with a more rugged and barren aspect
than this does from the sea, for as far inland as the eye can reach
nothing is to be seen but the summits of these rocky mountains, which
seem to lay so near one another as not to admit any vallies between
them."

On the 24th they rounded the north point of the South Island, and on the
27th Cook writes: "As we have now circumnavigated the whole of this
country, it is time for me to think of quitting it." He had thus carried
out to the fullest extent the instructions to determine the situation and
nature of the land seen by Tasman in 1642, and had done it in the most
conclusive manner possible--by sailing round it--and thus upset Mr.
Dalrymple's favourite theory that it formed part of a continent.

In Admiralty Bay, which he entered to refit for the homeward voyage, the
sails were found to require a thorough overhaul, for, as Banks says,
they:

"were ill-provided from the first, and were now worn and damaged by the
rough work they had gone through, particularly on the New Zealand coast,
and they gave no little trouble to get into order again."

The two points forming the bay were appropriately named after the
Secretaries of the Admiralty, Stephens and Jackson.

The opinion was expressed that European fruits, grain, etc., would grow
well in New Zealand, and an agricultural population would be successful.
Timber of excellent quality was plentiful, and it was believed that New
Zealand flax promised to be of considerable commercial value. Fish was
found in great quantities, the lobsters and oysters being specially
remarkable for quality and quantity. No quadrupeds except dogs and rats
were seen, and birds did not seem very plentiful. The minerals, in Cook's
opinion, did not appear of much value, but he admitted that he was not an
authority on the subject. Banks notes the southern islanders appeared to
be an inferior race to those of the north, the latter probably more
closely allied to the Otaheitan type; many of their customs were similar,
and their language practically identical. Tupia had no difficulty in
making himself understood.

It would seem that even at this time founding a colony in the southern
hemisphere had been under discussion, for Cook says that if a settlement
were decided on in New Zealand, he would recommend the Estuary of the
Thames and the Bay of Islands as most suitable for the purpose.

Speaking of his chart of New Zealand, Cook points out frankly the places