CHAPTER VIII
SOUTH SEA ISLANDS TO NEW ZEALAND (THAMES RIVER)
Aug. 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 leeward. 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
