"This Book was a Present from Captain Cook to Sir Hugh Palliser,
containing his Logg from the 27th May, 1768, to the 11th June,
1771, during his voyage on board the _Endeavour_ Bark, sent to make
observations on the Transit of Venus in the South Seas, and
afterwards to make discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere."
The book was bound in red morocco, gold bordered, with a fancy back, and
marked:--
"COOK'S LOGG BOOK, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771."
Though not, as I saw at once, wholly in Cook's handwriting, the record
had no knowledge either of _Botany Bay_ or of _New South Wales_, but had
the Cook's style of spelling, as: "_severell smokes_ were seen," and
"_saw smokes_ upon the shore." What was afterwards known as _Botany
Bay_ is there called "_Sting Ray Harbour_."
Apart from the Museum Logs, this one is undoubtedly the best
authenticated _Cook's Log_.