352 SIR JOSEPH BANKS. 



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 paral- 

 lax was determined at 8"* 78, and his distance 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 navi- 

 gators 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 balance to the 

 lands of the Northern hemisphere. On the 9th of Octo- 

 ber 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 

 Tasman, 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 home- 

 ward 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 knowledge, both of the natural 

 history and the geography of that vast region. The 



* Mercury, 36,281,700 j 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. 



