yesterday -- and then blasted the city with cannon fire.

Endeavour made her dramatic entrance after an eight-day, 800-mile trans-Atlantic voyage from the frigid coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Captain Christopher Blake and his sea-weary crew of international professional and novice sailors made the grand entrance after picking up Governor Thorold Masefield, members of the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute and media personnel off St. George's.

A warning shot was first fired upon residents of the old town, and later upon a surprised group of construction workers in the Fairylands area.

The second shot was followed moments later as Capt. Blake spotted the unsuspecting Song Of America leaving port.

"Jordan, we've got a passenger ship to shoot,'' he called to the cannoneer.

Two more booming discharges were fired as the ship berthed alongside Front street and a crowd of onlookers.

The lone local representative on board steered the ship safely through the channel -- with a little help from the captain and a fellow mariner -- as other seafarers clambered aloft to tend the sails.

Endeavour likes to make a big entrance.

The near-perfect replica is modelled after Capt. James Cook's famous vessel and will be on exhibit with guided tours for the next four days from 10 a.m.

to 6 p.m.

And for anyone intrepid enough to dare the high seas, working crew positions are being offered at half the usual price for the ship's next eight voyages to the Caribbean and Acapulco.