46o THE DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA 



of his voyage in the Endeavour, and therefore, like Cook, 

 placed his Journal at the disposal of Dr. Hawkesworth. 



The But unhappily Banks did not sail. He and Cook 



and the ^ ac ^ different opinions in respect to the choice of ships. 



Adventure. Cook was a modest man, but he was also a sensible sea 

 captain, and could stand no criticism of his ship. If 

 one might believe him, the whole credit of his discoveries 

 was due to the excellences of the Endeavour* and he 

 insisted that the new voyage must be sailed in a ship 

 of the same type. The Endeavour happened to be away 

 from England ; but the Navy Board, taking Cook's advice, 

 bought two ships built on the same lines by the same 

 Whitby builder. The Resolution was of 462 tons, the 

 Adventure of 336. They were fourteen or fifteen months 

 old, and as well adapted to the intended service, says 

 Cook, as if built for the purpose. 



Banks But Banks took a different view. While Cook's first 



' thought was of navigation, Banks's first thought was of 

 Science. About matters of personal comfort he was 

 indifferent. Six feet square was enough for himself, 

 and, whether the Sources of the Nile or the South Pole 

 were to be visited, he was equally ready to embark. 2 But 

 the ship on which he sailed must have accommodation 

 for the needs of his men of science even on the Endeavour, 

 he complained, "my business was imperfectly done"- 

 and he had recommended the use of a large East Indiaman. 

 Finding Cook's ship " very improper for our purpose," 

 he made protest to his friend Lord Sandwich, who accord- 

 ingly ordered drastic changes. The result of the well- 

 meaning attempt to please both Cook and Banks was 

 that the ship, in the judgment of the former, was made 

 so " crank " that " she could not put to sea." And Cook 



1 " It was the Endeavour that enabled us to prosecute discoveries 

 in those seas so much longer than any ship ever did or could do, ... to 

 traverse a far greater space of sea till then unnavigated, to discover 

 greater tracks of country in high and low South Latitudes, and to 

 persevere longer in exploring and surveying more correctly the extensive 

 coasts of those new discovered countries than any former navigator had 

 done during one voyage." 



2 Manuscript letter in the Mitchell Library, Sydney. 



