Cook Makes Claim of Eastern Coast of New Holland for the King

Having sailed north along the east coast of Australia, Cook was about to depart the continent for Batavia. He was at the northern tip of present-day Cape York and landed on Posession Island. He made the claim for his country and Beaglehole remarks on the name chosen. Cook was only able to do this after being certain he would pass through a strait (a strait discovered by and named after Torres) separating the southern continent with the island of New Guinea. Cook had long inclined toward the existence of this strait, having viewed a copy of a book prepared by Dalrymple.

Cook:

Wednesday, 22 August 1770: Having satisfied my self of the great Probability of a Passage, thro' which I intend going with the Ship, and therefore may land no more upon this Eastern coast of New Holland, and on the Western side I can make no knew discovery the honour of which belongs to the Dutch Navigators; but the Eastern Coast from the Latitude of 38 degrees South down to this place I am confident was never seen or visited by any European before us, and Notwithstand[ing] I had in the Name of His Majesty taken possession of several places upon this coast, I now once more hoisted English Coulers and in the Name of His Majesty King George the Third took possession of the whole Eastern Coast from the above Latitude down to this place by the name of New South Wales, together with all the Bays, Harbours Rivers and Islands situate upon the said coast, after which we fired three Volleys of small Arms which were Answerd by the like number from the Ship.

Beaglehole:

This was about 6 p.m., a little before sunset, we learn from the logs. The words by the Name of New South Wales is written in over erasure and all too effective deletion in a space not large enough for them, so the Wales has to be interlinear. [In another's ship journal] New Wales, which was probably what Cook wrote; but Wales here is also over an erasure; probably Whales, for which Orton had a predilection. It is clear that the name was not given at once and that in fact Cook took possession of the east coast without naming it at all. But why this particular name? The obvious guess is that there was already a New Britain and a Nova Scotia, New Wales might come not unnaturally to Cook's mind. There was also Carteret's New Ireland, but Cook did not yet know that. But then there was a New Wales -- named also New South Wales -- in existence on eighteenth century maps: what corresponds to the present north Ontario, abutting on Hudson's Bay. Why South when it was so very much north?

It looks as if Cook settled on his name, New Wales; remembered that it was already taken; and then, forgetting that New South Wales was also taken, inserted South to make the distinction.