Among the profound _Endeavour_ mysteries must be cited the extraordinary
disappearance of the Log books of officers in the ship.
It was according to naval rule that any so compiled should, at the
expiration of the voyage, be deposited with the naval authorities. After
a hundred years or so a number of _Endeavour_ Logs were discovered
behind some wainscotting at the Deptford Victualling Yard. They were
safely conveyed to the good custody of the officers of the London Record
Office, Chancery Lane. They could not have been seen by Dr. Hawkesworth
any more than those of Cook himself.
The one by Lieutenant Hickes was kept from May 27, 1768, to March 14,
1771. Third Lieutenant Gore became Second Lieutenant March 26, 1770.
Bootie's Log was from May 17, 1768, to September 3, 1770; Forward's, May
17, 1768, to September 26, 1770; Green, astronomer, September 24, 1763,
to October 3, 1770; C. Clerke's, August 26, 1768, to October 3, 1770;
Wilkinson's, June 22, 1768, to August 3, 1770; Pickersgill's, June 10,
1768, to September 29, 1770; Lieutenant Gore's from July 3, 1768, to
December 7, 1769. An unsigned Log was from May 27, 1768, to September
28, 1770; a second from August 26, 1768, to July 15, 1769; a third, May
27, 1768, to September 28, 1770; and a fourth from May 27, 1768, to
January 9, 1770.
George Nowell was Carpenter; Samuel Evans, Boatswain. The Quarter-master
Thierman, and Widowson came from New York. James Magra, afterwards
Matra, of New York, volunteered as seaman, but rose to be Midshipman,
and the special friend, through many years, of Sir Joseph Banks, whose
correspondence is in the Museum. Not one of the Deptford Logs knows
_Botany Bay_ or _New South Wales_.
How came these seamen's Logs hidden? Why was their testimony not to be
forthcoming in the book? Had the discovery of the _Dauphin_ Map, 1542,
put _Stingray Bay_ out of court, and induced the Editor, not Banks, nor
Cook, to revive the ancient name of _Baie des Plantes_? Did Banks and
Solander object to the removal of Cook's name, or were other and higher
influences at work to conceal the Deptford Logs, so that all might hear
only _Botany Bay_ and _New South Wales_? But the Record Office has the
Deptford hidden Logs, that came to tell another tale than that of the
official publication.