Morris. — On the Tracks of Captain Cook. 505 



Napier I travelled by rail. May I say here that, if any reader 

 of this has a picture of Cape Palliser or Cape Turn again, I 

 should esteem it a great favour to be supplied with a copy 



? 



At Napier a legend runs that Cook sailed round Scinde 

 Island, a feat which, the legend is good enough to add, could 

 be performed in those days, though now it would be necessary 

 to drag the vessel overland. No foundation for the story can 

 be found in any of the records about Cook, and it does not 

 seem likely that the island was even then more than a nomi- 

 nal island. The most interesting place of Cook memory near 

 Napier is Cape Kidnappers, the place where the " Indians," 

 as he and his companions called the Maoris, as well as South 

 Sea Islanders, aborigines of Australia, and natives of Tierra del 

 Fuego, tried to kidnap Tayeto, the boy from Tahiti, brought by 

 Tupaia to keep him company. An amateur photographer took 

 for me a splendid picture of this cape. 



At Napier it was my good fortune to meet the Bishop of 

 Waiapu, who has written, in vol. xxi. of the " Transactions 

 of the New Zealand Institute," 1888, a topographical paper 

 which is of the greatest value for any one following the foot- 

 steps of Cook in New Zealand. If I may venture to say so, 

 that paper should be followed by similar papers by residents 

 at Mercury Bay, at the Bay of Islands, and by some histori- 

 cally minded Wellington member on Queen Charlotte Sound. 

 A short time hence it will not be so easy as now to give full 

 information. The bishop committed his knowledge to paper 

 in the nick of time. Changes were even then beginning, in the 

 nature of wharves and harbour-works, whereby the shape of 

 the mouth of the river where Cook landed has been altered 

 almost beyond posterity's recognition. The only drawback to 

 the value of the paper is that, being published before the ap- 

 pearance of Cook's own journal, edited by Admiral Wharton, 

 and the journal of Mr. Banks, edited by Sir Joseph Hooker, 

 the bishop was compelled to use Hawkesworth as his main 

 authority. For the account of the first landing of Cook in the 

 land of the Maoris the bishop's paper is indispensable. 



On my leaving Napier an incident occurred which wears a 

 comic aspect. Napier was the home of the late Mr. Colenso, 

 the well-known Maori scholar. Having seen sundry remarks 

 of his about traces of Cook quoted in books, I made inquiry 

 what had become of his papers, and found that the bulk of 

 them had come into the hands of a friend and admirer. A 

 visit to this gentleman won speedily from him a promise that 

 he would look through the papers and send me any printed 

 documents that might be of service. Most kindly he began 

 the search at once. I went on board the steamer at 8 in the 

 evening. There were cricketers returning northward, there 

 was a crowd, there was cheering. After the vessel had cast 



