Blown off the land.

Progress was now very slow, owing either to want of, or adverse wind.  On 10th December they discovered two bays separated by a low neck of land, Knuckle Point; one bay was named Doubtless Bay and the other Sandy Bay; the country is described as nothing but irregular white sandhills, and Cook concluded from its appearance that the island was here very narrow and exposed to the open sea on the west.  This he soon proved to be correct.  Foster, in his account of the Second Voyage, says that when the Endeavour was passing Doubtless Bay, M. de Surville was anchored under the land, in the Saint Jean Baptiste, and saw Cook’s ship, though himself unseen.  In the account of De Surville’s voyage, published by the Academie Francaise, it is stated that New Zealand was not sighted till 12th December 1769, and owing to bad weather no anchorage was gained till 17th.  No mention whatever is made of the Endeavour being sighted, and M. l’Abbe Rochon, the editor, thinks it most probable that neither navigator knew anything of the movements of the other.  De Surville mentions having lost anchors in a place he calls Double Bay, during a storm “About 22nd December,” and it may possibly have been the one Cook encountered on the 28th off the north end of the island.  They were blown out of sight of land on the 13th, the main topsail being split, and next day both fore and mizzen topsails were lost, but they managed to bring up under shelter of a small island off Knuckle Point.  On the 15th the latitude was found to be 34 degrees 6 minutes South, with land visible to the south-west, and a large swell was coming from the west, so Cook concluded this was the most northerly point of the island, and named it North Cape.

After beating about for some days against westerly winds, they ran up north, returning southwards 23rd December, and the following day sighted land to the south-east, which proved to be Tasman’s Three Kings.  Here Banks provided the Christmas dinner, shooting several solan geese, which were made into a pie, and were “eaten with great approbation; and in the evening all hands were as drunk as our forefathers used to be upon like occasions.”

On the 27th, when about thirty leagues west of North Cape, and about the same latitude as the Bay of Islands, no land in sight, the wind rose so that they had to bring to, under the mainsail, but moderated a little the next day so that they could run in towards the land.  Again it freshened up and blew a perfect hurricane, accompanied by heavy rain, and a “prodidgeous high sea,” which caused the ship to go greatly to leeward.  On the 30th, Cape Maria van Diemen was seen about six leagues off, the land extending east and south.  On the last day of the year their position was given as “34 degrees 42 minutes South, Cape Maria van Diemen North-East by North about 5 leagues.”  Cook says: