Morris. — On the Tracks of Captain Cook. 499 



Art. LXII. — On the Tracks of Captain Cook. 



By Professor E. E. Morris, M.A., Litt.D., Melbourne 



University. 



Communicated to the N.Z. Institute by Sir James Hector. 



In January last it was my good fortune to be able to take a 

 holiday in the North Island of New Zealand. South New 

 Zealand I knew pretty well ; but, beside the fact that the 

 ground was new to me, I had another reason for choosing 

 the North Island. For some years, in vacations and at odd 

 times, I have been a close student of the great voyage of 

 Captain Cook in His Majesty's barque " Endeavour." In 

 the North Island and in one part of the South Island most 

 easily approached from Wellington are the places where Cook 

 landed, where he was compelled to fight the Maori, where 

 later he had peaceful intercourse with them, and received 

 lessons in geography. On the first voyage he circumnavi- 

 gated the South Island at topmost speed. 



Perhaps I am strangely constituted, perhaps my educa- 

 tion was neglected, but I derive no pleasure from shooting 

 nor from fishing. A hobby makes a holiday pass pleasantly, 

 and I determined to visit places visited by the " Endeavour," 

 many of them well off the tourist track. Partially I succeeded 

 in my quest for information. Being endowed with a love for 

 history, and living in a land where it is thought nothing truly 

 historical can be found, I have in other vacations sought 

 scenes of Australian history now four generations old ; nor 

 has the search been wholly barren. Once I travelled to North 

 Queensland to see the spot where the "Endeavour" was 

 beached, the first kangaroo shot, and the first aboriginal 

 vocabulary obtained. Some way inland from the last stop- 

 ping-place of the steamer before Cooktown there is a magni- 

 ficent waterfall to be seen, and the captain thought me 

 strange indeed because I preferred Cooktown with historic 

 memories to the Barron Waterfall. 



Sydney was still making history when I left it, still 

 splendidly celebrating the inauguration of the Commonwealth. 

 I did not stay to witness the acting of the landing of Cook 

 at Botany Bay. To have remained to see it would have in- 

 volved me in the loss of a week, and one could not but enter- 

 tain a doubt whether the acting was quite worthy of the 

 occasion. The place itself I knew, though few Sydney resi- 

 dents visit the south shore, which, indeed, is difficult of access. 

 Thev are satisfied with La Perouse. I trust it was not con- 



