NEW ZEALAND 63 



his country. For the first time New Zealand 

 had been approached from the east. Tasman 

 had discovered the western coast in 1642, but, 

 in the face of the savage hostility of the natives, 

 who had killed four of his men, he had never 

 set foot on shore. 



Cook let go his anchor on October 8th, in a 

 bay on the north-east coast, afterwards to be 

 known as Poverty Bay, situated at the mouth 

 of a little river. In the evening, taking a larger 

 boat, followed by a smaller, he landed, accom- 

 panied by Banks, Solander and a large number 

 of the crew. Some natives, dressed in cloth, 

 with their hair knotted on the top of their heads, 

 were gathered on the bank of the river opposite 

 to that on which the Englishmen had landed. 

 Cook, wishing to establish friendly relations 

 with them, crossed the water in the dinghy, but 

 they promptly ran away. So, leaving four boys 

 in charge of the dinghy. Cook and his com- 

 panions set out towards a group of huts which 

 they could see three or four hundred paces away. 

 They had scarcely left the shore when four men, 

 armed with long spears, dashed out of the forest 

 and ran towards the dinghy to capture it. The 

 coxswain of the gig warned the boys of their 

 danger, and fired over the heads of the Indians, 

 who halted and looked about them. After a few 

 minutes they resumed their attack. The sailor 



