Possession: 22 August 1770
Cook Journal:
but in order to be better informd I land
^ed with a party of Men accompan'd by M
r Banks and D
r Solander
and land upon the Island which lies at the
SE point of the Passage: before and after we
landed Anchor'd
we saw a number of People upon this Island arm'd in the same - manner
as all the others we have seen except one man who had a bow and a bundle
of Arrows the first we have seen on this coast. from the appearence
of these People we expected they would have opposed our landing but as
we approached the Shore they all made off and left us in peaceable
posession of as much of the Island as served our purpose.
....
Having satisfied myself of the great Probabillity of a Passage, thro' which I intend going with the Ship and there
for may land no more upon this
Western Eastern coast of
New Holland and on the Western side I can make no new discovery the honour of which belongs to the Dutch Navigators
and as such they may lay claim to it as their property
but the Eastern Coast from the Latitude of 38° South down to this place
I am confident was never seen or viseted by any European before
^us and therefore by the same Rule belongs to great Brittan
Notwithstand I had in the Name of his Majesty taken posession of
several places upon this coast I now once more hoisted English Coulers
and in the Name of His Majesty King George the Third took posession of
the whole Eastern Coast from the above Latitude down to this place by
the Name of New South
^Wales together with all the Bays, Harbours Rivers and Islands situate upon the
same said coast after which we fired three Volleys of small Arms which were Answerd by the like number
by from
the Ship this done we set out for the Ship but were some time in
geting on board on accout of a very rappid Ebb Tide which set
^NE out of the Passage
away to the NE ever sence we came in among the Shoals this last time we have found a Moderate Tide the Flood seting to the
NW and Ebb to the
SE.
at this place it is High-water at the Full and Change of the Moon about
1 or 2 o'Clock and riseth and falls upon a perpendicular about 10 or 12
feet. We saw on all the Adjacent Lands and Islands a great number of
smooks a certain sign that they are Inhabited and we have dayly seen
smooks on every part of the coast we have lately been upon —
Hawksworth's account 21 August 1770
As I was now about to quit the eastern coast of New Holland, which I had
coasted from latitude 38 to this place, and which I am confident no
European had ever seen before, I once more hoisted English colours, and
though I had already taken possession of several particular parts, I now
took possession of the whole eastern coast, from latitude 38° to this
place, latitude 10 ½ S. in right of his Majesty King George the Third,
by the name of NEW SOUTH WALES, with all the bays, harbours, rivers, and
islands situated upon it: we then fired three vollies of small arms,
which were answered by the same number from the ship. Having performed
this ceremony upon the island, which we called POSSESSION ISLAND, we
reimbarked in our boat, but a rapid ebb tide setting N.E. made our
return to the vessel very difficult and tedious.
Parkinson's Journal
on the 18th...
At length we came to, and the pinnace was sent on shore to a spot where
we saw some of the natives stand gazing at us, but when the boats
company landed, they immediately fled. fled. The captain, and some
others, went up to the top of a hill, and, seeing a clear passage, they
hoisted a jack, and fired a volley, which was answered by the marines
below, and the marines by three vollies from the ship, and three cheers
from the main shrouds. The natives were armed with lances, and one of
them had a bow in his hand. In other respects they were much like the
people we saw last
