106 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



At the same time I am aware of the difference in dates as to the day of 

 the month between Parkinson and Captain Cook as edited by Dr. Hawkes- 

 worth. Sydney Parkinson gives the 10th of October as the day on which 

 those events occm-red; which, in Cook's Voyage, is as clearly said to have 

 hai)pened on the 9th. And this difference of a day extends throughout 

 nearly the whole of that month in both jom-nals, save that on the 1st they 

 both agree, and then again on the 30th they do so. So that, from the 2nd 

 to the 29th of October inclusive, all the entries of occurrences in Parkinson's 

 Journal (and they are almost daily made) are one day in advance of the 

 corresponding ones in Captain Cook's Voyage. And what is still more 

 strange is the further record of this difference as to date in their respective 

 maps of New Zealand. In both maps the ship's track all around New 

 Zealand is given ; in Parkinson's it is engraved, — '^ Made the coast October 

 5th, 1769 f' — in Cook's, ''Made the coast October 6th, 1769." I have 

 endeavoured, by clgsely comparing the two accounts, to find out where the 

 error is, or how it occurred, but I have failed to do so. On the one hand, 

 in Parkinson's Journal, we have almost daily entries, generally made in 

 separate paragraphs ; while, on the other hand, in Cook's Voyage, we have 

 the day of the week given as well as the day of the month, — although in a 

 few places several days are thrown together in a single paragraph ; and we 

 must not lose sight of this, that the editor. Dr. Hawkesworth, made use of 

 several journals in compiling his narrative. 



And now I will offer a few remarks on what may possibly be the real 

 meaning of the ceremony of taking possession at Mercury Bay. First, 

 however, for clearness, again quoting that paragraph : — "Before we left the 

 bay we cut upon one of the trees near the watering-place the ship's name 

 and that of the commander, with the date of the year and the month when 

 we were there, and after displaying the English colours I took a formal 

 possession of it in the name of His Britannic Majesty King George the 

 Third." 



May " it" not mean " the bay ?" that being the proper antecedent to the 

 pronoun " it ;" the country is not mentioned. Moreover, it should be noted 

 that Cook does not say in speaking of " the date " which he caused to be 

 cut that such was the date of his discovery of the coimtry; but, on the 

 contrary, that of " the month " of their being " there " — at that bay and 

 watering-place, which we know was not the month in which he discovered 

 the land. Curiously enough Parkinson makes no allusion whatever to this 

 ceremony at Mercury Bay in his journal, although he says a good deal 

 about the place and people, etc., etc. 



Further, Capt. Cook may have had several reasons for so doing ; two 

 prominent ones I will mention: — 1. Capt. Cook observes that he heard 



