CHAPTER VIII 
SOUTH SEA ISLANDS TO NEW ZEALAND (THAMES RIVER) 
AvuG. 15—Nov. 22, 1769 
Waterspout—Comet : its effect on natives—Diary at sea—Condition of ship’s 
supplies—Port Egmont hens—Land of New Zealand made—A native 
shot—Conflict with natives—Capture of a canoe—Poverty Bay—Natives 
come on board—Their appearance and clothing—Boy seized by natives— 
Appearance of the land—Occupations of the natives—Bracken as food— 
Mode of fighting—Religion—A large canoe—Natives throw stones on 
board—Coast along New Zealand—Habits of natives—Transit of Mercury 
—Shags—Oysters—Lobster-catching—Heppahs or forts—Thames River— 
Timber trees. 
16th August 1769. Early this morning we were told that 
land was in sight. It proved to be a cloud, but at first sight 
was so like land that it deceived every man in the ship; even 
Tupia gave it a name. 
17th. A heavy swell from the south-west all day, so we 
are not yet under the lee of the continent. Our taros 
(roots like a yam, called in the West Indies cocos) failed us 
to-day ; many of them were rotten. They would probably 
have kept longer had we had either time or opportunity of 
drying them well, but I believe that at the best they are 
very much inferior to either yams or potatoes for keeping. 
24th. The morning was calm. About nine it began 
to blow fresh with rain, which came on without the least 
warning; at the same time a waterspout was seen to lee- 
ward. It appeared to me so inconsiderable, that had it not 
been pointed out to me, I should not have particularly 
noticed the appearance. It resembled a line of thick mist, 
as thick as a middling-sized tree, which reached, not in a 
