Where Australia Collides with Asiafishing, they have even a curious contraption by which, put into the water, you can see the
bottom at a great depth, where it is clear. They have many cases of bottles with ground
stoppers of several sizes, to preserve animals in spirits. They have the several sorts of salts
to surround the seeds; and wax, both beeswax and that of Myrica; besides there are many
people whose sole business is to attend them for this very purpose. They have two painters
and draughtsmen, and several volunteers who have a tolerable notion of Natural History.The two painters were Alexander Buchan, a skilled landscape artist who would
record images of the lands and people they visited, and Sydney Parkinson, a fine
young draughtsman who had painted the natural history specimens collected by Banks
in Newfoundland. Being a gentleman, Banks also required two personal assistants and
two servants to attend to his needs, as well as his two hunting dogs.
On 26 August 1768, the Endeavour sailed from Plymouth harbour. As the wind
filled her sails she left behind a white wake and the cries of seagulls as she began
her voyage down the Atlantic and into the Pacific Ocean. In his journal James Cook
reveals the orders under which they sailed:
I was therefore ordered to proceed direct to Otaheite [Tahiti] and, after the astronomical
observations should be completed, to prosecute the design of making discoveries in the
South Pacific Ocean by proceeding south as far as the latitude of 40 degrees; then if I found
no land, to proceed to the west between 40 and 35 degrees till I fell in with New Zealand,
which I was to explore and thence to return to England by such route as I should think
proper.After two months sailing down the South Atlantic the Endeavour reached Rio
de Janeiro to resupply. To Cook’s surprise he received a hostile reception as the
Portuguese Viceroy did not believe his ridiculous story of how they were bound for
the South Pacific to observe the planet Venus passing before the sun. Although Cook
claimed the Endeavour was a British naval vessel she was clearly a merchantman and
according to the Portuguese probably intent on some nefarious purpose. As a result
none of the crew, including Banks and Solander, was allowed ashore except under
guard and a Portuguese soldier was assigned to all the boats that brought goods to and
from the ship.
The Endeavour rounded Cape Horn by sailing through the straits between Staten
Island and Tierra del Fuego. It was on Staten Island that Banks and Solander were, for
the first time, able to go ashore and collect plants which according to Cook were still
unknown in Europe. This expedition turned into a disaster when on their return the
weather suddenly changed, forcing them to bivouac overnight in freezing temperatures.
Banks’ personal assistants must have been carrying the ‘preserving alcohol’ used for
specimens and died of hyperthermia when they, mistakenly, believed that drinking
alcohol would keep them warm.
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