3rd March 1769

Cape Horn to Tahiti

First part, moderate breezes; remainder, calm and clear weather. A.M. employed filling salt Water in the Fore Hold and airing all the Spare Sails. Wind West, calm; course North 17 degrees East; distance 31 miles; latitude 36 degrees 49 minutes South, longitude 111 degrees 34 minutes West.

Joseph Banks Journal

Calm: went in the boat and killd Procellaria velox, 2 velificans, 3 sordida, 4 melanopus, 5 lugens, agilis and Diomedaea exulans. The Albatross very brown exactly the same as the first I killd, which if I mistake not was nearly in the same latitude on the other side of the continent. Caught Holothuria obtusata, Phillodoce velella exactly the same as those taken on the other side of the continent except in size, which in these did not exceed that of an English sixpence. Also Dagysa vitrea the same as that taken off Rio de Janeiro; now however we had an opportunity of seeing its ext[r]ordinary manner of breeding which is better to be understood from the drawing than any description I can give; suffice it therefore to say that the whole progeny 15 or 20 in number hung in a chain from one end of the mother, the oldest only or the largest adhering to her and rest to each other.

While in the boat among a large quantity of birds I had killd, 69 in all, caught 2 Hippoboscas forest flies, both of one species different from any described. More than probably these belongd to the birds and came off with them from the land. I found also this day a large Sepia cuttle fish laying on the water just dead but so pulld to peices by the birds that his Species could not be determind; only this I know that of him was made one of the best soups I ever eat. He was very large, differd from the Europaeans in that his arms instead of being (like them) furnished with suckers were armd with a double row of very sharp talons, resembling in shape those of a cat and like them retractable into a sheath of skin from whence they might be thrust at pleasure.

The weather is now become pleasan[t]ly warm and the Barnacles upon the ships bottom seemd to be regenerate, very few only of the old ones remaining alive but young ones without number scarce bigger than Lentils.