52 CAPTAIN COOK'S VOYAGES 



water, induced Captain Cook to continue his course round 

 the head of the bay. He was still in hopes of getting some 

 of the Indians on board, and by presents, added to civil 

 usage, convey through them a favourable idea of the English 

 to their fellow countrymen ; and thereby settle a good 

 correspondence with them. Soon after, an event occurred, 

 though attended with disagreeable circumstances, that 

 promised to facilitate this design. Two canoes appeared 

 making towards land, and Captain Cook proposed intercept- 

 ing them with his boats. One of them got clear off, but 

 the Indians in the other, finding it impossible to escape the 

 boats, began to attack them with their paddles : this com- 

 pelled the Endeavour's people to fire upon them, when 

 four of the Indians were killed, and the other three, who 

 were youths, jumped into the water, and endeavoured to 

 swim to shore ; they were, however, taken up and brought 

 on board. They were at first greatly terrified, thinking they 

 should be killed ; but Tupia, by repeated assurances of 

 friendship, removed their fears, and they afterwards ate very 

 heartily of the ship's provisions. When they retired to rest 

 in the evening, they appeared perfectly easy in their minds, 

 and slept very quietly.* The next morning, they testified 



* The following remarks on this untoward event are extracted 

 from Captain Cook's own Journal of proceedings. 10th of Oct., 

 1769. " I rowed round the head of the bay, but could find no 

 place to land, on account of the great surf which beat everywhere 

 upon the shore. Seeing two boats or canoes coming in from sea, 

 I rowed to one of them in order to seize upon the people, and came 

 so near before they took notice of us, that Tupia called to them to 

 come alongside and we would not hurt them, but instead of doing 

 this they endeavoured to get away, upon which I ordered a musket 

 to be fired over their heads, thinking that this would either make 

 them surrender or jump overboard, but here I was mistaken, for 

 they immediately took to their arms or whatever they had in the 

 boats, and began to attack us. This obliged us to fire upon them, 

 and unfortunately either two or three were killed and one wounded, 

 and three jumped overboard. These last we took up and brought 

 on board, where they were clothed and treated with all imaginable 

 kindness, and, to the surprise of everybody, became at once as 

 cheerful and merry as if they had been with their own friends 

 They were all three young ; the eldest not about twenty years of 

 age, and the youngest about ten or twelve. I am aware that most 

 humane persons who have not experienced things of this nature 

 will censure my conduct in firing upon the people in the boat, nor 

 do I myself think that the reason I had for seizing upon them 

 will at all justify me ; and had I thought that they would have 

 made the least resistance I would not have come near them, but 

 as they did, I was not to stand still and suffer either myself or those 

 that were with me to be knocked on the head." Extract. Captain 

 CooVs Journal, Records, Admiralty, Whitehall. P. 137. 



