James Cook kept a daily journal throughout the Endeavour's voyage. It provides an on-the-spot account of what he saw and what he was thinking.
See the pages of Cook's journal and read full transcripts for each entry as Endeavour travelled up the east coast from April to August 1770.
Images and transcripts kindly supplied by the National Library of Australia.
About Cook's journal
During a lengthy sea voyage, the captain of a naval ship would regularly send a copy of the ship’s journal back to the Admiralty in London.
It was the equivalent of an aeroplane’s black box flight recorder.
The first opportunity Cook had to send back his ship’s journal was from Batavia (Jakarta) in October 1770, more than two years into the Endeavour's voyage.