There have always been more or less scientific travellers, but a new epoch began with the voyages of Captain James Cook. His first, on board the converted Whitby Collier HMS Endeavour, was the result of cooperation between the Admiralty and the Royal Society. This series only skims the surface of the rich collections of scientific travel books in the library of the Natural History Museum. From this volume we learn much about the voyage of the first fleet, the first desperate years of the colony in Sydney, and the exploration of its neighbourhood.

John White was born at the end of 1757, and died in 1832. His career as a naval surgeon began in 1778 when he was appointed a surgeon's mate, just at the time when they had ceased to be regarded as NCOs, with responsibility for trimming the crew's hair and beards, and become officers; in 1780 he was promoted to surgeon. Edited by David Knight.