service, who had been of great use to them, was imprisoned for his kind
attentions.

On 9th December they met with bad weather and lost their foretop-gallant
mast, but the rough handling they got was credited with improving the
sailing qualities of the ship, as it took some of the stiffness out of
her upperworks. A meteor was noted on the 23rd, like a small bright
cloud, emitting flames, travelling rapidly westward, and disappearing
slowly with two sharp explosions. The same day an eclipse of the sun was
observed.

Christmas Day, for which the men had been saving up their allowances of
grog, passed in the usual manner, that is, in considerable
over-indulgence. Banks speculates as to what might have happened if they
had had bad weather, whilst Cook dismisses the occurrence very shortly:
"The people none of the soberest." On the 27th they crossed the mouth of
the River Plate, the water being very discoloured, and a good many land
insects were found in it. On 2nd January 1769, they saw some of the
shoals of red lobsters like those mentioned by Dampier and Cowley, but
they were not found in such quantities as those navigators reported.

On the 11th the shores of Tierra del Fuego were sighted, and on working
in closer, the country was found to be less desolate in appearance than
they had expected from Anson's description. Arriving off the entrance of
the Straits of Le Maire, between Staten Island and the mainland, they
were driven back by the tide and a strong adverse wind, and trying to
shelter under Cape Diego they were carried past, and only after three and
a half days' hard work were they able to get through the straits. Cook
has left sailing directions for this passage which are followed to the
present day. Banks and Solander were ashore for a short time on Staten
Island, and returned delighted with the addition of some hundred new
plants for their collection. Cook, with an eye to the welfare of his
crew, remarks: "They returned on board, bringing with them several plants
and flowers, etc., most of them unknown in Europe, and in that consisted
their whole value." Cook and Green made a series of observations, "the
first ever made so far south in America," and fixed the position of Cape
Diego at 66 degrees West, 54 degrees 39 South; Wharton places it at 65
degrees eight minutes West, 54 degrees 40 minutes South.

On the 15th they anchored in the Bay of Success, for wood and water, and
met with some of the inhabitants,