28th August 1769

Society Islands to New Zealand

Fresh Gales and Cloudy, with rain on the Latter part. At 10 departed this Life Jno. Rearden, Boatswain's Mate; his Death was occasioned by the Boatswain out of mere good Nature giving him part of a Bottle of Rum last night, which it is supposed he drank all at once. He was found to be very much in Liquor last night, but as this was no more than what was common with him when he could get any, no farther notice was taken of him than to put him to Bed, where this morning about 8 o'clock he was found Speechless and past recovery. Wind Northerly; course South; distance 110 miles; latitude 35 degrees 34 minutes South, longitude 147 degrees 25 minutes West.

Joseph Banks Journal

Birds as yesterday with the addition of a kind of shearwater, quite black, the same as was seen and shot on the 21st of March last in our passage to the westward (p. atrata). Tupia not well today, he complains of a pain in his stomach; his distemper probably proceeds from cold of which we have for some days past had more than from our latitude we shoud have expected. One of the seamen Rayden by name was this morn found so drunk that he had scarce any signs of life and in about an hour he expird. Where he could have got his liquor is a mystery which however nobody seems to enquire into, probably not fairly. I have more than once had occasion to congratulate myself on my prudence in not taking wine on board at Madera, as I beleive I may safely say that there is not a cask on board the ship that has not been tap'd to the great dissatisfaction of the owners, who in general have had the comfort to find the gentlemen honest enough not to have filld up with salt water; in some cases however this was not a consideration of much comfort as many of the casks were 2/3 empty and some quite.

Sydney Parkinson’s Journal

On the 28th, we had hazy weather, and a drizzling rain all day, with a faint breeze from the north, and saw a great many birds called Shear-coots. This morning, John Raden, the boatswain's mate, died. His death was occasioned by drinking too freely of rum the night before. In the evening the wind came about to the west.