Your Most Humble and Obedient Servant, James Cook

Wherever he went he was scrupulously fair and on this coast he understood that he was the stranger and the Māoris were the rightful owners of the land. At no time would he allow his men the luxury of exploiting them.

– Narrator Peter Gwynne

This morning I was awakened by the singing of birds ashore. The numbers of them were certainly very great. The seemed to strain their voices with emulation perhaps. Their voices were certainly the most melodious music I have ever heard, almost imitating small bells but with the most tuneable silver sound imaginable.

– Joseph Banks

This tall, dour Yorkshireman had for years quietly distinguished himself in the eyes of the Admiralty and their Lordships trusted him to succeed where many would fail.

– Peter Gwynne

When he landed to become the first European to stand on Tasman’s New Zealand, the danger was real. The result: two natives dead and three captured.

– Narrator Peter Gwynne