by observation of the moons of Jupiter. The removal of the quadrant from the camp - either by the local Tahitians or by members of the expedition who traded it to the Tahitians - threatened to derail the enterprise, but it was soon recovered, albeit disassembled into pieces and with some damage, by the expedition botanist Joseph Banks, accompanied by Green. The day of the transit, June 3, was a clear day and the transit was visible in its entirety. Although Cook had taken the precaution of sending two groups to outlying islands, the principal observation party remained at Fort Venus, where Green, Cook and (independently) Solander recorded the times of the transit. Cook noted in his log that the times recorded by the three observers for the times of contact differed significantly; this anomaly, now generally attributed to the black drop effect, would cast significant doubt, in the eyes of the Royal Society and Nevil Maskelyne, on the usefulness and value of the observations later. Criticism of Green and his observations Due to Green's death on the homeward voyage, the work of collating and analysing his results fell first to Cook, and ultimately to Nevil Maskelyne. Cook admitted that Green's papers were in a disorganised state, when he inspected them after Green's death, and that some of the timings were inconsistently recorded in various of the astronomer's papers. The Astronomer Royal was critical of Green's work, especially of the observations Green made to calculate the latitude and longitude of Fort Venus. It has been noted that although the times for the contacts given by the three observers (Green, Cook and Solander) present at Fort Venus vary, they show no pattern of inconsistency attributable to one observer alone. Wharton, in his "Sketch of Captain Cook's Life" in Captain Cook's Journal During His First Voyage Round the World, published 1893, gives special attention to the contribution of Green in the expedition. He states that "no doubt to him is due the major part of the determinations of accurate longitude, which is one of the very remarkable points of this voyage." Subsequent voyage of the Endeavour and the death of Green Following the departure from Tahiti, the Endeavour continued south-westwards as Cook carried out his orders to further explore the Southern Ocean. The expedition reached New Zealand in October 1769, giving Green an opportunity to observe the transit of Mercury from land.