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Young Nick's Head
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Young Nick's Head is a headland at the southern end of Poverty Bay in New Zealand's North Island. It is clearly visible from the nearby city of Gisborne.
The promontory was the first land sighted by the crew of Capt. James Cook's ship Endeavour on October 7, 1769. Cook had promised to reward the first person to sight land, and the honour fell to 12-year-old Nicholas Young, assistant to the ship's surgeon. He also received a gallon of rum. The headland was named in his honour. Legend has it that he was a stowaway on HM Bark Endeavour and later went on a voyage with Joseph Banks.
To learn more about Nicholas Young, read "Stowaway", by Karen Hesse. A fictional account of Captain Cook's first voyage from Nicholas Young's point of view.
In the Endeavour journal of James Roberts, a 16 year old servant to Joseph Banks, the spelling is unmistakably Yong Nicks head discovered by... Nicholas Yong from the masthead. Exhaustive research by Beaglehole, Harold Williams & Tony Smyth had failed to uncover Nick's fate after embarking on an expedition to Iceland with Joseph Banks & James Roberts, although now the Will & testament of a Nicholas Young has been discovered in the National Archeives and if its the same man, he served on the East India Shipping Co " The Good Ship Royal Henry" and died c. 1784
The Maori name is Te Kuri a Paoa ( Its outline resembling the dog of Paoa ) Local fishermen will tell you the surrounding hills come to view long before the white cliffs of Young Nicks Head can be seen.
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