James Cook - A Journal of the proceedings of His Majesty's Bark Endeavour on a voyage round the world, by Lieutenant James Cook, Commander, commencing the 25th of May 1768 - 23 Oct. 1770 - Page 81

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page 81

Remarkable Occurrence & I.[Incidents] in the South Seas-
Pt1.mod.te breezes & cloudy in the Night dark cloudy unsettled wea.er with very much Thunder, Lightning,& rain, AM little wind & fair PM Variation of Several Azmths-left side note.Ozmaburg Island-end left side note. 5º.41Et, at 8 AM saw Osnaburg Island, / so called by Cap.n Wallis the first discovery bearing NWbW. distance 4 or 5 Leagues, it is a high sound Island & appears to be not above a League in Circuit, & when it bears as above it looks like a high Crown'd Hatt.but when it bears Nº. the Top is more like the roof of a House, it lies in the Lat.de of 17º.48'Sº. & Long.de 148º.10' West, & WbS. 44 Leages. from Chain Island-
Firstpt  little wind & cloudy, the remainder little wind & very Variable unsettled wea.er with some rain PM took several Observations of the sun & moon which gave the Long.de of the ship to be 148º.18'Wt. & differs but little from that given by the Log. At 6AM saw KING GEORGES Island Extending from WbS½S to WbN½N, it appeared very high & Mountainous.
Variable, light Airs all these 24 Hours & Hot sultry wea.re at 5PM King Georges Island extending from NWbW to SW distce. 6 or 7 Leag.es & at 6 AM saw it bore from SSW to WbN, being little wind with Calm. several of the Natives came ... to us in their Canoes, but more to look at us than any thing else, we could not prevail with any of them to come onboard, & some would not come near the Ship-

The firstpart Cloudy & Squally with Showers of rain remainder genteel breezes & clear wea.er at 4PM the NEt. Point of Royal Bay 10½N. run under an easey sail all night & had soundings  from 22 to 12 fatom, 2 or 3 Miles from the Shore, at 5 AM made sail for the Bay, & at 7 Anchor'd in 13 faom, At this time we had but very few men upon the sick list & these had but slite complaints, the Ships company had in general been very healthy owing in a great measure to the left hand note.Arrival on King Georges Island or Otaheite-end left hand note-Sour Kroutt, Portable Soup, & Malt, the two first were served to the People the one on Beef Days & the other on Banyan Days.Wort. was made of the Malt & at the  descretion of the Surgeon given to every man that had the least Simptons of Scurvy upon him by this means & the Case & Vigilance of Mr Monkhouse the Surgeon that this disease was prevented from getting a footing in the Ship The Sour Kroutt, the Men at first would not Eat, it until I put it in Practice a method I never once Knew to fail with seamen, & this was to have some of it dressed every day for the Cabin Table, & permitted all the Officers with out exception to make use of it,& left it to the Option of the men either to take as much as they pleased or none at all, but this practice was not continued above a Week before I found it necessary to put every one onboard to an allowance for such are the Tempers and disposition of Seamen in general that whatever you give them out of the common way at tho' it be ever so much for their good yet it will not go down with them & you will hear nothing but murmering  Against the Man that first invented it but the moment they see their Superiors set a value upon it. it becomes the finest stuff in the world and the inventer onxxxxxxx

 

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