lances, by shaking them at us; at last the captain ordered the drum to
be beaten, which was done of a sudden with much vigour, purposely to
scare the poor creatures. They, hearing the noise ran away as fast as
they could drive, and when they ran away in haste, they would cry,
gurry, gurry, speaking deep in the throat. Those inhabitants also that
live on the main, would always run away from us; yet we took several of
them. For, as I have already observed, they had such bad eyes, that they
could not see us till we came close to them. We always gave them
victuals, and let them go again but the islanders, after our first time
of being among them, did not stir for us.




THE FIRST VISIT TO THE EASTERN COAST

+Source.+--Cook's Journal (edited by Wharton, 1893), pp. 237-249,
311-312

Captain Cook was the first Englishman to search for the Great South
Land. After observing the transit of Venus, he made extensive
explorations in New Zealand, and then sailed West, to seek the East
Coast of New Holland.


_April 1770. Thursday 19th._ At 5, set the topsails close reef'd and 6,
saw land, extending from N.E. to W., distance 5 or 6 leagues, having 80
fathoms, fine sandy bottom. The Southernmost land we had in sight, which
bore from us W 3/4 S., I judged to lay in the latitude of 38° 0' S., and
in the Long. of 211° 7' W. from the Meridian of Greenwich. I have named