VOYAGE OF THE ENDEAVOUR 399 



customs was " to act a character," and he was very willing. 

 " I was prepared by stripping off my European clothes, 

 and putting on a small strip of cloth round my waist, 

 the only garment I was allowed to have. They then began 

 to smut me and themselves with charcoal and water, 

 the Indian boy was completely black, the women and 

 myself as low as our shoulders ; we then set out." He 

 gives a lively account of the ceremony, and of " the surprise 

 of our friends " at the Fort. The end was " we went 

 into the river, and scrubbed one another until it was dark . 

 before the blacking came off." Better fun and better 

 science than the blockhead's " grand tour " in weary 

 old Europe ! 



Both Cook and Banks wrote elaborate descriptions that " The 



show how modern science had at last come to vigorous m y s * erie f of 



religion. 



being. It may be doubted that, even now, more intelligent 

 and accurate accounts of primitive society are often 

 written than those recorded by the radiant young aris- 

 tocrat, and the son of the Yorkshire labourer. Cook's 

 formal businesslike style naturally lacks the vivacity 

 that gives special charm to the joyful writings of Banks. 

 But one is amazed when one thinks of early days in 

 farm and stable, behind grocer's counter, and in collier- 

 ship to notice the breadth and strength of mind, the 

 appreciation of the points of special scientific interest, the 

 exactness of observation, and the careful detail of style. 

 Nor are touches lacking that reveal the man. The decay 

 of the great " Marai " or Temple shows, he says, that 

 " this island hath been in a more flourishing state than 

 it is at present, and that religious customs are (like most 

 other nations) by these people less observed. . . . The 

 mysteries of religion are very dark, and not easily understood 

 even by those who profess them." We have travelled 

 far from the days of Quiros. We are in the days of 

 Benjamin Franklin, and Cook has come to sweep the 

 cobwebs of the South Sea with the dust-broom of victorious 

 common sense. 



On the 1 3th of July, 1769, they sailed from Otaheite. Tupia's 

 With them sailed a native named Tupia, " a most proper P ra y ers - 



