Haszard. — Foot-tracks of Captain Cook. 29 



five miles up, and could have gone much further if the weather 

 had been favourable. It was here wider than at the mouth, 

 and divided into many streams by small flat islands, which 

 are covered with mangroves and overflowed at high water. 

 From these trees exudes a viscous substance which very much 

 resembles resin ; we found it first in small lumps on the sea- 

 beach, and now saw it sticking to the trees, by which we 

 knew whence it came. We landed on the east side of the 

 river, where we saw a tree upon which several shags had 

 built their nests, and here, therefore, we determined to dine. 

 Twenty of the shags were soon killed, and, being broiled upon 

 the spot, afforded us an excellent meal."* This incident 

 throws a strong side light on what must have been their 

 ordinary fare when they could describe birds of that class 

 as making " an excellent meal." 



The two following extracts have even a stronger bearing 

 on the same subject. During Cook's second voyage, on 

 returning from the Antarctic seas he was very ill for some 

 weeks, and he says, "When I began to recover, a favourite 

 dog belonging to Mr. Forster fell a sacrifice to my tender 

 stomach. We had no other fresh meat whatever on board, 

 and I could eat of this flesh, as well as broth made of it, 

 when I could taste nothing else."! 



This is somewhat similar : " 4th March, 1770. — This day 

 the weather was more moderate than it had been for manv 

 days, and, being one of the inferior officers' birthday, it was 

 celebrated by a peculiar kind of festival : a dog was killed 

 that had been bred on board ; the hindquarters were roasted 

 and a pye was made of the forequarters, into the crust of 

 which they put the fat, and of the viscera they made a 

 haggis."| 



In these days of quick passages and fresh provisions it 

 is hard to realise with what iron tenacity of purpose Cook and 

 his men must have been endowed to battle along for month 

 after month and year after year facing all the perils of un- 

 known seas, thousands of miles away from any base, and 

 living on such provisions as they must have had to put up 

 with. # 



When I was at Whitianga the shags were still nesting in 

 trees in the locality where Cook describes that his crew had 

 such an excellent meal. The "viscous substance" men- 

 tioned was, of course, kauri-gum. There are extensive kauri 

 forests on nearly all the branch streams which flow into the 

 Whitianga, and the gum had, no doubt, been washed down 



* Hawkesworth edition, vol. ii., "First Voyage," p. 338. 

 f Hawkesworth edition, vol. i., " Second Voyage," p. 275. 

 \ Parkinson's Journal, 1st ed., 1773, p. 122. 



