m, some of whom tried to seize the boats, but being
driven off tried to break in on the party. Several charges of small shot,
which did no serious damage, were fired into them, and then the ship
fired a 4 pounder over them, which caused a stampede, and during the rest
of the stay there was no further trouble, but Cook had to punish three of
his own men for stealing potatoes from one of the plantations. He
invariably tried to hold the balance fairly between his men and the
natives.

The country is described as very similar to that seen before, but the
number of inhabitants was greater, and though apparently not under the
same chiefs, they were on good terms with each other, and inclined to be
civil to their visitors. A good deal of the ground was under cultivation,
producing good sweet-potatoes. A few trees of the paper-mulberry were
seen, from which the natives made a cloth in a similar manner to the
Otaheitans, but the quantity was so small that it was only used for
ornament. Tupia, who had been instructed to gain as much information
about the people as he could, was informed that some of their ancestors
once went off in large canoes and discovered a country to the north-west
after a passage of about a month, only a small number returning. These
reported they had been to a place where the people ate hogs, using the
same word for the animal as the Otaheitans, Tupia asked if they had any
in New Zealand, and the reply was "no." He asked if their ancestors
brought any back, again the answer was "no"; whereon he told them their
story must be a lie, for their ancestors could never have been such fools
as to come back without some. The land said to have been discovered may
have been New Caledonia.

One of the men who had been wounded at the first coming of the ship was
seen by Banks. A ball had gone through his arm and grazed his chest. He
did not seem to have any pain, and the wound though exposed to the air,
was perfectly healthy, and he was greatly pleased to receive a musket
ball like the one which had wounded him.

When leaving the bay they nearly grounded, being set by the current
towards a small island, but the boats towed them clear. Very soon after
they struck on an unseen rock, which was named Whale Rock, but almost
immediately got clear, with no "perceptible damage," into twenty fathoms.

BLOWN OFF THE LAND.

Progress was now very slow, owing either to want of, or adverse wind. On
10th December they discovered