THE ENDEAVOUR

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19139, 7 October 1936, Page 14

THE ENDEAVOUR

COOK’S FAMOUS SHIP

FINE MODEL IN MUSEUM

TO-MORROW’S ANNIVERSARY

“Two cats called the Valentine and the Earl of Pembroke to be surveyed and report which is the properest to be purchased.” So runs the entry in the Warrant Entry Book of the Board of Trade, Deptford, under the date March 23, 1768. The survey having been duly-carried out the ship Earl of Pembroke was purchased for £2BOO. She was then “sheathed, filled, and fitted for voyage to the southward” at a further cost of £2294.

This cat-built boat was soon to make a voyage which was to bring immortal fame to her master, Captain James Cook. She was to be called the Endeafvour Bark. The reason for this official name was that there was at that time another Endeavour in the British Navy. A cat-built boat is one that has. a round, bluff bow and a wide deep waist from which point it tapers towards the stern. The name was derived from the Norwegian “ltati,” a ship. That such a description is appropriate to the Endeavour is shown by the photograph on this page of a model recently placed on view in the Dominion Museum, Wellington. This model, which was constructed by Major Burton, of Nelson, and its case are the gift of the Wellington Harbour Board. At a later date it is intended to place the model - of the Endeavour with other objects and pictures illustrative of Captain Cook’s voyages of discovery. PURCHASED BY THE ADMIRALTY The Endeavour was 368 tons burthen and was b.uilt by Messrs. Pishburn, of Whitby, in 1764. She was nearly 100 feet in length, 30ft. beam and 131 ft. draught. The sheathing carried out by the Admiralty must have been of wood, as there is no mention of copper in the--surveyors’ books, nor at the time of her being repaired at the Endeavour- River.

Judging by modern standard? the point that impresses one when viewing the model of the Endeavour are the blunt bow and square stern, also the fact that the foremast is quite close to the bow. These features with the tall masts and numerous ropes and yards recall the time when Britain’s sea power was all dependent on sailing vessels. It must be remembered that this ship was purchased by' the Admiralty and accordingly should properly be referred to as H.M.S. Endeavour. OBJECT OP THE VOYAGE The main object of Cook’s first voyage was to observe the transit of the planet Venus across the disc of the sun from the island of Tahiti. The decision to make the voyage resulted from a -memorial addressed bv the Royal Society to King George 111, who was graciously pleased to order the sum ot £4OOO clear of fees to defray expenses. The Endeavour left Plymouth on August 25, 1768, and after a voyage round the . world, in the course ..of which New Zealand was visited and charted, returned to England on July 12, 1771. After this she made some trips to the Falkland Islands and was then sold. Her next work was that of a collier in the North Sea. Finally she was rechristened La Liberte and sent with a cargo of oil .to Newport, Rhode Island. In trying to leave this port she ran aground, and she was allowed to remain where she was and drop to pieces.

To-morrow is the 167th anniversary of the, arrival of the Endeavour at Gisborne.