108 Transactions.—Miscellaneous. 
left I gave the name of Mercury Bay, on account of the observation which 
we had made there of the transit of the planet over the sun." What then 
could have been a more appropriate termination at such a time than to cut 
the date of their successful scientific achievement * to be left as a memorial 
of our having visited this place,"* (to use his own words recorded on a 
subsequent occasion), accompanied with a display of the English colours, 
and to take a formal possession of the bay (or territory) in which they had 
performed that duty in the name of the King? 
At all events we find him doing something very similar some six or seven 
months later when at Botany Bay. He says:—* During my stay in this 
harbour I caused the English colours to be displayed on shore every day, 
and the ship's name and the date of the year to be inscribed upon one of 
the trees near the watering-place.”+ In this instance, the taking of formal 
possession of the whole country or island as being the first discoverer, had 
nothing to do with it; as New Holland (as it was then called) had been 
discovered and visited long before Captain Cook’s time. 
Lastly, and in conclusion, I will say, that if what I have herein advanced 
is considered to be of the least moment towards the defining of an interest- 
ing point in our history, it will not, it cannot end here: and that is just 
what I wanted. Captain Cook's log-books and ship's papers are, no doubt, 
still in existence, and in safe keeping. By an accurate and close examination 
of them—particularly of his landing at Poverty Bay—the whole matter will, 
I have little doubt, be fully determined and for ever settled. 
And if it should be asked why it was that I never brought this matter 
forward before, seeing it is one of publie or of national importance, I think 
I can also satisfactorily answer that, but I reserve my reply. 
Arr. IX.— Manibus Parkinsonibus sacrum. A brief Memoir of the First 
Artist who visited New Zealand ; together with several little-known Items 
of Interest extracted from his Journal. By W. Corzxso, F.L.S. 
[Read before the Hawke Bay Philosophical Institute, 13th August, 1877.] 
Ovr Institute having been “founded for the advancement of science, 
literature, and art," it cannot be considered amiss to bring to your notice 
the first artist who visited our shores. 
I confess I like to do something of this kind. To commemorate those 
dear fellow-labourers, those true disciples of nature, who preceded us in this 
*IL, p. 400: (Jan. 30,1770). t II., p. 506. 
