The first Greyhound recorded to have arrived in Australia did so in 1770 when a pair of the dogs stepped on shore alongside Captain Cook and botanist, Sir Joseph Banks. at Botany Bay.
It had not been an easy trip.
Two of the accompanying servants died en route, but the Greyhounds somehow survived and were part of the first European expedition to reach and chart the eastern shores of Australia at the request of the Royal Society. Also on the expedition was the captain, Samuel Wallis, Swedish botanist, Daniel Solander, artist, Sydney Parkinson, and a goat that had circumnavigated the world with Wallis. We’re a little fuzzy about the goat’s role.
The Greyhounds, however, lived up to expectations. This was before the invention of shotguns, and people survived on what they could find to eat. From several references Banks made in his journals, we know that the Greyhounds chased and brought down wallabies and kangaroos for the voyagers hungry for fresh meat after months at sea.
As an aside, it was during Cook’s third exploratory voyage in the Pacific in 1779 that he was killed in Hawaii in a fight with Hawaiians. He left behind a legacy of geographic and scientific knowledge upon which future generations would build.
The image, “First Fleet,” for which we lack permission to share, can be seen here and offers a good illustration. The image which accompanies this post, “The Power of the Dog,” was painted in 1910 by Maud Earl (1864-1943).