Captain James Cook journal entries

During his epic 1768 - 1771 voyage aboard his ship HM Bark Endeavour, Captain James Cook and his crew discovered the eastern coast of terra australis incognita - the unknown southern land.

His daily journal entries have since been transcribed and made publicly available*, and make for some interesting reading!




Cook's journal entries for between April 19th 1770 and August 23rd 1770 describe the daily events aboard Endeavour during the period from the very first sighting of terra australis incognita to Cook and his crew leaving the eastern coast, having claimed the land for the British Flag (and inadvertently discovering the Great Barrier Reef).

Begin reading Captain James Cook's journal entries here

or use the table below to select any particular section of Cook's journal for the April - August period. Each week is covered on one page.


Week Notable events include...
April 19th - 25thFirst sighting of Van Diemens Land
April 26th - May 2ndFirst anchorage & naming of Botany Bay
May 3rd - 9thNaming of Port Jackson
May 10th - 16thPassing & naming of most easterly point
May 17th - 23rdDrunk trouble aboard Endeavour
May 24th - 30thPassing into the tropical zone
May 31st - June 6thPasses & names WhitSunday Passage
June 7th - 13thEndeavour hits a coral reef
June 14th - 20thLanding to start repairs to Endeavour
June 21st - 27thCook's first kangeroo sighting
June 28th - July 4th- still landbound
July 5th - July 11thCloser Aboriginal contact made
July 12th - 18th- still landbound
July 19th - 25thAborigines threaten Cook & his crew
July 26th - August 1st- sitting out the unfavourable weather
August 2nd - 8thEndeavour sets sail
August 9 - 15thCook views Reef from (& names) Lizard Island
August 16th - 23rdCook claims eastern coast for the British Flag

*The entries shown in this web site come from the University of Adelaide Library’s collection of Web books, freely available for reproduction.