James Cook and Tupaia - Where did they go?James Cook and Tupaia - Where did they go? 

James Cook, Joseph Banks and the crew of HMB Endeavour left England in 1768. Their journey to Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia took almost three years to complete.

Discover the other gentlemen on board in the Bonus Content chapter!

In this chapter, you can explore an interactive map that follows the voyage of HMB Endeavour and discover important events along the way. You’ll also find learning activities for students and helpful historical background information to support classroom lessons.

The interactive map shows the voyage of HMB Endeavour as it left England and circumnavigated the globe before returning three years later.

Instructions

Go at your own pace and enjoy the journey! Text boxes will pop up with information about significant events on the voyage. Pause the video to read and discuss each event, or skip through using the progress bar at the bottom.

[icon] Use the interactive map to practice saying the First Nations names of places James Cook visited along the east coast of Australia.

James Cook, on board HMB Endeavour set sail from Plymouth on 25 August, 1768.
The aims of the voyage were to:

1. Observe and record the transit of Venus
2. Observe and record any native flora and fauna they encountered, and
3. To carry out secret instructions once the first task was complete.

The Endeavour voyagers were instructed to observe the transit of Venus from Tahiti. This is an island in the Pacific Ocean that is now part of French Polynesia.

In 1519, Ferdinand Magellan became the first European to cross the Pacific and visit the islands. Europeans soon learned that the Pacific Islands had plenty of food, water and valuable spices.

Endeavour stayed in Tahiti from April to July 1769. During this time, the voyagers completed their mission and met Tahitian people. They learned about their customs, language and way of life. 

Life in Tahiti around the time of Cook’s voyage

ANMM Collection. Object number 00001472

The transit of Venus was observed and recorded from Tahiti, satisfying one of the orders.

During their stay in Tahiti, they met Tupaia, a high priest and star navigator. He became great friends with Joseph Banks, who convinced Tupaia to travel with them, and onwards to England.

After completing his mission to observe the transit of Venus in Tahiti, Cook opened the Admiralty’s secret orders. He was instructed to travel south to discover Terra Australis, which is Latin for ‘The Great South Land’.

You are to proceed to the Southward in order to make discovery of the Continent above-mentioned until you arrive in the latitude of 40º, unless you sooner fall in with it.

[icon] Despite having a similar sounding name, Terra Australis did not originally refer to the landmass we now call Australia. British and Dutch explorers had already mapped parts of the west and north coasts of Australia before 1768, but Cook’s instructions were to travel further south than these observed lands. The idea of Terra Australis more closely matches the landmass we now call Antarctica.  

Cook followed instructions to sail southwards and reached 40 degrees south but did not find any land. He abandoned further attempts to find Terra Australis when the conditions at sea became too difficult and temperatures became colder. Instead, he followed the next step in his instructions: 

…if you shall fail of discovering the Continent beforemention’d [the Great South Land], you will with upon falling in with New Zeland carefully observe the Latitude and Longitude in which that Land is situated.

Endeavour changed direction and continued sailing until it reached the coast of Aotearoa (New Zealand). Although Māori people had discovered and settled Aotearoa hundreds of years earlier, European knowledge of this land was limited. Cook had access to the charts of Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, which recorded the location of Tasman’s visit in 1642.

The first meeting with the Māori people was disastrous, with one Māori chief ended up being shot when some Māori attempted to steal a small rowboat from Cook. In the next meeting, Cook decided to ask Tupaia to join them. To everyone’s surprise, Tupaia was able to speak the language of the Māori! While there are still cultural misunderstandings during their visit, Tupaia was able to converse with the Māori people, explaining who they were and where they had come from. It was Tupaia who prevented many more deaths and injury on both sides. To the Māori, HMB Endeavour was Tupaia’s ship.

Over the next five months, the Endeavour voyagers circumnavigated and charted New Zealand.. 

HMB Endeavour’s voyage around Aotearoa in 1769 and 1770

ANMM Object number 00004423

Australian National Maritime Museum Collection

After leaving Aotearoa, the Endeavour voyagers spent several days at sea. At 6am on 17 April 1770, Lieutenant Zachary Hicks, Cook’s deputy, was on lookout duty when he spotted land, which turned out to be the eastern coast of Australia.  

Cook recorded in his journal: 

The Southermost point of land we had in sight... I have named it Point Hicks, because Lieutenant Hicks was the first who discover'd this Land. 

While Hicks was the first person on Endeavour to see the east coast of Australia, he was several thousand years too late to “discover” it. The Bidawal people, who had lived there for thousands of years, had already named the land Tolywiarar.

Over the next few days, Cook and Banks recorded their observations of the coastline. On Saturday 21 April 1770, Cook recorded:  

we saw the smoke of fire in several places; a Certain sign that the Country is inhabited.  

[icon] Discuss the following questions as a group:  

They were still far out to sea (over ten kilometres from the coast) and they had not yet set foot on the land, but as Endeavour followed the coastline north, Cook and Banks continued to record their observations.  

The next day, on 22 April 1770, Cook wrote:  

Saw the smoke of fire in several places near the Sea beach... were so near the Shore as to distinguish several people upon the Sea beach. 

On 25 April 1770, Banks wrote:  

Large fires were lighted this morn about 10 O'Clock, we supposd that the gentlemen ashore had a plentifull breakfast to prepare.

On Sunday 29 April 1770, the Endeavour voyagers left the ship and set foot on Australian soil, on the land of First Nations people. While this was the first British visit to the Australian continent, there had been many previous visitors, such as Dutch explorers and Macassan traders.  

Using the entries from Cook, Banks and Parkinson’s journals, we can understand the Endeavour voyagers’ perspectives on what happened next.

[icon] Sydney Parkinson was one of the illustrators and artists on HMB Endeavour. You can discover more about him in the Bonus Content chapter.

Using stories passed down through generations, we can understand these encounters through the perspectives of First Nations people of the east coast of Australia.  

An artist’s impression of Kamay in 1770 

ANMM Collection. Object number 00000879 

Australian National Maritime Museum Collection

Endeavour’s first landing on the Australian continent was at Kamay, on the lands of the Gweagal people of the Dharawal (or Tharawal) Nation. With the Endeavour anchored in the sea, Tupaia, Cook, Banks and about 40 of the crew rowed towards the land.

Cook’s journal entry for Sunday 29th April 1770 records:

Saw, as we came in... a few hutts; Men, Women, and Children on the South Shore... I went in the Boats in hopes of speaking with them, accompanied by Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, and Tupia.

As the crew approached, the women and children retreated, and two warriors stood on the shore with spears. Unfortunately, Tupaia couldn’t understand the language of the Gweagal men, so they couldn’t have a conversation like they did in Aotearoa.

As we approached the Shore they all made off, except 2 Men, who seem'd resolved to oppose our landing. As soon as I saw this I order'd the boats to [stop], in order to speak to them; but this was to little purpose, for neither us nor Tupia could understand one word they said.

Cook threw some nails and beads to the Gweagal warriors, who look at them, and gesture for the crew to go away. However, Cook interprets this as an invitation and continues rowing towards the shore.

We then threw them some nails, beads, etc., a shore, which they took up, and seem'd not ill pleased with, in so much that I thought that they beckon'd to us to come ashore; but in this we were mistaken.

As soon as the crew landed, the Gweagal warriors tried to warn the crew away by throwing stones and shaking their spears. In response, Cook fired a gun at them, which hit one of the warriors in the leg. The warriors collected a shield and tried to warn the newcomers away with their spears once again.  

The journal of Sydney Parkinson, one of the artists onboard Endeavour, adds further details about this encounter.  

On the 28th, we got into a fine bay, and some of our people went on shore on one side of it, where we saw some houses. On our approaching the shore, two men, with different kinds of weapons, came out and made toward us... they threatened us... often crying to us, Warra warra wai.

An artist’s impression of a broken Gweagal spear 

© Helen S Tiernan ANMM Collection. Object number 00055133

[icon] Discuss the following questions as a group:

[icon] Repatriation is when something is returned to its place or country of origin.

[icon] Write or draw a recount of everything that happened before the Endeavour voyagers reached the land, and once they landed. Include the perspectives of the Gweagal people and the Endeavour voyagers.

The Endeavour voyagers stayed at Kamay for eight days. During this time, they stocked up on fresh water, hunted for food and collected plant and animal specimens to take back with them. The Endeavour voyagers ate many of the local animals, including stingrays. These were so plentiful that Cook initially called the area ‘Stingray Harbour’, only to change his mind and eventually call the area ‘Botany Bay’.

By 7 May 1770, Cook decided that they had “seen everything this place afforded” and left Kamay to sail north.

On Monday 11 June, in the Sea Country and fishing grounds of the Kuku Yalanji people¹,Cook recorded:  

the Ship Struck and stuck fast… we had got upon the South-East Edge of a reef of Coral Rocks.

HMB Endeavour in trouble in the ocean 

© Ray Parkin ANMM Collection Gift from Charlie and Rose Hamand. Object number 00046500

The Endeavour had struck the largest coral reef in the entire world – the Great Barrier Reef. Cook instructed the crew drop heavy pieces of equipment in the sea to lighten its load. The crew threw 50 tonnes of weight overboard, including six cannons.

[icon] Matthew Flinders gave the Great Barrier Reef its name because it was very difficult to sail through.

Many years later, archaeologists and scientists recovered the things that were thrown overboard. Some of these items are currently on display at our museum in the HMB Endeavour Cannon exhibition.

[icon] Archaeology is the study of materials to learn about human activity from the past.

Eventually Endeavour was able to dislodge from the coral but there was still a hole in its timbers, leaking seawater into the ship. All hands were on deck as they tried desperately to pump the water out, before attempting to seal the hole.

HMB Endeavour beached on Waalumbaal Birri

Engraving titled 'Vue de la riviere d'Endeavour sur la cote de la Nouvelle Hollande ou le vaisseau sur mis a la bande' [View of Endeavour river on the coast of Australia where the boat was beached] from the French edition Captain James Cook's account of his voyage on the ENDEAVOUR, published in Paris, 1774. Coloured engraving by Duret after an artwork by S. Parkinson. Upper right corner above image 'Tome IV. Pl. 1ere'.

Australian National Maritime Museum Collection Gift from Wilhelmsen Agency Pty Ltd

The badly damaged Endeavour limped along as Cook looked for a safe harbour to pull into. Finally, on 18 June 1770, the crew pulled the ship onto the land and moored it on its side.

Luckily for them, the crew had accidentally landed at an important ceremonial site for the local First Nations people. Artist Peter Hudson explains:

In Aboriginal law, this place was neutral ground. Here the local Guugu Yimitthir and neighbouring tribes gathered peacefully. Here they collected quartz crystal for ceremony. There was to be no blood shed at this place.

At first, the Endeavour voyagers had mixed success in finding food. They gathered greens (taro) but found the roots inedible. They found animal footprints but could only find pigeon to hunt. At first they only caught enough fish to feed the sickest people in their party. But within days they regularly caught upwards of two pounds (roughly one kilogram) of fish per person, per day. On Monday 9 July, the ship’s master made a discovery:

he here saw a great number of Turtle, 3 of which he Caught weighing 791 pounds (approximately 360 kilograms). This occasion'd my sending him out again this morning… This day all hands feasted upon Turtle for the First time.

At first, the local Guugu Yimithirr people had stayed far away from the Endeavour voyagers, and just observed them from afar. But after a few days, they came onto the sandy point opposite the ship. The next morning, they returned with a canoe and ventured closer to Endeavour. They brought their weapons with them, but Cook records:

Tupia soon prevailed upon them to lay down their Arms, and come and set down by him, after which most of us went to them, made them again some presents, and stay'd by them until dinner time, when we made them understand that we were going to eat, and asked them by signals to go with us; but this they declined, and as soon as we left them they went away in their Canoe.

The crew had caught so much food in the past week that they had left 12 uneaten turtles on the ship’s deck. This attracted the attention of the Guugu Yimithirr people on their next visit, but they eventually left.

Artwork of Turtles on board the replica of HMB Endeavour

The next day, the situation escalated. A group of Guugu Yimithirr people went aboard the Endeavour, wanting some of the turtles. But when the crew didn’t hand them over, one of the Guugu Yimithirr people tried to throw a turtle overboard. This then turned into a fight.

[icon] Discuss the following questions:

The Guugu Yimithirr group went back onto land, wanting to follow protocol and punish the visitors. They set fire to the grass around the Endeavour, which made Cook and the crew angry. In response, Cook fired his musket at one of the elders. The elder was injured, causing the Guugu Yimithirr people to retreat.

A little later on, another Guugu Yimithirr elder approached Cook and laid down his spear. In turn, Cook and his crew returned the spears they had taken. Both sides then sit down and the conflict was resolved. The place where this happened is now called ‘Reconciliation Rocks’, and marks the very first act of reconciliation between First Nations Australians and the British.

HMB Endeavour being repaired at Waalumbal Birri

© Ray Parkin ANMM Collection Gift from Charlie and Rose Hamand. Object number 00046501 

By 14 August, Endeavour was finally able to return to the sea

Cook was forced to steer the ship away from the coastline to prevent another incident on the coral. After surviving some dangerous situations, Endeavour successfully navigated through the Great Barrier Reef and made it into the safety of open ocean.

When Cook saw the end of the coastline, he decided that he could “make no more discovery”. On 22 August, Cook wrote:

I now once More hoisted English Colours, and in the Name of His Majesty King George the Third took possession of the whole Eastern coast from the above Latitude down to this place by the Name of New Wales, together with all the Bays, Harbours, Rivers, and Islands.

Cook then called the island “Possession Island” despite it already having the name “Thuined” (though there are also other names for this island.

Cook wrote in his diary that he had travelled onto the island, planted an English flag on the land and claimed the entire east coast for Britain. The Kaurareg people of the Kaiwalagal Nation in the Torres Strait who are the traditional custodians of Bedhan Lag (Possession Island). They dispute that this ever happened.

Painting of Possession Island

© Shane Michael Howard. ANMM Collection. Object number 00054546

Sometimes history is not straightforward. When sources contradict each other, it can be difficult to be certain about the events of the past.  

What we do know is that Cook’s claim to the lands he had charted did not follow the secret instructions he had been given earlier in his journey:

You are also with the Consent of the Natives to take Possession of Convenient Situations in the Country in the Name of the King of Great Britain: Or: if you find the Country uninhabited take Possession for his Majesty by setting up Proper Marks and Inscriptions, as first discoverers and possessors.

Endeavour sailed away from Australia, never to return. They stopped at Batavia in the country we now call Indonesia, to make repairs to the ship and restock. However, during their stay many of the crew fall ill. Tupaia, who had started showing signs of illness from the time they’d left Aotearoa, also became very sick and eventually died in Batavia.  

The Endeavour eventually made its way back to England, where the surviving voyagers could share their findings with the British Government and people.  

Batavia in the 18th Century

ANMM Collection. Object number 00018944