HISTOEICAL INTRODUCTION. 



THE DISCOVERY OF THE ISLANDS. 



By R. McNab, M.A., LL.B. 



When Captain Cook sailed round the Islands of New Zealand in 1769-70 he directed 

 his attention in the main to ascertaining whether or not a great antarctic continent 

 existed to the south. He therefore went far enough to convince himself that 

 no such mass of land existed, but not far enough to learn that islands were 

 dotted over the Southern Ocean at much higher latitudes than New Zealand. At 

 later dates Cook made four more visits to our shores, but on only one occasion — - 

 when he sailed for the Antarctic in 1773 — was he in the vicinity of the southern 

 islands. On this occasion he sailed close past the Antipodes. 



Twelve years after Cook had left New Zealand for the last time, one of his 

 officers — William Bligh, of the " Resolution " — sailed round the south of New 

 Zealand on a mission to procure breadfruit-trees for the people of Jamaica. On the 

 19th September, 1788, Bligh discovered a cluster of small rocky islands, which he 

 called the Bounty Isles, after the name of his vessel. This voyage was terminated 

 by the celebrated mutiny of the " Bounty " and Bligh' s long voyage in an open 

 boat to a haven of refuge. His name is preserved on our coast in Bligh Sound, 

 indicative rather of his connection with New Zealand trade at a later date, when 

 he occupied the position of Governor of New South Wales. 



BUgh's voyage had only taken place three years when a companion of his, and 

 another of Cook's old officers, Vancouver, visited Dusky Sound with an expedition 

 destined for the exploration of the north-west coast-line of North America. After 

 leaving Dusky Sound a fierce storm was encountered, and the two vessels were 

 separated. On the 23rd November, Vancouver, in the " Discovery," discovered a 

 group of islands which he named the Snares. Broughton, in the " Chatham," sighted 

 them later in the same day, and named them Knight's Islands. As a compensation 

 for losing seniority in his discovery, Broughton, on the 29th, discovered a fairly large 

 inhabited island, which he called after his vessel, Chatham Island. 



The next mention of any of these islands is contained in the log of the 

 " Britannia," preserved in the Essex Institute, Salem, Mass., U.S.A., where mention 

 is made, under date December, 1792, of sighting the islands now known as the 

 Snares, and naming them Sunday Islands. The names Knight's and Sunday gave 

 place to that given by the first discoverer— the Snares. 



The next contribution to southern discovery was by Captain Waterhouse, of 

 H.M.S. " Reliance." The vessel was getting well up in years, and Governor Hunter, 

 being anxious that she should be on the Thames when condemned, ordered her home. 

 On her road, on the 3rd March, 1800, islands were sighted which were named the 

 Penantipodes Islands, because situated near the antipodes of London. 



