CHAP. II.] 21 





PART I. 



CHAPTER II. 



Cook's Straits. Queen Charlotte's Sound. Te-awa-iti. Cloudy 

 Bay. Whales and Whalers. 



AFTER a rapid voyage of only ninety-six days, on 

 board the New Zealand Company's vessel the Tory, 

 we sighted the land of New Zealand with much 

 satisfaction on the noon of the 16th of August, 

 1839. With the exception of the Island of Palma, 

 one of the Canaries, we had seen no land since our 

 departure from Plymouth. After we had doubled 

 the Cape of Good Hope we sailed between the lati- 

 tudes of 37 and 45: the prevailing winds were 

 from the south-west and the north-west. The at- 

 mosphere was generally thick and hazy, the wea- 

 ther squally, with sudden gales, accompanied by hail 

 and sleet. The temperature of the air was some- 

 times as low as 40 Fahrenheit. This state of the 

 weather, and a constant cross sea, which produced an 

 incessant rolling of the vessel, made our life uncom- 

 fortable and monotonous. The number of sea-birds, 

 consisting of various kinds of petrels and albatrosses, 

 was remarkable. The habits of these feathered tribes, 

 their elegant movements, and apparently inexhaust- 

 ible strength of wing, were among our chief sources 

 of amusement. The history of these birds is more 



