Joseph Banks. Patrick O’Brian

easily imagine our situation than I can describe it all that we so ardently wishd to examine was in our sight we could almost but not quite touch them never before had I an adequate Idea of Tantalus’s punishment but I have sufferd it with all possible aggravations three weeks have I staid aboard the ship regardless of every inconvenience of her being heeld down &c. &c. which on any other occasion would have been no small hardships but small evils are totaly swallowd up in the Larger bodily pain bears no comparison to pure in short the torments of the damnd must be very severe indeed as doubtless my present ones Cannot nearly Equal them.”

      In spite of the very real danger of violence and imprisonment if nothing worse, Banks or his servants did in fact slip ashore occasionally and collect for a few hours, and he was able to botanize among the fodder brought for the livestock and the greenstuff brought for the bark’s company; but his list did not amount to more than about three hundred plants – very miserable poverty indeed when compared with the prodigious wealth only a few hundred yards away.

      It is pleasant to know that on 7 December, when the Endeavour sailed and when they were at last free of the viceroy and his troublesome guardboat, they “immediately resolved to go ashore on one of the Islands in the mouth of the harbour; their ran a great swell but we made shift to land on one called Raza, on which we gatherd many species of Plants and some insects. Alstromeria salsilla was here in tolerable plenty and Amaryllis mexicana, they were the most specious plants; we stayed till about 4 oClock and then came aboard the ship heartily tired, for the desire of doing as much as we could in a short time had made us all exert ourselves in a particular manner tho exposd to the hottest rays of the sun just at noonday.”

      This entry is followed by a long, conscientious but understandably jaundiced account of Rio gathered from those who like Monkhouse the surgeon were allowed to visit the town, but then Banks’s energy seems to have dwindled; as the Endeavour sailed into the cooler seas south of the tropic of Capricorn his journal amounted to little more than a couple of lines a day, generally saying that the wind was fair, sometimes that it was foul.

      December 17 Wind foul, blew rather fresh, so the ship heeld much which made our affairs go on rather uncomfortably.

      18 Calm at night, wind to the northward; we began to feel ourselves rather cool tho the thermometer was at 76 and shut two of the Cabbin windows, all of which have been open ever since we left Madeira.

      22 This morn quite calm. [Pilot whales appeared] When they were gone Dr Solander and myself went out in the boat and shot one species of Mother Careys chickens and two shearwaters, both proved new, Procellaria Gigantea and sandaliata. The Carey was one but ill described by Linnaeus, Procellaria fregata. While we were out the people were employed in bending the new set of sails for Cape Horn.

      25 Christmas day; all good Christians that is to say all hands got abominably drunk so that at night there was scarce a sober man in the ship, wind thank God very moderate or the lord knows what would have become of us.

      By that time the Endeavour was well down in the South Atlantic, in cold waters immensely rich in all forms of life from plankton to whales, and now they began to see much greater numbers of birds, petrels of many, many kinds, shearwaters, albatrosses of several species: for in the new year they were coming into a new world entirely.

      January 1769

      1 New years day today made us pass many Compts, and talk much of our hopes for success in the year 69. Many whales were about the ship today and much sea weed in large lumps but none near enough to be caught.

      In the Evening rather squally; the true sea green colour upon the surface of the water was often to be seen now between the squalls, or rather under the black clouds when they were about half a mile from the ship. I had often heard of it before but never seen it in any such perfection, indeed most of the seamen said the same, it was very bright and perfectly like the stone calld aquamarine.

      They paid for their pretty sea, however: they were in the latitude of the Falklands at this point (indeed, Banks hoped they might land there) and the wind began to blow strong and cold – their first real touch of antarctic weather with its enormous gales and monstrous seas. Magellan jackets made of thick wool were served out to all hands, and Banks put on thick trousers and a flannel jacket and waistcoat. Seals and penguins appeared, and Banks thought it probable that he had seen a black bird described by Linnaeus as Procellaria aequinoctialis, but he could not quite make out the colour of its bill. Everyone was agreed that “the ship during this gale has shewn her excellence in laying too remarkably well, shipping scarce any water tho it blew at times vastly strong; the seamen in general say that they never knew a ship lay too so well as this does, so lively and at the same time so easy.”

      For the next few days the weather was kinder; the Endeavour sailed south among seals, albatrosses, dolphins and diving petrels, and then Banks wrote in his journal

      11 This morn at day break saw the land of Tierra del Fuego, by 8 O’Clock we were well in with it, the weather exceedingly moderate. Its appearance was not near so barren as the writer of Ld Ansons voyage has represented it, the weather exceedingly moderate so we stood along shore about 2 leagues off, we could see trees distinctly through our glasses and observe several smokes made probably by the natives as a signal to us. The captain now resolved to put in here if he can find a convenient harbour and give us an opportunity of searching a country so intirely new.

      Because of foul winds and the furious tides that drove the ship out of the strait Le Maire between Staten Island and Tierra del Fuego three times, this could not be done until 14 January, when Banks and Solander went ashore for four hours while Cook stood on and off, there being no holding ground for an anchor. They found about a hundred plants, all of them “new and intirely different from what either of us had before seen”, as well as the antiscorbutic Winter’s bark, wild celery and scurvy grass. But the next day was much better; they anchored in the Bay of Good Success after dinner and made contact with the timid but quite amiable natives: “Dr Solander and myself then walked forward 100 yards before the rest and two of the Indians advanc’d also and set themselves down about 50 yards from their companions. As soon as we came up they rose and each of them threw a stick he had in his hand away from him and us, as a token no doubt of peace, they then walked briskly towards the other party and wavd to us to follow, which we did and were receivd with many uncouth signs of friendship. We distributed among them a number of Beads and ribbands which we had brought ashore for that purpose at which they seem’d mightily pleased.” The journal goes on:

      16 This morn very early Dr Solander and myself with our servants and two Seamen to assist in carrying baggage, accompanied by Msrs Monkhouse and Green, set out from the ship to try to penetrate into the countrey as far as we could, and if possible gain the tops of the hills where alone we saw places not overgrown with trees. We began to enter the woods at a small sandy beach a little to the westward of the watering place and continued pressing through pathless thickets, always going up hill, till 3 o’Clock before we gained even a near view of the places we intended to go to. The weather had all this time been vastly fine much like a sunshiny day in May, so that neither heat nor cold was troublesome to us nor were there any insects to molest us, which made me think the travelling much better than what I had before met with in Newfoundland.

      Soon after we saw the plains we arrived at them, but found to our great disappointment that what we took for swathe was no better than low bushes of birch about reaching a mans middle; these were so stubborn that they could not be bent out of the way, but at every step the leg must be lifted over them and on being plac’d again on the ground was almost sure to sink above the anckles in bog. No travelling could possibly be worse than this which seemd to last about a mile, beyond which we expected to meet with bare rock, for such had we seen from the tops of lower hills as we came: this I particularly was infinitely eager to arrive at expecting there to find the alpine plants of a countrey so curious. Our people tho rather fatigued were yet in good spirits so we pushd on intending to rest ourselves as soon as we should arrive at plain ground.

      We proceeded two thirds of the way without the least difficulty and I confess I thought for my part that all difficulties were surmounted when Mr Buchan fell into a fit. A fire was immediately lit for him and with him all those who were