irth at 6 feet from the ground, and, by means of
Cook's quadrant, 89 feet to the lowest branch. It was perfectly straight,
and tapered very slightly, and some were seen that were even larger. This
was the Black Pine; to the Maoris, Matoi, and to the naturalist,
Podocarpus.
On the way down the river their friends of the morning came out and
"traffick'd with us in the most friendly manner imaginable, until they
had disposed of the few trifles they had." When the boats got outside
they had to anchor, as a strong tide and breeze were against them, and
they did not reach the ship till next morning, when the breeze had
increased to a gale, and topgallant yards had to be struck. When the wind
dropped, what was left was against them, and the Endeavour would only go
with the tide, so Cook took a run ashore to the west side of the bay, but
saw nothing of interest, and concluded it was but sparsely inhabited.
Whilst he was away natives went off to trade and behaved remarkably well,
with the exception of one man who was caught making off with the
half-hour glass, so Mr. Hicks had him triced up, and he was given a dozen
lashes. When it was explained to his friends why this was done, they
expressed their approval, and on his release an old man gave him another
thrashing.
The weather now became very unsettled, and they were not able to keep as
near the coast as they desired, but on 26th November some cultivated
spots were seen, and several canoes came off.
"Some of the natives ventur'd on board; to two, who appeared to be
chiefs, I gave presents. After these were gone out of the ship, the
others became so Troublesome that in order to get rid of them, we were at
the expense of two or three Musquet Balls and one 4 pound shott, but as
no harm was intended them, none they received, unless they happened to
overheat themselves in pulling ashore."
A STAMPEDE.
To the west side of Cape Brett is a deep bay which was seen but not
named, and here the town of Russell is now established, said to possess
one of the finest harbours in the world, into which vessels of any
draught can enter in all weathers and at any state of the tide. The
natives were found difficult to deal with, and "would cheat whenever they
had an opportunity." The ship left its anchorage, but was after a time
driven back again, and Cook, with a party, took the opportunity to land.
They were followed up by the Maoris, and were soon surrounded by about
two hundred of the
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