On 1 May, a fight broke out between British sailors and locals and, in the resulting melee, Vancouver, who was trying to break it up, was pushed into the harbour. It obviously embarrassed him as he did not mention the incident in his journal. The British sailed south from Tenerife on 7 May, passing the Cape Verde Islands on the 14th and crossing the Equator on 27 May. They approached the Brazilian coast and followed it south before starting a sweep across the South Atlantic in early June. Vancouver was becoming impatient with the slow sailing of the Chatham and, on 28 June, he decided to press on without the other ship. Much to everyone's surprise, the Chatham not only kept up with the Discovery but even reached the Cape a day before the larger ship. The Chatham anchored in Simon's Bay on 8 July. Both ships used Simon's Bay instead of Table Bay. This slowed everything as Vancouver and his men had to cross the isthmus to undertake formalities and supplies had to make the same journey. The Discovery already needed repairing, which took up more time. Menzies, the botanist, appreciated the delay as it allowed him more time to collect plant specimens.
The stay at the Cape lasted five weeks. The ships were repaired and restocked. A Dutch ship arrived from Batavia (Jakarta) in early August with many of its crew suffering from dysentery. Vancouver hastened to leave Simon's Bay but the disease had spread to both ships and several men succombed, one eventually dying. They sailed on 17 August, heading across the Indian Ocean to New Holland (Australia). Vancouver wished to check the small islands of St. Paul and Amsterdam en route but their exact location was uncertain. Because of heavy rain he did not see the islands and may have even sailed right betwen them on 9 September. Two weeks later gales pounded them as they approached land, which was seen at last on 26 September. Vancouver began sailing along the south coast looking for a harbour.
Vancouver had reached land, New Holland, located and partially surveyed by the Dutch. The available charts were, however, rough and imprecise and he began surveying the coast and ascibing names to features. The first name he gave was Cape Chatham. The French explorer, Bruny d'Entrecasteaux, was leaving Brest in France at about this time to search for Laperouse and, in early December 1792, d'Entrecasteaux sailed past the same piece of coast that Vancouver was now exploring. On 28 September, the ships entered a spacious sound, King George the Third's Sound. They stayed there until 11 October, stocking up with fresh water and wood. Evidence of inhabitation was seen, including a group of huts and a fish trap but no people were seen. Once more, Menzies was occupied collecting plants and observing wildlife.
The first chart of the voyage was produced here and several names in the sound date from Vancouver's visit. When the ships sailed they tried to follow the coast but poor visibility hampered their progress and then they arrived at a mass of small islands. These same islands were charted and named by d'Entrecasteaux a year later as the Archipelago of the Recherche (d'Entrecasteaux's ship). Vancouver sighted and named one island, Termination Island, but thought it prudent to keep away from trouble so he headed away from the coast and set course for New Zealand.
The Discovery and the Chatham sighted the South West Cape of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) on 26 October but continued on. On 2 November 1791, Vancouver anchored his ships in Dusky Sound in Southwest New Zealand. He had been here with Cook on the Resolution in 1773 and knew it would provide water and wood. However, even inside the sound a storm raged before the ships had been secured properly in a safe anchorage. Luckily, no great damage was done and the Discovery was safely moored to the north of Anchor Island and the Chatham in Facile Harbour. The dysentery cleared up here.
Cook and his colleagues had produced an accurate and nearly complete chart of Dusky Sound and its connected neighbours. He had, however, not fully explored the head of Breaksea Sound to the north and had put "Nobody knows what" on the chart where he had left off his survey. Vancouver now set about completing Cook's work and took small boats round into Breaksea. It was found to split into two branches (later called Vancouver and Broughton Arms) but both came to an end and did not connect with any other inlets. Vancouver filled the pieces into the chart and wrote "Somebody knows what" triumphantly over them. Menzies found numerous new ferns and mosses. No Maori were seen nor signs of them.
In the meantime, Broughton,in the Chatham, also encountered The Snares and sailed right through the middle of them. Both Broughton and Vancouver have islets named after them in The Snares. Broughton next encountered land on 29 November, east of New Zealand at 45S. He sailed along the north shore and anchored by a small bay where he went ashore. The shore party found the land inhabited and met a party of the local people, Moriori. The meeting was not successful and, in a skirmish, one local was killed. Broughton returned to the ship and sailed away. He called the island Chatham Island after the Earl of Chatham (not after his ship) and the bay where he landed, he called Skirmish Bay (the name has reverted to its local Kaingaroa Bay).
The Discovery reached a small island on 22 December. It was Rapa in the Austral Chain. Cook had visited two other islands in the chain, Rurutu and Tubuai far to the northwest, on his voyages. Vancouver stood off the island while many canoes came out to visit the ship. He stayed a few hours and then sailed off to the north. A week later, Vancouver brought the Discovery safely to Matavai Bay on the north coast of Tahiti and was relieved to find Broughton and the Chatham already at anchor there.
For Vancouver, it was his fourth visit to Tahiti and he and his crew were made very welcome by the Tahitians. He found that the chief at the time of his last visit, now known as Pomare, acted as a Regent while his son had assumed the name Tu and was the present Chief. At the time of their arrival, Pomare was on Moorea visiting his father-in-law, Mahau, the local Chief, who was extremely ill. Vancouver sent boats across to the neighbouring island to escort them back to Tahiti. Mahau died a few days later and the British were able to observe parts of the funeral process that took place over several days.
While the ships were being repaired and stocked up, Vancouver tried to reduce contact between his crew and the local people. Only selected persons were allowed ashore, including Menzies who was in his element. Vancouver wanted to avoid the desertions and other problems that had arisen on other European visits to Tahiti. Thieving had always been a problem and Vancouver suffered like his predecessors. He became angry at the continual theft of laundry. However, relations were still very friendly when the Discovery and the Chatham sailed from Matavai Bay on 24 January 1792.
Return to A Short Biography of George Vancouver.