Zachary Hickes Zachary Hickes ( 1739 – 25 May 1771 ) was a Royal Navy officer , second - in - command on Lieutenant James Cook ' s first voyage to the Pacific and the first among Cook ' s crew to sight mainland Australia . A dependable officer who had risen swiftly through the ranks , Hickes conducted liaison and military duties for Cook including command of shore parties in Rio de Janeiro and the kidnapping of a Tahitian chieftain in order to force indigenous assistance in the recovery of deserters . Hickes ' quick thinking while in temporary command of " HMS Endeavour " also saved the lives of Cook , Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander when they were attacked by Māoris in New Zealand in November 1769 . Yet despite his vigorous service Hickes was dogged by ill health , which worsened as the voyage progressed . He died in May 1771 of a consumptive illness likely contracted before sailing from England , and his remains were buried at sea off the Atlantic island of Saint Helena . New Zealand ' s Hicks Bay and eastern Australia ' s Point Hicks are named in his honour . Early life and naval service . Hickes was born in Stepney in 1739 . He enlisted or was pressed into military service at Ripon and first appears in navy muster - books as serving as able seaman and master ' s mate aboard " HMS Launceston " from 1766 . A skilled seaman , he was promoted to midshipman aboard the sloop " HMS Hornet " in August 1767 , and to acting lieutenant on the same vessel in March 1768 . His officer ' s commission was formalised on 26 May 1767 with a transfer to James Cook ' s " Endeavour " ' as second lieutenant and second - in - command . He formally joined the ship on 3 June . As an officer , Hickes was well regarded but not exceptional : historian J . C . Beaglehole describes him as " a man of ability " but without " the chance to shine . . . an invaluable man , probably , on any expedition ; but perhaps born to be a lieutenant . " Aboard " Endeavour " . Outward voyage . Hickes early months aboard " Endeavour " were uneventful . He is not mentioned in the journals of either Cook or the Royal Society supernumeraries Joseph Banks or Sydney Parkinson until " Endeavour " reached the Portuguese port of Rio de Janeiro on 13 November 1768 . There Hickes was given his first specific duties by Cook : to put ashore in command of the ship ' s pinnace , to make contact with local authorities and to seek permission to replenish the ship ' s supplies . The engagement did not go well , as the Portuguese Viceroy Antônio Rolim de Moura refused to believe that " Endeavour " was on a scientific mission . Instead , Hickes and master ' s mate Charles Clerke were detained on shore while answers were sought from Cook regarding his vessel , armaments and umber of crew . The pinnace was returned to " Endeavour " ' without Hickes , and he and Clerke were only permitted to return to their ship after some hours delay . On 19 November Hickes was again sent ashore , to present a letter from Cook to the Viceroy . On arrival at Rio ' s docks he objected when a Portuguese soldier boarding his boat and refused to leave , at which point he and his crew were arrested and taken under guard from the shore . Portuguese authorities confiscated " Endeavour " s pinnace and imprisoned the crew , sending Hickes back to his ship alone . After formal protests from Cook , Hickes ' crew was released and the vessel returned but without its ensign flag which the Portuguese suggested had been lost . Portuguese authorities accused Hickes of threatening their soldier ' s life and of displaying " petulancy and imprudence ; " they asked that he be confined to " Endeavour " and not return to shore . However Cook considered that Hickes had offered no provocation to Portuguese authorities that would justify their depriving him of his boat and command . Pacific exploration . Departing Rio , " Endeavour " rounded Cape Horn and continued westward across the Pacific to reach Tahiti in April 1769 . Hickes ' abilities as a leader were tested when , three days before " Endeavour " was due to depart , two of her marines deserted to the mountains to stay with their Tahitian " wives . " Cook deputised Hickes to secure their return , ordering him to kidnap local chief Tootaha and three others in order to force the Tahitians to reveal where the deserters were hiding . The kidnapping was a success but the stratagem failed ; the Tahitians responded by abducting " Endeavour " s surgeon William Monkhouse and four of her crew , and holding them hostage near the shore . Again Cook turned to Hickes , who led a strong detachment of marines to the shore and threatened that " the Chiefs would suffer for it " if the hostages were not freed . Hickes ' threat succeeded - Monkhouse and the sailors were released , the Tahitians found and returned the deserters , and all were restored to " Endeavour " along with a peace offering of four pigs . On the " Endeavour " he was credited with locating Hicks Bay in New Zealand , and then with being the first to see the mainland of Australia at Point Hicks ( land was sighted on his morning watch ) . Cook named both those places after him . " Endeavour " made landfall in Botany Bay in eastern Australia on April 29 , 1770 . After the initial landing by Cook , Hickes was given command of the shore party with responsibility for collecting water and wood to resupply the ship . In this role Hickes made the expedition ' s first sustained contact with indigenous Australian s when more than a dozen gathered on the beach to watch his men collect water . Cook observed in his journal that " Mister Hickes did all in his power to entice them to him by offering them presents and company but it was to no purpose , all they seem ' d to want was for us to be gone . " Hickes nonetheless persisted , with sufficient interaction over the following days for him to interpret a few words of the indigenous language . Death . Hickes died of a consumptive lung infection on 26 May 1771 , the third anniversary of his commission as lieutenant aboard " Endeavour . " As Cook recorded in his journal , the cause of Hickes ' death was " a Consumption of which he was not free from when we saild from England so that it may be truly said that he hath been dieing ever sence , tho he held out tolerable well until we got to Batavia . " His remains were buried at sea off the South Atlantic island of Saint Helena , with what Cook described as " the usual ceremonies . " Memorials . Hickes is memorialised in the inscription on a monument at Point Hicks , which reads , " Lieutenant James Cook , R . N . of the Endeavour , first sighted Australia near this point which he named Point Hicks , after Lieutenant Zachary Hicks who first saw the land . " A matching inscription is affixed to the monument at the site of Cook ' s former cottage in Great Ayton in North Yorkshire . Notes . Footnotes . In a note dated 2 May 1770 , Isaac Smith , able seaman aboard " Endeavour " , recorded that Hickes had given him the following translations of indigenous speech : " boorwee " meaning three ; " warregal " meaning dog ; " mareeyang " meaning large bird ; " mayanga " meaning to fly ; " gong " meaning sun ; " eednarda " meaning moon ; " padoo " meaning water ; " bemalle " meaning earth ; and " gooiyong " meaning fire .