SIR JOSEPH BANKS. 353 



of reefs and islands on the northern part of the east 

 coast ; and having now examined and laid down above 

 two thousand miles of coast, he formally took posses- 

 sion of the country for the British crown, giving it the 

 name of New South Wales. From thence he pro- 

 ceeded to New Guinea, which he proved to be an 

 island separate from New Holland ; and, on the 9th of 

 October he arrived at Batavia, where it was necessary 

 to give the ship a thorough repair. Upon examining 

 her bottom it was found in many places worn to the 

 thinness of the sole of a shoe, and in other places it 

 appeared that there had, since the accident, been 

 nothing between them and the water but a lock of 

 wool jammed between the planks ; so small was the 

 distance, so feeble the barrier by which, in traversing 

 the Indian Ocean, they had been for weeks separated 

 and saved from the unfathomable deep ! The gravest 

 malady, however, that visited the expedition, the 

 fever, now broke out in that pestilential climate. 

 Seven of the crew died in a few days ; and so many 

 more were sick that not ten men remained fit for duty. 

 Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander were so ill that their lives 

 were despaired of, and they were only saved by going 

 into the country. The iron frame of Cook himself was 

 seen to yield ; he, too, fell seriously ill. When they 

 set sail, 26th December, Mr. Banks was carried on 

 board, and his life still despaired of. The ravages of 

 the fever continued throughout the voyage ; and the 

 nightly corse was frequently heard to plunge in the 

 water. Before they reached the Cape, 15th March, 

 three-and-twenty thus perished, including Mr. Green 

 the astronomer, and Mr. Munkhouse, the midshipman, 

 whose suggestion had saved the ship. After remain- 

 ing there a month, they sailed for England. Nothing 

 material occurred on the voyage, and on the 12th 

 July, 1771, the Endeavour cast anchor in the Downs, 

 giving over her gallant and prudent commander, with 

 2 A 



