AN EXPLORATIION TRIP.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 33, 8 February 1910, Page 7

AN EXPLORATIION TRIP.

IN DUSKY SOUND. TRACES OF CAPTAIN COOK. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) INVERCARGILL, this day. On Saturday evening last a small party of travellers returned to Invercargill alter having spent a month in exploring Dusky Sound. The party was under the leadership of Mr Russell Duncan, who also took photographs, the other members being Mr Walter McCarthy and Mr F. G. Smith, geologist and naturalist, and an Invercargill lad All the men of the party came from Napier. The object of the trip was to discover the points in Dusky tiound remarked upon by Captain Cook in his chronicle ot his second voyage. The party visited Piokersgill Harbour, and found there the tree stumps left in the clearing made by Cook at Observation Point in March and April of 1773. The party spent one afternoon in following up the creek to find the lake described by Forster in his journals. They found the lake rather more than half a mile up the creek, and considered themselves well rewarded for their toil In getting there. Probably very few Europeans had ever visited the place before. One day was spent in Cascade Cave, which was found to be true to Forster's description of dt.

Another place visited was Supper Cove, from which the party entered Seaforth river, and followed it up until they found the barrier of rocka described by Cook. At this spot they saw two of the three deer liberated in the locality some time ago. In Facile Harbour, the launch in which the explorers travelled was frequently moored over the wreck of the old Endeavour, from which relics in the shape of copper bolts were obtained. All that is left of the wreck lies in about six or eight feet of water at low tide. About 4t)o yards higher up the harbour from where the remains of the hull lie, the voyagers found traces of the main camp of the wrecked crew. The place had become overgrown, but there was still a little charcoal and iron lying about. At the head of the harbour is the underground river referred to by Murray, the second mate of the Endeavour, in the ship's log. Mr Duncan and his friends found it in much the same way as Murray found it in the first instance.

'Mr Duncan did not find the Admiralty chart of Dusky Sound at all satisfactory, but fortunately the party were accompanied for a week by the fishing schooner Gisborne, commanded by Captain Gross, who gave thpm Touch valuable information about the Bound. He pointed out several rocks not marked on the chart, and also pointed out other places at which rocks were shown on the chart, whereas none existed. Also the party found that the Luncheon Cove shown on the chart -was not the Luncheon Cove visited by Captain Cook.