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Historical Records of New Zealand

Captain Cook To Captain Furneaux

Captain Cook To Captain Furneaux.

After having waited at the Cape of Good Hope the time limeted by the rendezvous, viz., six weeks, you are hereby required and directed to put to sea with the sloop you command, and carry into execution, as far as in you lay, the enclosed instructions, which are an exact copy of those I have from their Lordships.

On all such land as you may discover in your rout to the southward, and can land thereon, you are to erect on the most conspicuous parts of the coast posts or marks, at the feet of which page 16 leave letters in bottles, given an account of your proceedings, time you departed from thence, the rout you intend to take, and such other informations as you think necessary; and also, during your stay in any port or place, to hoist a St. George’s ensign in the day, and make fires in the night and fire guns, or take such other method as your situation will admit, to point out to me the place were you are in case I should happen to be upon the coast at that time; but if you should fail of discovering land in your rout to the southward or westward, or the land you discover should be in so high a latitude that you cannot winter upon it—in either of these cases you are, as soon as the season of the year may render it unsafe for you to continue in high latitudes, to make the best of your way to Queen Charlotte’s Sound, in New Zealand, where you are to remain untill the next season approaches for returning to the southward, taking care before you depart to leave directions in the manner above mentioned near the watering-place in Ship Cove; and if you should put into any port on the southern parts of New Zealand, either before you arrive at the above-mentioned Sound or after you depart from it, you will also make use of the fore-mentioned methods to point out the place where you are. It is recommended to you that while you are upon the southern parts of New Zealand to endeavour to procure speciments of the different stones you may find in the country, as an opinion has lately been started that some of them contain minerals or metal. If, after all, your endeavours to join me before you leave New Zealand should prove ineffectual, you will, nevertheless, continue to put in practise the same methods towards filiciating [sic] a meeting as you had done before, all of which I myself will put in execution in case I shall happen to be before you.

Given under my hand, on board his Majesty’s sloop Resolution, at sea, this 15th of July, 1772.