Nicholas Young was a sailor on Captain James Cook

James Cook

Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...

's ship in his first voyage. He was eleven years old when the ship left England on 26 August 1768. However, before he earned the rank of able-bodied seaman, he was a stowaway

Stowaway

A stowaway is a person who secretly boards a vehicle, such as an aircraft, bus, ship, cargo truck or train, to travel without paying and without being detected....

 on the Endeavour. Nicholas Young sighted New Zealand on 7 October 1769. Captain James Cook

James Cook

Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...

 named the place Young Nick's Head

Young Nick's Head

Young Nick's Head is a headland at the southern end of Poverty Bay in New Zealand's North Island. It is clearly visible from the nearby city of Gisborne....

 after Nick and rewarded him with a gallon of rum. Nicholas must have been well educated because he once wrote in John Bootie's journal, "Evil communications corrupt good" and signed his name below bravely. In the novel, John Bootie was mean to young Nicholas for being blamed of not knowing Nicholas was on the boat.

Later Nick went on another voyage with Joseph Banks

Joseph Banks

Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS was an English naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. He took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage . Banks is credited with the introduction to the Western world of eucalyptus, acacia, mimosa and the genus named after him,...

, a trip to Iceland in 1772.