Add. 15507 (50) View of Anaura Bay (pencil on paper)

The expedition left England in 1768, aboard HM Bark Endeavour under the command of R.N. Lt. James Cook, bound for the Society Islands (present-day Tahiti). They arrived there in 1769, where the observations of Venus were taken during the transit on June 3. Spöring had to repair the astronomical quadrant after it had become damaged when it was taken by the local Polynesian inhabitants. Leaving the Society Islands, the expedition sailed southwards, reaching New Zealand, where Spöring and the other naturalists spent the ensuing months gathering and documenting specimens of native plant and animal life. At a bay now known as Tolaga Bay (not far from the modern township of Gisborne), Cook bestowed the name Spöring Island to a landmark, after the botanist. The island is today known by its original Māori name, Pourewa.