P.M. stood to the Southward for the land above mention'd,
with the wind at North, a fresh breeze and Clear weather. At 8 o'Clock we
had run 11 Leagues since Noon, when the land extended from South-West by
West to North by West, being distant from the nearest shore about 3 or 4
Leagues; in this situation had 50 fathoms, a fine sandy bottom. Soon
after this it fell Calm, and continued so until 6 A.M., when a light
breeze sprung up at North-West, which afterwards veer'd to North-East. At
sun rise, being very Clear, we plainly discover'd that the last mentioned
land was an Island by seeing part of the Land of Tovy-poenammu open to
the Westward of it, extending as far as West by South. At 8 o'Clock the
Extreams of the Island bore North 76 degrees West and North-North-East
1/2 East, and an opening that had the Appearance of a Bay or Harbour,
lying near the South point North 20 degrees West, distant 3 or 4 Leagues,
being in 38 fathoms, a brown Sandy bottom. This Island,* (* It is not an
island, but a mountainous peninsula, still called after Mr. Banks, but
from the lowness of the land it adjoins, looks like an island. On the
north side is the fine harbour of Lyttelton, the port of Christchurch, a
town of nearly 40,000 inhabitants. The harbour on the south side, that
Cook saw, is Akaroa, a magnificent port.) which I have named after Mr.
Banks, lies about 5 Leagues from the Coast of Tovy poenammu; the South
point bears South 21 degrees West from the higher peak on the Snowy
Mountain so often mention'd, and lies in the Latitude of 43 degrees 52
minutes South and in the Longitude of 186 degrees 30 minutes West, by
observations made of the Sun and Moon this morning. It is of a circular
figure, and may be about 24 Leagues in Compass; the land is of a height
sufficient to be seen 12 or 15 Leagues, and of a very broken, uneven
Surface, and hath more the appearance of barrenness than fertility. Last
night we saw smoke up it, and this morning some people, and therefore
must be inhabited. Yesterday Lieutenant Gore, having the Morning Watch at
the time we first saw this Island, thought he saw land bearing
South-South-East and South-East by East; but I, who was upon Deck at the
same time, was very Certain that it was only Clouds, which dissipated as
the Sun rose. But neither this, nor the running 14 Leagues to the South,
nor the seeing no land to the Eastward of us in the Evening, could
Satisfy Mr. Gore but what he saw in the morning was, or might be, land;
altho' there was hardly a possibility of its being so, because we must
have been more than double the distance from it at that time to what we
were either last night or this morning, at both of which times the
weather was Exceeding Clear, and yet we could see no land either to the
Eastward or Southward of us. Notwithstanding all this, Mr. Gore was of
the same opinion this morning; upon this I order'd the Ship to be wore,
and to be steer'd East-South-East by Compass on the other Tack, the point
on which he said the land bore at this time from us.* (* Another instance
of the general desire to leave nothing unexplored.) At Noon we were in
the Latitude of 44 degrees 7 minutes South; the South point of Banks
Island bore North, distant 5 Leagues.
Joseph Banks Journal
This morn we were close onboard of the land which made in ridges not unlike the South Sea Islands (between the tropicks); the tops of these were bare but in the Valleys was plenty of wood. On the SE part was an opening which had all possible appearance of an excellent harbour; near this on the top of a hill we saw two people setting. Mr Gore notwi[th]standing Yesterdays run was of opinion that what he saw yesterday morning might be land, so he declard on the Quarter deck: on which the Captn who resolvd that nobody should say he had left land behind unsought for orderd the ship to be steerd SE.
Sydney Parkinson Journal
We saw more land which still tended away to the S.W. and, it is probable, the straits we saw is a passage between the main or land we sailed along the day before and the island or land we saw this day; or this may, perhaps, be a continuation of the larger. About the middle of this island, which we called Banks's Island, there seems to be a fine large bay. We hauled in our wind, and stood to the east, one of the lieutenants being persuaded that he saw land in that quarter; but, in the evening, we bore away to the south, and, on the 18th, Latitude 45ยบ 16', we hauled in our wind, and stood to the west, being certain that we could not miss the land if there was any so far to the south. In the evening we saw vast shoals of grampusses and bottle-nosed porpoises.
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