CAPTAIN COOK’S LOG.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 October 1922, Page 6

CAPTAIN COOK’S LOG.

PAGES REPORTED MISSING. By Telegraph.---Press Association. Wellington, Sept. 30. It has been customary for some years for fellows of the Royal Colonial Institute at Gisborne to celebrate by in appropriate function the anniversary of the landing of Captain Cook at Poverty Bay. on his re-discovery of New Zealand. As the time for that ceremony is approaching, Mr. Kirk, local honorary corresponding secretary of the institute, who is visiting Wellington, paid a visit to the Alexander Turnbull Library with a view to perusing the log written by Captain Cook. This almost priceless record of the historic voyage of the great navigator is one of the most cherished possessions of the library. It is in an excellent state of preservation despite its age of 153 years. Mr. Kirk, on searching -for Captain Cook’s account of the entry to Poverty Bay, found the pages of the Jog dating from October 7 to October 15. covering the period of Captain Cook’s landing off the Turanganui River and his subsequent landing, where now stands the town of Gisborne, and his departure northwards, had been cut from the diary. The librarian’s attention was at once called to the matter, but it cannot now apparently be discovered whether these pages were cut from the book before it came into the possession of the late Mr. Turnbull, or whether they had been cut out since the book had been made available to the public. No doubt they must still be in existence. but whether in New Zealand or elsewhere is the moot point. Time may reveal their whereabouts, for undoubtedly they are amongst the most valuable records of our earliest days as part of the great Empire. A later message states that the discovery is discounted by the fact that the book contains a memorandum dated November, 1899. noting the absence of the pages. Adequate precautions are taken at the library to prevent damage to books.