A Dutch Map, showing the Discoveries of Captain 'Jakob' Cook.
"Having received my commission, which was dated the 25th of May, 1768, I went on board on the 27th, hoisted the pennant, and took charge of the ship, which then lay in the basin in Deptford-yard. She was fitted for sea with all expedition; and stores and provisions being taken on board, sailed down the river on the 30th of July, and on the 13th of August anchored in Plymouth Sound. While we lay here waiting for a wind, the articles of war and the act of Parliament were read to the ship's company, who were paid two months' wages in advance, and told that they were to expect no additional pay for the performance of the voyage". 
- Captain James Cook.
The Endeavour sailed from Plymouth on the 26th day of August, 1768. Almost a month earlier, on the 30th of July, Cook had received his secret orders from the Royal Society to sail the Endeavour to the South Pacific.
30 AUGUST: They encounter a storm and lose some chickens and a boat.
12 SEPTEMBER: They reach Madeira and take on fresh stores (including 3,000 gallons of Madeira wine). Weir drowned while they were anchoring and was replaced by a man impressed from a New York ship.
18 SEPTEMBER: The Endeavour leaves Madeira.
25 OCTOBER: They cross the equator, and all those who have never crossed the equator before must be dunked over the side (tied to a chair). Banks pays a ransom of 4 days' allowance of wine each to get himself, Cook, Solander, his servants, dogs and cats let off.
12 NOVEMBER: First sight of Rio de Janeiro.
13 NOVEMBER: They anchor in Rio for 6 weeks, where they have to wait for the Portuguese administrator to re-supply them and give clearance (Due to the class of ship the Expedition was using, he wouldn't believe that they weren't pirates).
2 DECEMBER: Peter Flower drowns by falling overboard.
7 DECEMBER: The Endeavour leaves Rio.
12 JANUARY: Le Maire Straits are reached, although the ship is pushed back three times in the effort.
15 JANUARY: The Endeavour reaches the Bay of Good Success, Tierra del Fuego.
17 JANUARY: Banks, his servants and some companions go on a collecting expedition. They lose their way and the weather turns very cold. Two of the servants, Dorlton and Richmond, run off with as much as they can carry. They are later found frozen to death. The rest of the party spend a night out in the cold. Buchan suffers an epileptic fit, but they make it back to the ship.
23 JANUARY: The ship heads south-west.
13 FEBRUARY: Cape Horn is sighted.
END FEB-MARCH: They reach the Pacific, and experience calm conditions.
17 MARCH: The Tropic of Capricorn is passed.
28 MARCH: Private Greenslade commits suicide.
4-10 APRIL: They sight various Pacific islands.
11 APRIL: Tahiti is sighted - their first destination.
13 APRIL: The Endeavour anchors in Tahiti. Here the seamen set about building Fort Venus, having a rest, enjoy the good weather, trade and become friendly with the locals (especially the women - Banks and Monkhouse even have a duel over one woman, and both miss).
17 APRIL: Buchan has another fit and dies.
3 JUNE: The transit of Venus is observed.
3 JULY: Webb and Gibson desert so that they can remain with the women they have met, but they are captured.
13 JULY: The Endeavour leaves Tahiti for the Southern Continent, but they first spend the next month exploring the Tahitian islands.
28 AUGUST: John Reading dies from drinking 3 pints of neat rum.
30 AUGUST: A comet is sighted.
29 SEPTEMBER: They see signs of land (seals, logs, etc.).
6 OCTOBER: Nicholas Young ("Young Nick") sights New Zealand.
7 OCTOBER: The ship reaches Poverty Bay.
8 OCTOBER: They have violent encounters with the local Maori but during the following week trading begins.
15 OCTOBER: Tayeto is kidnapped and 3 Maori are killed.
7 NOVEMBER: The Endeavour reaches Mercury Bay.
9 NOVEMBER: The transit of Mercury is observed.
15 NOVEMBER: They take possession of New Zealand in the name of George III and sail on to the Hauraki Gulf.
29 NOVEMBER: Trading with the Maori turns into fights as they sail around the Bay of Islands.
5 DECEMBER: The Endeavour heads north up the East Coast in bad weather.
14 DECEMBER: North Cape is reached.
24 DECEMBER: They see the "Three Kings", then stay out at sea over the next few days because of a hurricane.
31 DECEMBER: Cape Maria Van Dieman is reached.
15 JANUARY: The ship stops at Queen Charlotte Sound at "Ship Cove" for repairs.
22 JANUARY: Cook realises that New Zealand is 2 islands after finding Cook's Strait.
7 FEBRUARY: The ship is nearly wrecked by the strong tide.
13 FEBRUARY: Cape Turnagain is visited again.
14 FEBRUARY: Cape Campbell is visited again.
17 FEBRUARY: Gore sees land to the south so they sail towards it - but find nothing there.
10 MARCH: On sailing round the southern point of New Zealand, they prove it isn't a continent.
13 MARCH: They sail north up the West Coast.
23 MARCH: Cape Farewell is reached.
26 MARCH: Queen Charlotte Sound and Admiralty Bay are sighted again - the Endeavour has sailed around New Zealand.
31 MARCH: Cook leaves New Zealand and heads for "New Holland" or "Van Diemans Land" as it was also known: Australia.
19 APRIL: Point Hicks (now Cape Everard) is sighted, first seen by Lieutenant Hicks.
28 APRIL: The Endeavour finally reaches Botany Bay. The local inhabitants shun the explorers.
1 MAY: Sutherland dies of TB in the next week, they land and fill up with water, wood, fish, kangaroo and specimens for research. They then continue up the east coast charting the shoreline and islands.
12 JUNE: At Cape Tribulation the ship is holed and stuck on Great Barrier Reef in the night.
16 JUNE and FOLLOWING WEEKS: At the Endeavour River, the Endeavour is unloaded of 50 tons of guns, ammunition, ballast, old food, even fresh water and wood. They pump madly then manage to mend the hole by making a plug from a sail sewn with wool and oakum and spread with sheep dung.
6 JULY: The ship is repaired as best they can. They send boats to find a way through the reef.
4 AUGUST: They are finally able to leave the Endeavour River, and the next few days tow and warp between shoals until they see a passage from Lizard's Peak.
11 AUGUST: The Endeavour reaches Lizard Island.
13 AUGUST: They clear the reef; the ship is leaking still but they cope with one pump.
15 AUGUST: There is no wind and the waves are in danger of putting them back on the reef.
16 AUGUST: Safe anchor is found but they are back in the reef.
21 AUGUST: Cape York is reached.
26 AUGUST: They sail for New Guinea, and Torres Straight, (between Australia and New Guinea) is rediscovered (the Spanish had kept it a secret).
7 SEPTEMBER: The Endeavour anchors off Timor and they visit other islands nearby.
17 SEPTEMBER: They stop at the Dutch settlement of Sauli for water and meat.
21 SEPTEMBER: The ship sets sail again.
1 OCTOBER: Java Head is sighted then they enter the Sunda Straits.
11 OCTOBER: The Endeavour reaches Batavia.
18 OCTOBER: On finding a dry dock for repairs, the men go on shore in tents. In the following weeks malaria hits everyone except Ravenhill and a few others. (Banks rented a house in an elevated location, in an attempt to escape the heat and humidity of the coast, but couldn't avoid sickness.)
6 NOVEMBER: Repairs on the Endeavour begin after lengthy negotiations with the local officials. The promised workers were also not available as many were struck down with disease. Cook was not allowed to replace them with his own crew and costs kept increasing.
15 NOVEMBER: The repairs are finished. The crew begins reloading but there are only 12 able men left. Monsoons and illness plague the next few weeks.
8 DECEMBER: They take on board a new pump and 19 new men to replace the 30 who have died and midshipman Patrick Saunders who deserted and was never caught.
26 DECEMBER: They leave Batavia with 40 people still sick.
6 JANUARY: They stop at Princess Island for supplies, but the water is bad and dysentery follows.
24 JANUARY: Corporal Truslove, one of the marines, dies.
26 JANUARY: Sporing, Parkinson and Ravenhill die.
28 JANUARY: Green dies.
30 JANUARY - 6 FEBRUARY: 11 crew die, then 7 in the next week and 3 each in the next 2 weeks.
10 MARCH: They sight Africa amid gales.
15 MARCH: They reach Capetown and anchor in Table Bay. Quarters on shore are hired for the 29 sick; all but 3 recover.
14 APRIL: The ship leaves Capetown.
15 APRIL: Molyneux dies.
29 APRIL: The Endeavour crosses the Greenwich meridian, their circumnavigation is complete.
1 MAY: St. Helena is reached and they meet the British fleet posted there.
4 MAY: The Endeavour leaves for home.
10 MAY: They sight the Ascension Islands and experience fair sailing.
25 MAY: Hicks dies from TB.
19 JUNE: They meet an American schooner and receive news of peace in Europe and between America and England.
21 JUNE: The sails start splitting, which slows progress.
10 JULY: Nick Young sights Land's End.
12 JULY: The Endeavour anchors in the Downs. Home!
Main Information source: "The HM Bark Endeavour Foundation", Australia.
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