Australian History: Endeavour Exploration
For over 50 years after Dampier had reported back from his expeditions to New Holland, the British did not go back to learn more. Instead they were busy with war against the French. However the people were interested in the Great South Land, and books were written about it. In 1768, ‘naturalists’ (old term for scientist) from the Royal Society predicted an eclipse was to occur, where the planet Venus would pass in front of the sun. This was important for their studies of the solar system, and they were keen to observe the movement of Venus. The King agreed on the expedition and the Navy chose James Cook, who was an excellent and strong officer to captain the Endeavour ship for the expedition.
The Endeavour had about 90 men on board, including the astronomer Green, naturalist Joseph Banks, botanist Daniel Solander, and a lot of expensive telescopes. The task was to sail to Tahiti to observe the eclipse. But Cook was also given additional secret orders. After the observing the eclipse he was to sail south and try and find the unknown south land, and to claim it for Britain if he did find it, before France could.
The Endeavour expedition left Plymouth, England in 1768 and sailed south-westerly towards South America for eight months stopping at the Madeira Islands, Rio de Janeiro and Tierra de Fuego for repairs, food and water. The lack of fresh food was a problem which caused a health problem for the crew called ‘scurvy’. They continued sailing south around Cape Horn, then headed to where the Great South Land may have been, but there was no land, just the ocean! The Endeavour finally arrived in Tahiti on 13 April 1769. They stayed there for three months where they built a wooden stockade on the beach to watch the planet Venus.
After the eclipse, Cook set sail in search for the Great South Land again, and sailed south for two months before turning west towards New Zealand which had been found 125 years earlier by Abel Tasman. He mapped both islands, proving that they were separate. Cook claimed the island for King George III, although the indigenous Maori people were already there. Cook was thinking of heading back across the Pacific Ocean to look for the Great South Land and round back up Cape Horn (in South America) but his ship was damaged and his food stocks were running low. Instead on March 1770 Cook left New Zealand and sailed west hoping to reach Tasmania so that he could start mapping from what was known from Abel Tasman’s voyages, but a wind blew the Endeavour to the north. On April 20th 1770 land was sighted. On the 21st April they sighted Batemans Bay but could not land because the winds were too strong to allow them into the bay. They continued sailing north reaching Stingray Harbour (so-called because of the number of stingrays he saw, later renamed to Botany Bay after what Banks and Solander saw there) on April 29th and this time they were able to sail into the sheltered bay. They went on shore to search for fresh food and water. Here they encountered Aborigines, scaring them away by shooting their guns. The first white man to step onto the east coast of New Holland was Isaac Smith, who went on shore just before Cook did.
Over the next few days, on the land, Cook and Banks were impressed by the fertile soil, and useful land for animals to graze. Cook decided to claim the land for Britain neglecting the fact that the local inhabitants were already there. On May 6th 1770 the Endeavour left Botany Bay and sailed north charting the entire east coast, and naming many, many places they saw.
The Endeavour passed the Great Barrier Reef and just off Cape Tribulation, they struck a coral reef. The ship was damaged and leaking water but managed to reach a sheltered bay where they spent several weeks repairing the ship. On 21st August they finally made it around Cape York and into the Torres Strait and landing in Batavia for repairs before the final return journey back to London on 13th July 1771.