advanced towards a crowd of Maoris, making
friendly signs as they approached. The Maoris ran away, but some of them
seeing their chance made a dash at the boys in the boat and tried to
kill them. The boys pushed off, and dropped down the stream; the Maoris
chased them, determined on mischief. Four of them being very murderous,
the coxswain fired a musket over their heads. They were startled, but
continued to strike at the boys with wooden spears. Seeing the danger
the coxswain levelled his musket and shot one of the Maoris dead on the
spot. The others fled, and Cook, hearing the report of the gun, hurried
back and at once returned to the ship.

Over and over again Cook did everything he could devise to secure the
friendship of these people; but they always seemed to have only one
desire, and that was to kill and eat the white visitors. One day five
canoes came out to chase the _Endeavour_ as she was sailing along the
coast. Another time nine canoes densely filled with men sailed after
her, paddling with all their might to board the vessel. In these and
many other cases cannon had to be fired over their heads to frighten
them before they would desist from their attempt to capture the ship. At
one bay, the Maoris made friends and went on board the _Endeavour_ to
sell provisions, but when all was going forward peaceably they suddenly
seized a boy and pulled him into their canoe. They were paddling away
with him when some musket shots frightened them, and in the confusion
the boy dived and swam back.

Cook sailed completely round the North Island, charting the shores with
great care, often landing, sometimes finding tribes who made friends,
more often finding tribes whose insolence or treachery led to the
necessity of firing upon them with small shot. If he had only known the
customs of these people he would have understood that to be friendly
with one tribe meant that the next tribe would murder and eat them for
revenge. He then sailed round the South Island, landing less frequently,
however, till at length he took his leave of New Zealand at what he
called Cape Farewell, and sailed away to Australia. He had been nearly
six months exploring the coasts of these islands, and that in a very
small vessel. During this time he had left pigs and goats, fowls and
geese to increase in the forests, where they soon multiplied, especially
the pigs. Potatoes and turnips were left with many tribes, who quickly
learnt how to grow them,