CHAPTER VIII 



SOUTH SEA ISLANDS TO NEW ZEALAND (THAMES RIVER) 

 AUG. 15 Nov. 22, 1769 



Waterspout Comet : its effect on natives Diary at sea Condition of ship's 

 supplies Port Egmont hens Land of New Zealand made A native 

 shot Conflict with natives Capture of a canoe Poverty Bay Natives 

 come on board Their appearance and clothing Boy seized by natives 

 Appearance of the land Occupations of the natives Bracken as food 

 Mode of fighting Religion A large canoe Natives throw stones on 

 board Coast along New Zealand Habits of natives Transit of Mercury 

 Shags Oysters Lobster-catching Heppahs or forts Thames River 

 Timber trees. 



1 6th August 1769. Early this morning we were told that 

 land was in sight. It proved to be a cloud, but at first sight 

 was so like land that it deceived every man in the ship ; even 

 Tupia gave it a name. 



Vlfh. A heavy swell from the south-west all day, so we 

 are not yet under the lee of the continent. Our taros 

 (roots like a yam, called in the West Indies cocos) failed us 

 to-day ; many of them were rotten. They would probably 

 have kept longer had we had either time or opportunity of 

 drying them well, but I believe that at the best they are 

 very much inferior to either yams or potatoes for keeping. 



24ith. The morning was calm. About nine it began 

 to blow fresh with rain, which came on without the least 

 warning ; at the same time a waterspout was seen to lee- 

 ward. It appeared to me so inconsiderable, that had it not 

 been pointed out to me, I should not have particularly 

 noticed the appearance. It resembled a line of thick mist, 

 as thick as a middling-sized tree, which reached, not in a 



