014 Endeavour journal, 7 September 1768 Series 03.015 Endeavour journal, 8 September 1768 Series 03.016 Endeavour journal, 10 September 1768 Series 03.017 Endeavour journal, 11 September 1768 Series 03.018 Endeavour journal, 12 September 1768 Series 03.019 Endeavour journal, 13 September 1768 Series 03.020 Endeavour journal, ‘Madeira Fish’, 1768 Series 03.021 Endeavour journal, ‘Plants of Madeira’, 1768 Series 03.022 Endeavour journal, 18 September 1768 Series 03.023 Endeavour journal, 19 September 1768 Series 03.024 Endeavour journal, 20 September 1768 Series 03.025 Endeavour journal, 21 September 1768 Series 03.026 Endeavour journal, 22 September 1768 Series 03.027 Endeavour journal, 23 September 1768 Series 03.028 Endeavour journal, 24 September 1768 Series 03.029 Endeavour journal, 25 September 1768 Series 03.030 Endeavour journal, 26 September 1768 Series 03.031 Endeavour journal, 27 September 1768 Series 03.032 Endeavour journal, 28 September 1768 Series 03.033 Endeavour journal, 29 September 1768 Series 03.034 Endeavour journal, 30 September 1768 Series 03.035 Endeavour journal, 1 October 1768 Series 03.036 Endeavour journal, 2 October 1768 Series 03.037 Endeavour journal, 3 October 1768 Series 03.038 Endeavour journal, 4 October 1768 Series 03.039 Endeavour journal, 5 October 1768 Series 03.040 Endeavour journal, 6 October 1768 Series 03.041 Endeavour journal, 7 October 1768 Series 03.042 Endeavour journal, 8 October 1768 Series 03.043 Endeavour journal, 9 October 1768 Series 03.044 Endeavour journal, 10 October 1768 Series 03.045 Endeavour journal, 11 October 1768 Series 03.046 Endeavour journal, 12 October 1768 Series 03.047 Endeavour journal, 13 October 1768 Series 03.048 Endeavour journal, 14 October 1768 Series 03.049 Endeavour journal, 15 October 1768 Series 03.050 Endeavour journal, 16 October 1768 Series 03.051 Endeavour journal, 17 October 1768 Series 03.052 Endeavour journal, 18 October 1768 Series 03.053 Endeavour journal, 19 October 1768 Series 03.054 Endeavour journal, 20 October 1768 Series 03.055 Endeavour journal, 21 October 1768 Series 03.056 Endeavour journal, 22 October 1768 Series 03.057 Endeavour journal, 23 October 1768 Series 03.058 Endeavour journal, 24 October 1768 Series 03.059 Endeavour journal, 25 October 1768 Series 03.062 Endeavour journal, `Electricity', 25 October 1768 Series 03.060 Endeavour journal, 26 October 1768 Series 03.061 Endeavour journal, 27 October 1768 Series 03.063 Endeavour journal, 28 October 1768 Series 03.064 Endeavour journal,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 1 Aesthetic Judgment and the Transcultural Apprehension Of
    Social Aesthetics and Moral Judgment: Pleasure, Reflection and Accountability, ed. Jennifer McMahon, London and New York: Routledge, 2018, pp. 161-179. Aesthetic Judgment and the Transcultural Apprehension of Material Things Ivan Gaskell Abstract: This paper is an attempt to examine aspects of the consequences of the transfer of individual culturally charged material items (principally artefacts) between societies that have different cultural values. This is an especially urgent matter, epistemologically, aesthetically, and ethically, when the societies concerned are likely to develop or are already in an unequal power relationship. One pressing set of circumstances in which individual material items changed hands was the expansion of European (in the extended sense) interests in the sixteenth through twentieth centuries. Many of the things acquired by Europeans entered collections initially or eventually devoted to the emerging field of ethnography. In this paper I claim that when an object moves from one society to another, one or more of three attitudes is in play, each of which involves aesthetic judgment: (1) supersession: the new users employ and interpret it solely on their own terms without regard to the uses and interpretations of its earlier users, either oblivious to those earlier uses, or purposefully to expunge them; (2) assumption: the new users discern familiar characteristics that they value, including aesthetic characteristics, and that they assume earlier users also discerned and valued; (3) translation: the new users attempt to learn the terms of use, interpretation and value of the earlier users by means of cultural acquisition and translation, acknowledging that these may differ from their own wholly or in part, but in the belief that their acquisition will bring them advantages.
    [Show full text]
  • Endeavour Anniversary
    Episode 10 Teacher Resource 28th April 2020 Endeavour Anniversary Students will investigate Captain Endeavour History Cook’s voyage to Australia on 1. When did the Endeavour set sail from England? board the HMB Endeavour. Students will explore the impact 2. Who led the voyage of discovery on the Endeavour? that British colonisation had on 3. Describe James Cook’s background. the lives of Aboriginal and Torres 4. What did Cook study that would help him to become a ship’s Strait Islander Peoples. captain? 5. Fill in the missing words: By the 18th Century, _________________ had been mapping the globe for centuries, claiming HASS – Year 4 ______________ and resources as their own. (Europeans and land) The journey(s) of AT LEAST ONE 6. Who was Joseph Banks? world navigator, explorer or trader 7. Why did Banks want to travel on the Endeavour? up to the late eighteenth century, including their contacts with other 8. The main aim of the voyage was to travel to… societies and any impacts. 9. What rare event was the Endeavour crew aiming to observe? 10. What was their secret mission? The nature of contact between 11. Who was Tupaia? Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and others, for 12. After leaving Tahiti, where did the Endeavour go? example, the Macassans and the 13. What happen in April 1770? Europeans, and the effects of 14. Complete the following sentence. Australia was known to Europeans these interactions on, for at the time as New___________________. (Holland) example, people and environments. 15. Describe the first contact with Indigenous people.
    [Show full text]
  • Kamay Botany Bay National Park Planning Considerations
    NSW NATIONAL PARKS & WILDLIFE SERVICE Kamay Botany Bay National Park Planning Considerations environment.nsw.gov.au © 2020 State of NSW and Department of Planning, Industry and Environment With the exception of photographs, the State of NSW and Department of Planning, Industry and Environment are pleased to allow this material to be reproduced in whole or in part for educational and non-commercial use, provided the meaning is unchanged and its source, publisher and authorship are acknowledged. Specific permission is required for the reproduction of photographs. The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) has compiled this report in good faith, exercising all due care and attention. No representation is made about the accuracy, completeness or suitability of the information in this publication for any particular purpose. DPIE shall not be liable for any damage which may occur to any person or organisation taking action or not on the basis of this publication. Readers should seek appropriate advice when applying the information to their specific needs. All content in this publication is owned by DPIE and is protected by Crown Copyright, unless credited otherwise. It is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), subject to the exemptions contained in the licence. The legal code for the licence is available at Creative Commons. DPIE asserts the right to be attributed as author of the original material in the following manner: © State of New South Wales and Department of Planning, Industry
    [Show full text]
  • Hawkesworth's Voyages and the Literary Influence on Erasmus
    Hawkesworth’s Voyages and the Literary Influence on Erasmus Darwin’s The Loves of the Plants Ayako WADA* Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802), famously known as a grandfather of Charles Darwin (1809-82), was a talented man of multiple disciplines as Desmond King-Hele breaks down his achievements into four spheres ‘as a doctor, an inventor and technologist, a man of science and a writer’.1 While he was a physician by profession, he was also a founder of the Lunar Society of Birmingham, the human network of which, including such pioneering engineers as Matthew Boulton (1728-1809) and James Watt (1736-1819), accelerated the Industrial Revolution. Also, Darwin was a believer in biological evolution, the rudimentary idea of which was made explicit in Zoonomia (1794-96). 2 As for Darwin’s literary achievements, in spite of its short-lived success, The Botanic Garden (1791) made him most popular during the 1790s and saw ‘four English editions along with separate Irish and American printings by 1799 … translated into French, Portuguese, Italian, and German’ as Alan Bewell summarised.3 Although King-Hele indicates how English Romantic poets were indebted to Darwin,4 they are also known to have been both attracted and repulsed by his poetics, as revealed in their writings.5 The purpose of this article is to illuminate the still imperfectly understood aspect of Darwin’s most influential work entitled The Loves of the Plants (1789)—first published as the second part of The Botanic Garden (1791)—in terms of its link to An Account of the Voyages (1773), edited by his immediate predecessor, John Hawkesworth (1720-73).
    [Show full text]
  • Captain Cook's Voyages
    National Library of Ireland Prints and Drawings Collection List Captain Cook Voyages Plate Collection Collection comprised of plates showing the Voyages of Captain Cook, which form part of the Joly Collection held by the Department of Prints and Drawings. The collection also contains prints from a number of different publications relating to Cook’s voyages. Compiled by Prints and Drawings Department 2008 Joly Collection – Captain Cook’s Voyages Introduction This list details the plates showing the Voyages of Captain Cook, which form part of the Joly Collection held by the Department of Prints and Drawings. The collection contains prints from a number of different publications relating to Cook’s voyages. The plates have been divided by the volume they relate to, and then arranged, where possible, in the order they are found in the printed work. The plates in this collection cover the three voyages of Captain Cook; 1768-71, 1772-5 and 1776-9. On each voyage Cook was accompanied by a different artist, and it is on their drawings that the plates are based. On the first voyage Captain Cook was accompanied by Sydney Parkinson, who died shortly before the end of the voyage. William Hodges replaced Parkinson on the second voyage and the third voyage was covered by John Webber. Sydney Parkinson’s Illustrations, 1773 These plates come from A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas, in his Majesty’s Ship, the Endeavour faithfully transcribed from the papers of the late Sydney Parkinson published in London in 1773. It covers the first voyage of Captain Cook, the set is complete except for Plate XXV Map of the Coast of New Zealand discovered in the Years 1769 and 1770 .
    [Show full text]
  • 'Classification' of the Late Eighteenth Century Pacific
    Empirical Power, Imperial Science: Science, Empire, and the ‘Classification’ of the Late Eighteenth Century Pacific A Thesis Submitted to the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts in History University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon By Justin Wyatt Voogel Ó Copyright Justin Wyatt Voogel, September 2017 All Rights Reserved Permission to Use In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Postgraduate degree from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the Libraries of this University may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this thesis/dissertation in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my thesis work or, in their absence, by the Head of the Department or the Dean of the College in which my thesis work was done. It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this thesis or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of Saskatchewan in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my thesis. Requests for permission to copy or to make other uses of materials in this thesis in whole or part should be addressed to: Head of the Department of History Arts and Science Admin Commons Room 522, Arts Building University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5A5 Canada i Abstract The Pacific of the mid eighteenth century was far removed from what it would become by the first decade of the nineteenth.
    [Show full text]
  • Artistic Endeavour – Room Brochure
    Contemporary botanical artists’ response to the legacy of Banks, Solander and Parkinson Front cover: Anne Hayes, Banksia serrata, old man banksia, gabiirr (Guugu Yimithirr), 2017, watercolour on paper, 63 x 45 cm Pages 2–3: Penny Watson, Goodenia rotundifolia, round leaved goodenia, 2018, watercolour on paper, 26 x 43 cm Pages 5 and 9: Ann Schinkel, Bauera capitata, dog rose, (details), 2019, watercolour on paper, 26 x 15 cm Page 7: Florence Joly, Melaleuca viminalis, weeping bottlebrush, garra (group name, Yuggara), (detail), 2019, graphite, colour pencil on paper, 33 x 66 cm Pages 10–11: Minjung Oh, Pleiogynium timorense, Burdekin plum, (detail), 2018, watercolour on paper, 59 x 46 cm © The artists and authors For information on the exhibition tour, go to the M&G QLD website http://www.magsq.com.au/cms/page.asp?ID=10568 BASQ website www.botanicalartqld.com.au Artistic Endeavour is an initiative of the Botanical Artists’ Society of Queensland in partnership with Museums & Galleries Queensland. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government’s Visions of Australia program; the Queensland Government through the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, state and territory governments; and the Regional Arts Development Fund, a partnership between the Queensland Government and Moreton Bay Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland. Proudly supported by Moreton Bay Regional Council and sponsored by IAS Fine Art Logistics and Winsor & Newton. Artists Artistic Endeavour Gillian Alfredson Artistic Endeavour: Contemporary botanical artists’ response Catherin Bull to the legacy of Banks, Solander and Parkinson marks the 250th Edwin Butler anniversary of the HMB Endeavour voyage along the east coast of Australia.
    [Show full text]
  • Captain Bligh's Second Voyage to the South Sea
    Captain Bligh's Second Voyage to the South Sea By Ida Lee Captain Bligh's Second Voyage To The South Sea CHAPTER I. THE SHIPS LEAVE ENGLAND. On Wednesday, August 3rd, 1791, Captain Bligh left England for the second time in search of the breadfruit. The "Providence" and the "Assistant" sailed from Spithead in fine weather, the wind being fair and the sea calm. As they passed down the Channel the Portland Lights were visible on the 4th, and on the following day the land about the Start. Here an English frigate standing after them proved to be H.M.S. "Winchelsea" bound for Plymouth, and those on board the "Providence" and "Assistant" sent off their last shore letters by the King's ship. A strange sail was sighted on the 9th which soon afterwards hoisted Dutch colours, and on the loth a Swedish brig passed them on her way from Alicante to Gothenburg. Black clouds hung above the horizon throughout the next day threatening a storm which burst over the ships on the 12th, with thunder and very vivid lightning. When it had abated a spell of fine weather set in and good progress was made by both vessels. Another ship was seen on the 15th, and after the "Providence" had fired a gun to bring her to, was found to be a Portuguese schooner making for Cork. On this day "to encourage the people to be alert in executing their duty and to keep them in good health," Captain Bligh ordered them "to keep three watches, but the master himself to keep none so as to be ready for all calls".
    [Show full text]
  • Endeavour Anniversary
    Episode 10 Teacher Resource 28th April 2020 Endeavour Anniversary Students will investigate Captain Endeavour History Cook’s voyage to Australia on 1. When did the Endeavour set sail from England? board the HMB Endeavour. Students will explore the impact 2. Who led the voyage of discovery on the Endeavour? that British colonisation had on 3. Describe James Cook’s background. the lives of Aboriginal and Torres 4. What did Cook study that would help him to become a ship’s Strait Islander Peoples. captain? 5. Fill in the missing words: By the 18th Century, _________________ had been mapping the globe for centuries, claiming HASS – Year 4 ______________ and resources as their own. (Europeans and land) The journey(s) of AT LEAST ONE 6. Who was Joseph Banks? world navigator, explorer or trader 7. Why did Banks want to travel on the Endeavour? up to the late eighteenth century, including their contacts with other 8. The main aim of the voyage was to travel to… societies and any impacts. 9. What rare event was the Endeavour crew aiming to observe? 10. What was their secret mission? The nature of contact between 11. Who was Tupaia? Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and others, for 12. After leaving Tahiti, where did the Endeavour go? example, the Macassans and the 13. What happen in April 1770? Europeans, and the effects of 14. Complete the following sentence. Australia was known to Europeans these interactions on, for at the time as New___________________. (Holland) example, people and environments. 15. Describe the first contact with Indigenous people.
    [Show full text]
  • Bernard Smith
    7 Constructing “Pacific” Peoples1 Bernard Smith It is generally agreed that Cook’s three voyages greatly enhanced the economic and political power of Europe in the Pacific. But before such power could be fully exercised, certain basic sciences and tech- nologies, the efficient maidservants of power, had themselves to be enhanced. Cook’s voyages advanced astronomy, navigation, and car- tography or, as he might have put it, geographical science. But there were other sciences of less direct concern to the Admiralty enhanced by his voyages, and these contributed also in their time to European domination in the Pacific—namely natural history, meteorology, and the emergent science of ethnography. Important advances were made in all these sciences continually throughout the three voyages, but there were differences in emphasis. The first voyage is the botanical voyage, par excellence, the second is the meteorological voyage, and the third is the ethnographic voyage. These changing emphases were owing largely, though not entirely, to contingent factors. On the Endeavour voyage, Banks, Solander, and Parkinson, with their interests centered on botany, made a powerful team. On the second voyage, Cook himself, his astronomers Wales and Bayly, the two Forsters, and William Hodges were all deeply inter- ested in the changing conditions of wind and weather, light, and atmo- sphere as they traversed vast sections of the southern oceans. By the third voyage Cook had come to realize that both scientific and popular A longer version of this chapter was published in Imagining the Pacific: In the Wake of the Cook Voyages, by Bernard Smith (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992), 193–221.
    [Show full text]
  • Captain James Cook 1728 - 1779 Captain James Cook Was Born on November 7Th 1728 in a Small Village Near Whitby in South Shields North Yorkshire
    Captain James Cook 1728 - 1779 Captain James Cook was born on November 7th 1728 in a small village near Whitby in South Shields North Yorkshire. Whitby His family were quite poor so when he was 17 he joined the Walker family in Whitby, helping them ship coal along the coast between the River Tyne and the River Thames in London. London During this time he showed a real flair for astronomy and navigation, as well as having excellent sailing skills. Because of his excellent sailing, navigation and astronomy skills Captain Cook joined the Royal Navy in 1755, where he learnt to sail and charter the seas. In 1768 he was appointed commander of HMS Endeavour and sent on a voyage to observe the planet Venus pass in front of the sun. However, the real reason he was sent on this voyage was to discover the ‘Great Southern Continent’ known today as Australia, but this was unofficial and kept a secret from the public. Cook and his crew sailed HMS Endeavour into the Pacific Ocean and first spotted Australia on April 19th 1770. However, Cook and his crew sailed further up the East Coast and finally claimed Australia calling it ‘New South Wales’ on April 28th 1770 when he first set foot on Australian soil at Botany Bay. Botany Bay Then they continued north along the coast. The sea was very rough and they were nearly shipwrecked on the Great Barrier Reef, but they managed to escape without too much damage. They sailed into what is now called Cooktown (after Captain Cook) in far north Queensland, where they did repairs to the ship.
    [Show full text]
  • The Story of HMS Pandora
    The Pandora Story Although reasonably successful in her challenging mission— capturing 14 of the 25 Bounty mutineers in Tahiti—HMS Pandora came to grief on the Great Barrier Reef. She was hulled on what’s now known as Pandora Reef, and sank in 30 metres of water, 120 km east of Cape York. Many died—crew and prisoners alike. But there were many more amazing feats of survival and seamanship. In this section, we explore the events surrounding the Pandora’s final voyage … Oswald Brett's impression of the Pandora's last moments afloat. Captain Bligh's remarkable story of survival The Bounty mutineers set Captain William Bligh adrift with 18 men in an eight-metre, two-masted launch. He had been allowed to take some navigational equipment and papers, and enough food to last for five days. The 19 castaways tried to supplement their rations with food from Tofua. All but one escaped with their lives following an attack by hostile Tofuans. Fearing to make another landfall, Bligh decided to head straight for Timor-about 3600 (nautical) miles (about 6480 km) away. "We had no relief with the day save its light. The sea was constantly breaking over us and kept two persons bailing, and we had no choice how to steer for we were obliged to keep before the waves to avoid filling the boat." Dodd Bounty (Bligh's journal entry for 14 May 1789) The cold and wet conditions in the launch were agonising. The exhausted men bailed constantly. What little food they had quickly became wet and almost inedible.
    [Show full text]