1762 Captain Cook
Captain James Cook, commanding HMS Endeavour, sighted the East Coast at Poverty Bay and came ashore at Tūranganui (now Gisborne) on 9 October 1769. Misunderstandings resulted in the sailors using their firearms and several Māori were killed. Cook sailed away along the East Coast on 10 October, searching for food and provisions. He did not formally claim New Zealand for Great Britain by right of discovery, which would have given the British Crown sovereignty under international law at the time.
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