29S cook's first voyage oct. 



springing up, we continued to stand soutli-west along 

 the shore. Fortunately for our poor Indians, two 

 canoes came off about this time, and made towards 

 the ship : they stopped, however, at a little distance, 

 and seemed unwilling to trust themselves nearer. 

 Our Indians were greatly agitated in this state of un- 

 certainty, and urged their fellows to come alongside 

 of the ship, both by their voice and gestures, with 

 the utmost eagerness and impatience. Tupia inter- 

 preted what they said, and we were much surprised 

 to find, that, among other arguments, they assured 

 the people in the canoes, we did not eat men. We 

 now began seriously to believe that this horrid custom 

 prevailed among them ; for what the boys had said, 

 w^e considered as a mere hyperbolical expression of 

 their fear. One of the canoes, at length, ventured 

 to come under the ship's side ; and an old man came 

 on board, who seemed to be a chief from the finery 

 of his garment, and the superiority of his weapon, 

 which was a Patoo-patoo, made of bone, that, as he 

 said, had belonged to a whale. He staid on board 

 but a short time, and when he went away, he took 

 with him our guests, very much to the satisfaction 

 both of them and us. 



At the time when we sailed, we were abreast of a 

 point, from which the land trends S. S. W. and which 

 on account of its figure, I called Cape Table. This 

 point lies seven leagues to the southward of Poverty 

 Bay, in latitude 39° T S. and longitude 181° S& W. ; 

 it is of a considerable height, makes a sharp angle, 

 and appears to be quite flat at the top. 



In steering along the shore to the southward of 

 the Cape, at the distance of two or three miles, our 

 soundings were from twenty to thirty fathom, having 

 a chain of rocks between us and the shore, which ap- 

 peared at different heights above the water. 



At noon. Cape Table bore N. 20 E. distant about 

 four leagues, and a small island, which was the south- 

 ernmost land in sight, bore S. 7^ W. at the distance 



