Botany Bay
Because of strong winds from the south, the Endeavour did not arrive in Van Dieman’s Land but instead they found a much bigger island.
On the 19 April Mr Hicks saw land and Cook started mapping the east coast of New Holland.
On 29 April Captain Cook found a place to anchor after they sailed into a beautiful bay. As they approached land Captain Cook said “Isaac you shall land first!” When Cook and his crew tried to land, two tribesmen stood on the rocks, warning them off with spears and sticks. The crew tried to talk with the Aboriginal People but they couldn’t understand a word that they said. Tupaia the interpreter had managed to talk to the people of New Zealand but couldn’t understand the natives of New Holland. It seemed like the natives were unhappy with these newcomers coming upon their land.
At first Captain Cook named the place Stingray Bay but because of the large number of new plants found by Mr Banks, the botanist, it was renamed Botany Bay.
When they headed back to the ocean on the 15th May Cook saw waves crashing in front of them. He didn’t know that a tough challenge was coming his way.
Because of strong winds from the south, the Endeavour did not arrive in Van Dieman’s Land but instead they found a much bigger island.
On the 19 April Mr Hicks saw land and Cook started mapping the east coast of New Holland.
On 29 April Captain Cook found a place to anchor after they sailed into a beautiful bay. As they approached land Captain Cook said “Isaac you shall land first!” When Cook and his crew tried to land, two tribesmen stood on the rocks, warning them off with spears and sticks. The crew tried to talk with the Aboriginal People but they couldn’t understand a word that they said. Tupaia the interpreter had managed to talk to the people of New Zealand but couldn’t understand the natives of New Holland. It seemed like the natives were unhappy with these newcomers coming upon their land.
At first Captain Cook named the place Stingray Bay but because of the large number of new plants found by Mr Banks, the botanist, it was renamed Botany Bay.
When they headed back to the ocean on the 15th May Cook saw waves crashing in front of them. He didn’t know that a tough challenge was coming his way.
Our Questions:
How did the Aboriginal people feel when they faced the Europeans for the first time?
Is it for certain that the Endeavour was the first European ship that landed at that place?
Comment:
John Longley
PROJECT MANAGER and crew member of Australia II during the America's Cup conquest in 1983 and the man behind the Endeavour replica.
There was a mixed reaction from the aborigines. Some simply looked away as if Cook and Endeavour simply did not exist because they simply could not conceive what it was. Just imagine if you saw a spaceship from another planet but it did not look like anything that anyone had suggested before. You might be so baffled that you would just look away and think your eyes were deceiving you. Others were openly hostile and shouted and yelled at Cook's party. They also had little interest in the gifts that Cook offered because they had no concept of individual possession.
It is as certain as can be that the Endeavour was the first European ship to arrive in Botany Bay and most likely the whole east coast. However, she was certainly not the first on the Australian continent. The first recorded visit was the little Dutch ship Duyfken that landed on the west side of Cape York in 1606 - 164 years before Cook. There were then many other landings and visits by the Dutch and indeed the English, on the West and North coasts so by the time of Cook's landing about two thirds of the continent's coastline had been chartered to some extent.
How did the Aboriginal people feel when they faced the Europeans for the first time?
Is it for certain that the Endeavour was the first European ship that landed at that place?
Comment:
John Longley
PROJECT MANAGER and crew member of Australia II during the America's Cup conquest in 1983 and the man behind the Endeavour replica.
There was a mixed reaction from the aborigines. Some simply looked away as if Cook and Endeavour simply did not exist because they simply could not conceive what it was. Just imagine if you saw a spaceship from another planet but it did not look like anything that anyone had suggested before. You might be so baffled that you would just look away and think your eyes were deceiving you. Others were openly hostile and shouted and yelled at Cook's party. They also had little interest in the gifts that Cook offered because they had no concept of individual possession.
It is as certain as can be that the Endeavour was the first European ship to arrive in Botany Bay and most likely the whole east coast. However, she was certainly not the first on the Australian continent. The first recorded visit was the little Dutch ship Duyfken that landed on the west side of Cape York in 1606 - 164 years before Cook. There were then many other landings and visits by the Dutch and indeed the English, on the West and North coasts so by the time of Cook's landing about two thirds of the continent's coastline had been chartered to some extent.