348 SIR JOSEPH BANKS. 



Green made the internal contact 12, 8, 58, the external 

 12, 9, 55. Captain Cook's observation differed one 

 second as to the former, seven as to the latter. The 

 latitude was 36 48' 28" south. 



From the observations of the transit of Venus by 

 the expedition compared with the four others in 

 Siberia, Lapland, Hudson's Bay, and California, the 

 sun's parallax was determined at 8" 78, and his dis- 

 tance from the earth was thence deduced to be 

 93,726,900 miles, upon the supposition that the radius 

 of the earth is 3985. The relative distances of the 

 planets being known, those of them all from the sun 

 were then determined.* 



About six weeks after this important transaction, 

 the Endeavour proceeded on her voyage ; and first the 

 navigators cruised for some time among the group, 

 then little known, of the Society Islands. They next 

 proceeded in search of the great Southern Continent, 

 the Terra Australis, so long supposed to exist as a ba- 

 lance to the lands of the Northern hemisphere. On 

 the 9th of October it was thought to be discovered, land 

 being on that morning seen, with mountains of a lofty 

 height ; but it proved to be New Zealand, discovered, 

 in 1620 by Tasinan, who called it Staaten Island, but 

 never landed upon it; nor had it ever been since visited. 

 Captain Cook during six months sailed round it, and 

 fully explored its coasts. He found it to consist of 

 two large islands. On the 31st March, 1770, he began 

 his homeward voyage, and directed his course along 

 the east coast of New Holland, never before explored, 

 and indeed then quite unknown. On this voyage 

 every opportunity was seized of extending our know- 

 ledge, both of the natural history and the geo- 

 graphy of that vast region. The navigation was most 

 perilous, because the coast is surrounded with sharp 



* Mercury, 36,281,700; Venus, 67,795,500; Mars, 142,218,000; 

 Jupiter, 487,472,000, and Saturn, 894,162,000. See ' Phil. Trans.' voL 

 lx., 1574, Prof. Hawley's paper. 



