IN DUSKY SOUND.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 871, 18 July 1910, Page 6

IN DUSKY SOUND.

■ _; $ THE WRECK OF THE ENDEAVOUR. Perhaps the most romantio incident of Mr. .Robert M'Nab's lecture on '•'Early Now Zealand" at the Town Hall on Saturday night was the story of tbp discovery of the log .of the Endeavour (Cook's old ship), in tho library of an old Captains' Club in Salem, New England (U.S.A.). Telling the story, tho lecturer said that $rade began at a very early date in Now Zealand. In 1793 a sealing gang k yisited Dus]ty Sound, and left behind them a sma.ll vessel, partly built.. Two years later the Endeavour was wrecked in the Sound, and timber had to be cut to prepare this boat for. tho voyago back to New South Wales. So a sawmill was erected, the first in New Zealand. While in America, Mr. M'Nab heard of an old Captains' Club in Salem, which had been in existence for over 100 years. He visited the place, and during his investigations came across the logbook of the Britannia, which had been kept by.an officer who was previously on the wrecked Endeavour. This officer had been Ijansferred to the boat' (already referred to) which had been rigged up to curry Bomo •of the crew buck-to Sydney, and had afterwards joined the Britannia, taking the Tndeavour's log-book with him. A photograph of the last page of the Endeavour portion of tho log-book was thrown on the screen, together with a plan of Iho rough sawmill which had been constructed to out the timber for the boat after the wreck. The artist was something of a humorist, for he stated that he claimed patent rights.