(Sir Anthony), descended from Sir Thomas Cook lord mayor of London, was born in 1506, and supposed to have been educated at Cambridge. He was so eminent for his learning, piety, and prudence, that the guardians of king Edward VI, appointed him to be his chief instructor in learning, and to form his manners. He had four daughters; and being resolved to have sons by education, lest he should have none by birth, he taught his daughters those lessons by night that he had inculcated into the prince by day: he was happy in his endeavours, as they proved learned in Greek and Latin, and equally distinguished by virtue, piety, and good fortune. Mildred was married to the great lord Burleigh; Ann to Sir Nicholas Bacon, lord keeper of the great seal; Elizabeth to Sir John Russell, son and heir of Francis earl of Bedford; and Catharine to Sir Henry Killigrew. He lived in exile during the Marian persecution; and returning on the accession of queen Elizabeth, spent the rest of his days in peace and honour, dying in 1576.

(Captain James), one of the most celebrated navigators ever produced by Britain or any other country, was the son of James Cook, supposed to have been a native of the county of Northumberland. His station was no higher than that of a servant in husbandry, and he was married to a woman in his own sphere of life at Morton, a village in the North riding of Yorkshire. From this place they removed to another village in the same riding named Marion, where Captain Cook was born on the 27th of October 1728. He was one of nine children, all of whom are now dead except a daughter, who married a fisherman of Redcar. He received the first rudiments of education from the schoolmistress of the village; and afterwards, on his father's removal to Great Ayton, he was put to a day school, at the expense of Mr Skottow, his father's employer, where he was instructed in writing and in a few of the first rules of arithmetic. Before the age of thirteen he was bound apprentice to Mr W. Sanderon, a haberdasher or shopkeeper at Straiths, about ten miles from Whitby; but some disagreement taking place between him and his master, he indulged his own inclination in binding himself apprentice to Messrs Walkers of Whitby, who had several vessels in the coal trade; and after serving a few years longer in the situation of a common sailor, he was at length raised to be mate of one of Mr Walker's ships. During all this period it is not recollected that he exhibited anything peculiar either in his abilities or conduct.

Early in the year 1755, when hostilities broke out between France and England, Cook entered on board the Eagle of sixty guns, to which vessel Sir Hugh Palliser was soon after appointed, who soon distinguished him as an active and diligent seaman; and his promotion was forwarded by a letter of recommendation which was written by Mr O'Balderton, member for Scarborough, at the request of several neighbours, in Mr Cook's favour. On the 15th of May 1759, he was appointed matter of the Mercury, which soon after sailed to America, and joined the fleet under Sir Charles Saunders at the memorable siege of Quebec. His interest with the admiralty appears even then to have been very strong; for on Mr O'Balderton's letter he was appointed matter of the Grampus sloop; but the proper matter having unexpectedly returned to her, the appointment did not take place. Four days after he was made matter of the Garland; when upon inquiry it was found that he could not join her, as the vessel... Cook vessel had already sailed; and the next day, May 15th 1759, he was made master of the Mercury. On this occasion he was recommended by Captain Palliser to a difficult and dangerous service, viz., to take the foundations of the river St Lawrence, between the island of Orleans and the north shore, which he performed in the most complete manner; and soon afterwards he was employed to survey the most dangerous parts of the river below Quebec: these were his first efforts with the pencil. After this expedition he was appointed, on the 22d of September, master of the Northumberland, stationed at Halifax, where he first read Euclid, and applied to astronomy and other branches of science. In the year 1762 he was with the Northumberland, assisting at the recapture of Newfoundland; and in the latter end of the same year he returned to England, and married, at Barking in Essex, Miss Elizabeth Batts. Early in 1763, when admiral (then Captain) Greaves was appointed governor of Newfoundland, Mr Cook went out with him to survey the coasts of that island. At the end of the season he returned to England; but in the beginning of 1764, Sir Hugh Palliser being appointed governor of Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr Cook accompanied him in the same capacity of surveyor, and had the Grenville schooner to attend him on that business; in this situation he continued till 1767.

While Mr Cook remained on this station, he had an opportunity of exhibiting publicly a specimen of his progress in the study of astronomy, by a short paper printed in the 57th volume of the Philosophical Transactions, intitled "An observation of an eclipse of the sun at the island of Newfoundland, August 5, 1766, with the longitude of the place of observation deduced from it." Mr Cook's observation was made at one of the Burgeo islands near Cape Ray, in N. Lat. 47° 56' 19", and by the comparison of it made by Mr Mitchel with an observation of Dr Hornsby at Oxford, it appeared to have been accurately done; and Mr Cook at that time obtained the character of an able astronomer.

In the mean time a spirit for geographical discoveries, which had gradually declined since the beginning of the 17th century, began to discover itself anew. Two voyages of this kind had been performed in the reign of George II. the one under Captain Middleton, the other by Captains Moore and Smyth, with a view to discover a north-west passage through Hudson's Bay to the East Indies. Two others, under Captains Byron, Wallis, and Carteret, had been undertaken soon after the conclusion of the peace in 1763 by order of his present Majesty; and before the return of these navigators, who were ordered to sail round the world, another voyage was resolved upon for astronomical purposes. It having been calculated that a transit of Venus over the sun's disk would happen in 1769, a long memorial to his Majesty was presented by the Royal Society; in which they set forth the great importance of making proper observations on this phenomenon, the regard that had been paid to it by the different courts of Europe; and intreating, among other things, that a vessel might be fitted out, at the expense of government, for conveying proper persons to some of the Friendly Islands, in order to make the necessary observations. This being complied with on the part of his Majesty, Alexander Dalrymple, Esq.; an eminent member of the Royal Society, was appointed to take the command of the bark appropriated for the purpose. In the execution of the project, however, an unexpected difficulty occurred. Mr Dalrymple, sensible of the impossibility of guiding a vessel through unknown and dangerous seas without any proper command over the crew, demanded a brevet commission as captain of the vessel, in the same manner as had formerly been granted to Dr Halley in a voyage of discovery made by him. This commission Sir Edward Hawke absolutely refused to sign; declaring, when pressed upon the subject, that he would rather suffer his right hand to be cut off than trust any of his Majesty's ships to a person who had not been properly bred to the service; and in this proceeding he seemed to be justified by the mutinous behaviour of Dr Halley's crew; who, denying the legality of his authority over them, had involved him in a very disagreeable dispute, and which was attended with pernicious consequences. Mr Dalrymple, on the other hand, being equally determined in his refusal to proceed without the authority in question, there was a necessity for finding out some person of science who might also be free from the objection made by Sir Edward Hawke. Mr Cook therefore was proposed by Mr Stephens; and his recommendation being seconded by Sir Hugh Palliser, he was immediately appointed to direct the expedition; and on this occasion was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in his Majesty's service.

Mr Cook's commission as lieutenant was dated May 25, 1768; a vessel of 370 tons, named the Endeavour, was provided for him; and while the necessary preparations were making for the voyage, Captain Wallis returned. It having been recommended to this gentleman to fix upon a proper place for making the astronomical observations, he had accordingly chosen the island named by him George's Island, but since known by the name of Otaheite; judging also that Port Royal harbour in it would afford an eligible situation. This proposal being accepted, directions for the purpose were accordingly given to Mr Cook, with whom Mr Charles Green was joined in the astronomical part; the latter having been assistant to Dr Bradley in the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, and thus judged to be every way qualified for the office. The lieutenant was likewise accompanied by Mr Banks, now Sir Joseph Banks, Dr Solander, &c. The principal design of the voyage was, as has already been hinted, to make observations on the transit of Venus; but this being done, Mr Cook was directed to make further discoveries in the Pacific Ocean; and on the 30th of July 1768 he set sail on his expedition. An account of the voyage, and the discoveries made during the time of it, is given in the next article: here it is sufficient to observe, that throughout the whole Mr Cook approved himself an able seaman; and from his behaviour both to his own people and to the savage nations he occasionally met with, showed a most exact regard to the rules both of justice and humanity. On his first arrival at Otaheite, the following regulations were drawn up for his people, which he took care should be punctually obeyed:

1. To endeavour, by every fair means, to cultivate a friendship with the natives, and to treat them with all imaginable humanity. 2. A proper person or persons to be appointed to treat with the natives for provisions, fruits, &c. and no other person belonging to the ship to do so without leave. 3. Every person on shore to attend punctually to his duty, and to pay proper attention to his tools or arms; and if lost through negligence, to have the full value charged against his pay, with such farther punishment inflicted as occasion might require. 4. The same penalty to be inflicted on every one who should embezzle, trade with, or offer to trade with, any part of the ship's stores; and, 5. No iron to be given in exchange for anything but provisions. His rigid adherence to these rules was manifested in several instances, particularly by severely punishing the ship's butcher, who had threatened the life of a woman, wife to one of the chiefs of the island, for refusing a stone hatchet on the terms he proposed. On erecting their observatory, in order to go through the astronomical operations, an accident happened which had like to have disconcerted the whole scheme. This was the loss of their quadrant, which had been stolen by some of the natives; but, chiefly through the exertions of Mr Banks, it was recovered, and the observations made accordingly.

Scarce was this accomplished, however, before another theft of the natives demanded the most serious consideration of the commander. Some of them taking advantage of the attention of the officers being otherwise engaged, took the opportunity of breaking into one of the store-rooms, and stealing from thence a bag of spike nails of no less than an hundred weight. This was a most important affair; for as those nails were of great estimation among the Indians, the possession of such quantity must undoubtedly have much lessened their value, and thus rendered provisions of every kind greatly dearer on the island than before.

One of the thieves therefore being discovered, was punished with 200 lashes; notwithstanding which he obstinately refused to discover any of his accomplices. Repeated thefts committed afterwards required all the wisdom and resolution of Mr Cook to conduct himself in a proper manner. After due consideration, he judged it to be a matter of importance to put an end to these practices at once, by doing something which might engage the natives themselves to prevent them for their common interest. This, however, he was not at present able to accomplish; nor indeed did it seem possible to prevent them without using firearms, which from motives of humanity he still determined to avoid. At last, after a stay of three months, when preparing to take his leave, the most disagreeable adventure took place that he had hitherto met with. This was the defection of two of his people, who having married young women of the country, determined to take up their residence in it. Mr Cook was now obliged to seize some of the chiefs, and to inform them that they could not obtain their liberty unless the defectors were recovered. This at last produced the desired effect; the defectors were given up, and Mr Cook set sail, along with Tupia (who had formerly been the prime minister to Oberea, a princess of the island) and a boy of 13 years of age, both of whom were desirous of accompanying him to England.

While Mr Cook proceeded to visit others of the South Sea Islands, Tupia occasionally served as an interpreter. On his arrival in New Zealand, Mr Cook found the people extremely hostile and insolent. At their very first meeting, one of the natives having threatened to dart his lance into the boat, was shot dead. Another, having carried off Mr Green's hangings, was fired at with small shot, and upon his still refusing to restore it, was fired at with ball and killed. This, however, produced very little effect on the rest, who offered to make an attack upon them, till several muskets were fired with small shot, which wounded three or four more. Next day the commander, having determined to force some of the natives on board, in order to conciliate their affections by kind treatment, directed his men to follow two canoes whom he perceived under way before him. One made her escape, but the other, not observing the boats in pursuit, was overtaken; on which the savages fled their oars so briskly, that the ship's boats were not able to keep up with them. Tupia, whose language the New Zealanders understood, called to them to return, with assurances that no hurt should be done them; but they continued their flight without minding him. A musket was then fired over their heads with a view to intimidate them, but upon this they prepared to fight; and on the coming up of the boats began the attack with so much vigour, that the lieutenant's people were obliged to fire upon them with ball, by which four out of seven that were in the boat were killed, and the other three jumped into the water, and were taken on board.

This part of Mr Cook's conduct seems inconsistent with that humanity for which he was in general so eminently distinguished; he was aware of the censure, and makes the following apology. "These people certainly did not deserve death for not choosing to confide in my promises, or not consenting to come on board my boat, even if they had apprehended no danger: but the nature of my service required me to obtain a knowledge of their country, which I could no otherwise obtain but by forcing it in an hostile manner, or gaining admission through the confidence and good will of the people. I had already tried the power of presents without effect; and I was now prompted by my desire to avoid farther hostilities, to attempt to get some of them on board; the only method we had left of convincing them that we intended them no harm, and had it in our power to contribute to their gratification and convenience. Thus far my intentions certainly were not criminal; and tho' in the contest, which I had not the least reason to expect, our victory might have been complete without so great an expense of life; yet in such situations, when the command to fire has once been given, no man can pretend to restrain its excess, or prescribe its effect."

Notwithstanding the disaster just mentioned, to which the three New Zealanders, who were taken on board, had been witnesses, they were soon conciliated, and began to sing with a degree of taste that surprised the English gentlemen. They were boys, the oldest about 19, and the youngest about 11; but no kindness which could be shown them, was in any degree effectual to bring about a reconciliation with the rest. On the contrary, having perceived the ship in some distress, they instantly showed a disposition to make an attack; and from this they were only prevented by the... the firing of a four-pounder charged with grape shot. Even this did not produce any permanent effect; another attack was determined upon, and would undoubtedly have been made, had not Tupia informed them, that if they persisted in the attempt, the arms of their adversaries, like thunder, would destroy every one of them. This was enforced by the fire of another four-pounder with grape shot, which spreading wide in the water, terrified them to such a degree that they began to paddle away as fast as possible. Notwithstanding this, however, some intercourse began to take place; but in every instance the New Zealanders manifested their hostility and treachery in such a manner as showed that they were not to be gained by fair means. At last an attempt to carry off Tayeto, Tupia's boy, rendered it absolutely necessary to fire upon them in order to rescue him from certain destruction, some of the savages having got him into a canoe, where they held him down by violence. In consequence of this one of the savages was killed on the spot, and several more wounded, by the discharge of muskets from the boats; Tayeto recovered his liberty, jumped into the water, and swam to the ship. Some partial intercourse again took place; but still it appeared that the innate rancour of these savages was neither to be subdued by fair means nor foul; and it was only by the powerful arguments of cannon and musketry that they could be kept from attempting to do mischief.

From the account of this voyage published by Dr. Hawkeworth, indeed, it appears, that a considerable number of savages perished in a manner similar to that above mentioned, and they seem to have manifested a more hostile behaviour than afterwards; on those melancholy occasions, however, it is observed to the honour of Mr. Cook, that his humanity was eminently conspicuous beyond that of the common people, who all along showed as much inclination to destroy the Indians as a sportsman does to kill the game he pursues.

While Mr. Cook coasted the islands of New Zealand, he was sometimes in the most imminent danger of being shipwrecked. In the latitude of 35° south, and in the midst of summer in that climate, he met with such a gale of wind as he scarce ever experienced before; so that he was no less than three weeks in getting ten leagues to the westward, and two more before he could get 30 leagues farther. Fortunately, however, they were all this time a considerable way from land, otherwise it is probable that the storm must have proved fatal.

Mr. Cook having spent six months in circumnavigating and fully exploring the islands of New Zealand, he sailed from thence on the 18th of March 1770. It must be observed, however, that the extreme hostility manifested by the inhabitants in that part of the island where he first arrived, was not universally diffused, but that a friendly intercourse was for a long time maintained with those about Queen Charlotte's Sound. From New Zealand he proceeded to New Holland, and on the 28th of April came in sight of Botany Bay. Here all their endeavours to induce the natives to have any intercourse with them proved ineffectual, tho' happily there was no blood spilt in any quarrel.

During their navigation round New Holland, the coasts of which are full of dangerous rocks and shoals, our navigators were brought into a more perilous situation than ever; and from which the escape was so extraordinary, that it deserves a particular relation. This happened on the 10th of June 1770, as they pursued their course from Trinity Bay, and nearly in the latitude assigned to the islands discovered by Quiros. At that time they had the advantage of a fine breeze and a clear moonlight; and in standing off from fix till near nine o'clock, the ship had deepened her water from 14 to 21 fathoms; but while the navigators were at supper, it suddenly shoaled to 12, 10, and 8 fathoms, in the space of a few minutes. Every thing was then ready for putting the ship about, when they suddenly got into deep water again, and continued in 20 and 21 fathoms for some time, so that the gentlemen went to bed in perfect security. A little before eleven, however, the water shoaled at once from 20 to 17 fathoms; and before the lead could be heaved again, the ship struck, and remained immovable, excepting as far as she was heaved up and down and dashed against the rocks by the surge. The alarm was now universal, and not indeed without the greatest reason. It appeared that the vessel had been lifted over the ledge of a rock, and lay in a hollow within it, where there were in some places from three to four fathoms water, and in others scarce as many feet: the sheathing boards were disjoined, and floating round the ship in great numbers; and at last the false keel also was destroyed, while the rock kept grating her bottom with such force as to be heard in the fore stow-room. It was now necessary to lighten the ship as much as possible; and this was done with all expedition to the amount of more than 50 tons. In the morning of the 11th of June they discovered the land at about eight leagues distance, without any island between, on which they could have been sent ashore in the event of the ship going to pieces, that so they might have been carried to the main land by turns. To add to their distresses, the ship drew so much water, that it could scarce be kept under by three pumps. Lastly, it appeared, that even the rising of the tide, on which they had ultimately depended for relief, was insufficient to answer the purpose, as the day tide fell considerably short of that in the night-time. Having therefore lightened the ship still farther, by throwing out everything that could possibly be spared, they waited with patience for the next tide; when, after incredible exertion, the ship righted, and they got her over the ledge of the rock into deep water. By continual labour, however, the men were at last too much exhausted, that they could not stand to the pumps more than five or six minutes at a time; after which they threw themselves flat on the deck, though a stream of water between three and four inches deep ran over it; and in this situation they lay till others, exhausted as well as themselves, took their places, on which they started up again, and renewed their exertions. In this dreadful extremity Mr. Monkhouse, a midshipman, proposed the expedient of stopping the ship, as it is called, by which means he said that he had seen a merchant ship brought from Virginia to London after she had sprung a leak that admitted more than four feet water in an hour. The expedient being approved of, it was put in execution in the following manner. He took took a lower fludding-fail, and having mixed a large quantity of oakum and wool together, stitched them down by handfuls as lightly as possible; the whole being afterwards spread over with the dung of the sheep and other filth. The fail was then hauled under the ship's bottom by means of ropes which kept it extended. When it came under the leak, the wool and oakum, with part of the fail, were forced inwards by the pressure of the water, which thus prevented its own ingress in such an effectual manner, that one pump, instead of three, was now sufficient to keep it under. Thus they got the ship into a convenient port on the coast of New Holland, where there was an opportunity of fully repairing her defects. Here they discovered that their preservation had not been owing entirely to the expedient above mentioned; for one of the holes was in a great measure filled up by a piece of rock which had broken off and stuck in it; and this hole was so large, that had it not been filled up in the manner just mentioned, they must undoubtedly have perished notwithstanding all the assistance that could have been derived from the pumps.

The dangers they sustained in navigating this coast were innumerable, insomuch that for very near three months they were obliged to have a man constantly in the chains heaving the lead. They were always entangled among rocks and shoals, which could not have failed to destroy a less experienced navigator; and even Mr Cook, with all his sagacity, could not sometimes have extricated himself, had it not been for the favourable interposition of some natural events, which no human penetration could foresee or have the least dependence upon. Of this we shall only give the following instance. Having at last, as they thought, got safely over the vast reefs of sunk rocks with which the coast of New Holland is surrounded, they flattered themselves that all danger was past, and the vast swell of the water convinced them that they were now in the open ocean. The remembrance of former dangers, however, induced them frequently to take the precaution of founding; notwithstanding which, in the latitude of about $14^\circ$ S. they found themselves one morning only about a mile distant from the most hideous breakers, though the sea all around was unfathomable. Their situation was rendered the more dreadful by its being a dead calm, at the same time that they were carried towards the rock with such rapidity, that by the time they had got the ship's head turned by means of the boats, she was scarcely 100 yards distant from it. Their only resource then was to tow the ship, if possible, by means of the boats and pinnace, out of a situation so very perilous; but all their efforts would have been unsuccessful, had not a breeze of wind sprung up, which, though too light to have been noticed at any other time, was found to second their efforts so effectually, that the ship began to move perceptibly from the reef in an oblique direction: during the time that this breeze lasted, which was not more than ten minutes, they had made a considerable way. A dead calm succeeding, they began to lose ground, and in a little time were driven within 200 yards of the rocks: but fortunately the breeze returned, and lasted ten minutes more; during which time a small opening was perceived in the reef at the distance of about a quarter of a mile. The mate being sent out to examine this opening, reported that it was not more than the length of the ship in breadth, but that there was smooth water within. On this it was determined to push into it by all means. The attempt failed of success; as, just when they had brought the ship with great labour to the mouth of the opening, they found a current setting out from it by reason of the tide now beginning to ebb. But though their hopes were disappointed in getting through the opening, they were, by the current setting out from it, driven in a very short time to the distance of a quarter of a mile from the rocks; and by dint of towing and other exertions, they were got by noon to the distance of two miles. This temporary deliverance, however, afforded but small prospect of being ultimately relieved. They had still no other expectation than of being forced back into their former situation by the return of the tide; but happily they now perceived another opening about a mile to the westward. Mr Hicks the lieutenant being sent to examine this opening, returned with an account of its being narrow and hazardous, but capable of being passed. To this place therefore the ship was directed by every possible means; and a light breeze happening to spring up, they fortunately reached it, and were instantly hurried through with great rapidity by the current of the returning tide; which, had it not been for this opening, would undoubtedly have dashed them to pieces against the rocks.

From the time they quitted the coast of New Holland till their arrival at Batavia in the island of Java, our navigators met with no other danger but what is common in sea-voyages. They were obliged to stay for some time at this place to repair their damages; and on viewing the condition of the ship, found they had more reason than ever to admire the manner in which they had been preserved. Both the false-keel and main-keel were greatly injured; great part of the sheathing was torn off; several of the planks were much damaged, and among these there were two, and half of another, which for six feet in length were not above the eighth part of an inch in thickness, besides being penetrated with worms quite to the timbers. Here the crew were excessively annoyed by sickness, which obliged them to remain much longer than they would otherwise have done: and it is worthy of notice, that every one of the crew was ill excepting the sail-maker, an old man between 70 and 80 years of age, and who was drunk every night. Poor Tupia, with his boy Tayeto, fell sacrifices to the unhealthiness of the climate, as well as the surgeon, three seamen, and Mr Green's servant. Nor did the evil stop here; for on their setting out from Batavia, the seeds of disease which had been received there broke out in the most violent and fatal manner, insomuch that in the course of about six weeks there died one of Mr Banks's assistants, by name Mr Sporing, Mr Parkington his natural history painter, Mr Green the astronomer, the boatwain, carpenter, and mate; Mr Monkhouse the midshipman, the corporal of the marines, two of the carpenter's crew, and nine seamen. Even the jolly old sail-maker could now hold out no longer; but whether his death might not in some measure be attributed to his being less plentifully supplied with liquors than formerly, formerly, might have deserved inquiry. These unfortunate events probably made a considerable impression on Mr Cook's mind; and perhaps induced him to direct his attention to those methods of preserving the health of seamen which he afterwards put into execution with so much success. After touching at St Helena, they continued their voyage for England, where they arrived on the 11th of June 1771; and on the 29th of August the same year, His Majesty testified his approbation of Mr Cook's conduct by appointing him a captain in the navy. On this occasion Mr Cook wished to have been advanced to the rank of post-captain, which, though not more profitable than the other, is more honourable; but this being inconsistent with the rules of preferment in the navy, the earl of Sandwich, at that time at the head of the admiralty, could not agree to it.

Captain Cook was not allowed to remain long inactive. The idea of a southern continent had long been entertained, and Mr Dalrymple had renewed the attention of the public towards the question, by his historical collection of voyages to the Pacific Ocean, published in two quarto volumes, one in 1770, the other in 1771. To determine the matter finally, Captain Cook was again sent out; and the object of this voyage was not merely to settle the question just mentioned, but to extend the geography of the globe to its utmost limits. That the undertaking might be carried on with the greatest advantage, it was determined to employ two ships, on the choice and equipment of which the utmost attention was bestowed. The successful voyage which had already been made in the Endeavour, suggested the idea of that ship being a proper model for the two which were to be sent out; and the opinion of Lord Sandwich concurring with the general idea, two vessels, constructed by the same person who had built the Endeavour, were purchased for the voyage. There were about 14 or 16 months old at the time they were purchased; and in the opinion of Captain Cook, were as fit for the purpose as if they had been but newly built. The larger of the two, of 462 tons burden, was named the Resolution; the smaller, of 336 tons, had the name of the Adventure; the complement of men on board the former, of which Captain Cook was commander, being 112; on the latter, commanded by Mr Tobias Furneaux, 81. In their equipment, every article that could be supposed necessary, however much out of the common line, was procured, and every circumstance that could be supposed to contribute to the success of the voyage was attended to in the most scrupulous manner. Besides the usual stores and provisions, all of which were of the best kinds, the ships were furnished with malt, four-kraut, salted cabbage, portable soup, lap, mustard, marmalade of carrots, beer, and spiced wort. Mr Hodges, an excellent landscape painter, was engaged to make drawings and paintings of such objects as required them. Mr John Reinhold Forster, with his son, were both engaged, in order to explore and collect the natural history of the countries through which they passed; and lastly, that nothing might be wanting to render the voyage as complete as possible, Mr William Wales and Mr William Bayley were engaged by the board of longitude to make celestial observations. They were furnished with the best instruments of every kind, and among the rest with four time-pieces; three constructed by Mr Arnold, and one by Mr Kendal on Mr Harrison's principles.

At Plymouth Captain Cook received his instructions; which were not only to sail round the globe, but to sail round it in high southern latitudes, and to make such traverses as might finally resolve the question concerning the southern continent. In pursuance of these instructions he set sail on the 13th of July 1772, and on the 20th of the same month reached the Madeiras. As he proceeded afterwards in his voyage, he made three puncheons of beer from the spiced wort carried out along with him, and found it excellently to answer the purpose, provided the material could have been kept without fermentation in its spiced state; but as this was found impossible, the expedient seems to have failed. In this voyage, however, the Captain used with the greatest success such methods as appeared likely to contribute to the preservation of the health of his men. In rainy weather, he took care that the ship should be aired and dried by means of fires made between the decks, the damp places were smoked, and the people were ordered to air their bedding, and wash and dry their clothes, whenever an opportunity offered. Thus he reached the Cape of Good Hope without having a single man sick. Having left it, and kept on his course to the southward, he soon began to meet with cold and stormy weather, by which he lost almost the whole of his live stock of sheep, hogs, and geese. The bad effects of this stormy weather upon the men were guarded against by an addition to their clothing, and giving them a dram on particular occasions. On the 6th of December, being in the latitude of 50° 40', he fell in with islands of ice, and continued among them in various latitudes till the 17th of January 1773; when he set sail for New Zealand, which he reached on the 27th.

The reception of our navigator by the New Zealanders was now much more friendly than in the former voyage, so that there were no contests with the natives; nor did Captain Cook observe any one of those whom he had seen before, neither was there the smallest remembrance of former hostilities. Having staid in this country till the 7th of June, our navigators set sail for Otaheite; but during the voyage the crews of both ships were attacked by the scurvy. Those of the Adventure were in a very sickly state; the cook was dead, and 20 of her best men incapable of duty. On board the Resolution matters were much better; and the only reason that could be conjectured for the difference was, that the people of the Adventure had been in an habit of body more inclined to the scurvy than those of the Resolution, and had eaten fewer vegetables. Here it was observed, that the aversion of seamen to a change of diet is so great, that it can only be overcome by the steady and persevering example of a commander. While he remained at New Zealand, the Captain had discovered a tree which greatly resembled the American black spruce. Persuaded, therefore, that it would be attended with effects equally salutary on the health of the people, he employed them in brewing beer from it. This was done while they continued at Dukly Bay, in order to supply the want of vegetables, which were not to be procured there; but on removing to Queen Charlotte's Sound, they were more fortunate. Captain Cook himself went to look out for antiscorbutic vegetables; and returned in a very short time with a boat-load of sourvry-grains, celery, &c. These were boiled with the peas and wheat; and though some of the people disliked them at first, they soon became so sensible of their good effects, that they cheerfully followed the example of the rest; and the freedom of the crew from the sourvry and other distempers was by every one attributed to the New Zealand spruce beer and vegetables. From this time forward the Captain had scarce occasion to give orders for gathering vegetables when they came to any land.

During this voyage Captain Cook experienced another narrow escape from shipwreck. Being becalmed at the distance of half a league from a reef of rocks near Ofaiburg Island, it was found necessary to order out the boats to tow off the ships; but this was found impossible. The calm continuing, and the situation of our navigators becoming every moment more dangerous, the Captain attempted to get through an opening in the reef which he had judged practicable; but on approaching it, found that there was not sufficient depth of water; at the same time that the draught of the tide through it forced the ship thither in a manner scarce to be resisted. One of the warping machines, with about 400 fathoms of rope, was then ordered out, but did not produce any effect. They were within two cables length of the breakers, and no bottom could be found for casting anchor. Having no other resource, however, they did drop an anchor; but before it took hold, the Resolution was in less than three fathoms water, and struck at every fall of the sea, which broke violently close under her stern, threatening destruction to every one on board. At last the tide ceasing to act in the same direction, the boats were ordered to try to tow off the vessel; in which being assisted by the land-breeze, which fortunately sprung up at that instant, they with much labour succeeded.

Having spent a considerable time in the South Sea islands, Captain Cook returned to New Zealand, and from thence set sail for the southern part of the continent of America. Here he explored all the islands in the neighbourhood, and then returned to England, where he arrived in safety on the 30th of July 1774, having been absent three years and 18 days; and in all that time lost only one man, who died of consumption probably begun before he set out on the voyage.

The reception our navigator now met with was suited to his merit. He was immediately raised to the rank of post-captain, and soon after unanimously elected a member of the Royal Society; from whom he received the prize of the gold medal for the best experimental paper that had appeared throughout the year. It was the custom of Sir John Pringle, at the delivery of this medal, annually to make an elaborate discourse, containing the history of that part of science for which the medal was given; and as the subject of Captain Cook's paper (the means of preserving the health of seamen) was analogous to the profession of Sir John Pringle himself as a physician, he had the greater opportunity of displaying his eloquence on the occasion.

The speech he made was in the highest degree honourable to Captain Cook. He remarked, that the Society had never more meritoriously bestowed the medal than on the person who now received it. "If (says he) Rome decreed the civic crown to him who saved the life of a single citizen, what wreaths are due to the man who, having himself saved many, perpetuates in your Transactions the means by which Britain may now, on the most distant voyages, preserve numbers of her intrepid sons, her mariners; who, braving every danger, have so liberally contributed to the fame, to the opulence, and to the maritime empire of the country?" These honourable testimonies of the public regard, however, Captain Cook did not receive, being already embarked on another voyage, from which he never returned.

The third voyage of this celebrated navigator was not undertaken by any express command of his Majesty. Captain Cook had already done so much, that it was thought but reasonable he should now spend the remainder of his life in quiet; and in order to enable him to do this in the more comfortable manner, besides his rank of post-captain in the navy, he was also made a captain in Greenwich. Still, however, there were some points in the science of geography which had very much engaged the attention of the public, and were indeed of such importance as to become a national concern. These were to discover the connection between Asia and America, and to determine whether there was not a possibility of shortening the passage to the East Indies by sailing round the northern parts of the continents of Europe and Asia. Many attempts, indeed, had already been made by various navigators of different nations; but all of them had failed, and, what was worse, had left the point still undetermined. An act of parliament had been passed in 1745, by which a reward of L.20,000 was held out to the ships of any of his Majesty's subjects for accomplishing this important voyage, but without mentioning anything of those belonging to his Majesty; and this reward was further confined to the finding out of the north-west passage to the East Indies through Hudson's Bay. In the year 1776, however, both the errors just mentioned were corrected. It was now enacted, "That if any ship belonging to any of his Majesty's subjects, or to his Majesty, shall find out, and sail through, any passage by sea between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, in any direction or parallel of the northern hemisphere, to the northward of the 52nd degree of northern latitude; the owners of such ships, if belonging to any of his Majesty's subjects, or the commanders, officers, and seamen, of such ship belonging to his Majesty, shall receive, as a reward for such discovery, the sum of L.20,000.

It was not, as has already been hinted, now deemed proper to solicit Captain Cook to undergo froth dangers by undertaking a voyage of this kind; nevertheless, as he was universally looked upon to be the fittest person in the kingdom for the purpose, the eyes of every person were tacitly fixed upon him; he was consulted on everything relating to it, and solicited to name the person whom he judged most proper to conduct it. To determine this point, Captain Cook, Sir Hugh Palliser, and Mr Stephens, were invited to the house of Lord Sandwich to dinner; where, besides the consideration of the proper officer for conducting the expedition, many things were said concerning the nature of the design. They enlarged upon its grandeur and dignity, its consequences to navigation and science, and the completeness it would give to the whole system of discoveries; until at last Captain Cook was so much inflamed by the representation of the importance of the voyage, that he started up, and declared that he would conduct it himself. This was what the parties present had desired, and probably expected; his offer was therefore instantly laid before the king, and Captain Cook appointed commander of the Expedition by the 10th of February 1776. At the same time it was agreed, that on his return from the voyage he should be restored to his place at Greenwich; and if no vacancy occurred during the interval, the officer who succeeded him was to reign in his favour. The instructions he now received were, that he should attempt the high latitudes between the continents of Asia and America, and if possible return to England along the northern coasts of Asia and Europe. This was most probably the result of the Captain's own deliberations, and what had been suggested by him to Lord Sandwich and other people in power. He was particularly directed to sail first into the Pacific Ocean thro' the chain of newly discovered islands which he had lately visited. After having crossed the equator, and palled into the northern parts of the ocean just mentioned, he was then to hold such a course as might tend to settle many interesting points of geography, and produce some intermediate discoveries, before he arrived at the main scene of operation. With regard to this principal object, he was ordered, immediately on his arrival on the coast of New Albion, to proceed northward as far as the latitude of 65 degrees, without losing any time in exploring creeks or rivers previous to his arrival in that latitude: and for his further encouragement, the act of 1745, offering a premium for the discovery of the passage, was amended in the manner above mentioned. That nothing might be wanting which could promote the success of the grand expedition, Lieutenant Pickerfitt was sent out, in 1776, with directions to explore the coasts of Baffin's Bay; and the next year Lieutenant Young was commissioned not only to examine the western parts of that bay, but to endeavour to find a passage on that side from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Nothing, however, was performed by either of these gentlemen which in the least could promote Captain Cook's success. Two vessels were provided as in the former voyage, viz., the Resolution and the Discovery; the command of the former being given to Captain Cook, and of the latter to Captain Charles Clerke. The only thing in which the appointment of the Discovery differed from that of the Resolution was, that the former had no marine officer on board. Every degree of attention was bestowed, as in the former voyage, upon the proper victualling and other necessaries for the two ships; and that the inhabitants of those countries which our navigator intended to visit might derive some permanent benefit from the intercourse they had with him, it was determined to send abroad a breed of domestic animals, and likewise a quantity of useful seeds, to be left in proper places. With this view, a bull, two cows with their calves, and several sheep, with hay and corn for their subsistence, were taken on board; and it was likewise purposed to take in others at the Cape of Good Hope. A large assortment of iron tools and trinkets was also sent out; and, in short, every thing that could be judged proper either to conciliate the good will of the natives or to prove serviceable to them, was provided for the voyage, as well as every convenience for the ships companies. In the former voyage Captain Cook had brought along with him a native of one of the South Sea islands, named Omai, who resided in England during the interval between the second and third voyages, and was now happy at getting an opportunity of returning to his own country. Though he could by no means complain of the entertainment he had met with in England, the idea of returning home loaded with treasure, which might enable him to make a figure among his countrymen, soon overcame all uneasy sensations which the leaving of his English friends might excite. His majesty had taken care to furnish him with everything that could possibly be of use when he came to his native country; and he had besides received several valuable presents from Lord Sandwich, Sir Joseph Banks and several ladies and gentlemen of his acquaintance; so that nothing was omitted which could possibly be done to convey, by his means, to the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands an idea of the British power and greatness.

Every thing being prepared for the voyage, our navigator set sail from the Nore on the 25th of June 1776; but by reason of some delay in receiving his instructions, did not leave Plymouth till the 12th of July. He had not been long at sea before he began his operations for preserving the health of his people; which were found equally efficacious in this as in the former voyage. Finding his stock of provender for the animals on board likely to run short, he touched at Teneriffe, in order to procure a supply, having judged that to be a more proper place than Madeira for the purpose. On failing from thence he ran a great risk of running upon some sunk rocks on the island of Bonavista; but in this, as well as on other occasions of danger, he behaved with the same judgement, coolness, and presence of mind, that distinguished him throughout the whole course of his life. On the 12th of August he arrived before Port Praya, in one of the Cape de Verde islands named St. Jago; but not finding it necessary to go in there, he continued his voyage to the southward. The weather now becoming gloomy and rainy, required a continuance of the methods he had already practised for preserving the health of his people; and, as formerly, they were attended with the greatest success. In this voyage, the effect of these precautions was the more remarkable, as at this time the seams of the vessel were opened to such a degree as to admit the rain, so that scarce any person on board could lie dry in his bed; and all the officers in the gun-room were driven out of their cabins by the water which came through the sides. Such was the humanity of the commander, however, that while the ships continued at sea, he would not trust the workmen over their sides to repair the defects, though caulkers were employed in the inside as soon as settled weather returned. On the 1st of September our navigators crossed the equator, and on the 18th of October anchored in Table Bay at the Cape of Good Hope. Here they met with a violent tempest, the effects of which were felt both on sea and land. It lasted three days, and the Resolution was the only ship in the bay that rode out the storm without dragging her anchors. On shore the tents and observatory were destroyed, and the astronomical quadrant narrowly escaped irreparable damage. The Discovery, which had been some time later in failing from England, was driven off the coast, and did not arrive till the 10th of November.

While they remained in this place, a disaster happened which threatened the loss of most of their live stock. The bull and two cows had been put ashore to graze among other cattle; but Captain Cook had been advised to keep the sheep, 16 in number, near the tents, where they were penned every night. Some dogs having got in among them in the night-time, killed four, and dispersed the rest. Six of them were recovered the next day, but the two rams and two of the finest ewes in the flock were missing. The captain applied to Baron Plettenburg the governor; but all his endeavours were unsuccessful, until he employed some of the meanest and lowest of the people, fellows whose character was, that for a ducatoon they would cut their master's throat, burn the house over his head, and bury him and his whole family in ashes. This is mentioned as an instance how far the boasted policy of the Dutch government at the Cape of Good Hope falls short of its alleged perfection. After all, two of the finest ewes in the flock were missing, and never could be recovered. The captain, therefore, to repair this loss, and to make an addition to his original stock, purchased two young bulls, two stone hogs, two mares, two heifers, two rams, several ewes and goats, with some rabbits and poultry; when, having finished all his business, he set sail on the 30th of November, though it was not till the 3rd of December that he got clear of land. Soon after his putting to sea, he had the misfortune to lose several of the goats, especially the males, together with some sheep; and it was with the utmost difficulty that the rest of the cattle were preserved, by reason of the ship tossing and tumbling about in a very heavy sea. Having explored some desolate islands in the southern seas, Captain Cook set sail for New Zealand. During this part of the voyage, our navigators were involved in so thick a fog, that, according to the authors of Captain Cook's life, "they sailed 300 leagues in the dark." The first land they afterwards reached was New Holland; where, having remained till the 30th of January 1777, they set sail for New Zealand, and on the 12th of February they anchored in Queen Charlotte's Sound. Here the people were shy and timorous, on account of their having formerly destroyed 10 of Captain Furneaux's people, who had been sent ashore to gather vegetables. The cause of the quarrel could not be known, as none of the party were left alive to tell the news. Lieutenant Burney, who went ashore in quest of them, found only some fragments of their bodies; from which it appeared that they had been killed and eaten by the savages. It was not the intention of Captain Cook, at this distance of time, to relent the injury; he even refused to put to death a chief named Kahora, who, as he was informed by the natives themselves, had killed Mr Rowe the commander of the party. He was, however, particularly careful that no opportunity should now be given the savages of committing such an action with impunity; and with this view a boat was never sent on shore without being well armed, and the men under the command of such officers as could be depended upon. The New Zealanders were no sooner assured of Captain Cook's pacific disposition, than they threw aside their fears and suspicions, and entered into a commercial intercourse with the people. It would have been the less excusable in Captain Cook to have revenged at this time the massacre of Mr Rowe's party, as he was assured that the quarrel originated from some petty thefts of the savages, which were too hastily resented on the part of the British; and had it not been for this, no mischief would have happened.

On the 25th of February our navigator left New Zealand, taking with him, at the request of Omai, two boys, the eldest about 18 and the youngest about 10. These were soon cured of their passion for travelling, being both violently sea-sick; but as it was then too late to repent, they expressed their grief in loud and almost continual lamentation; and this in a kind of song which seemed to consist of the praises of their native country, whence they were now to be separated for ever. By degrees, however, the sea-sickness abated, their lamentations became less frequent, and at last ceased entirely; their native country was forgotten, and they appeared to be as firmly attached to their new friends the English as if they had been born among them.

So much time was now spent in sailing up and down in the Pacific Ocean, where several new islands were discovered, that Captain Cook judged it impossible to accomplish any thing for this year in the high northern latitudes; for which reason he determined to bear away for the Friendly Islands, in order to supply himself with those necessaries which he had found impossible to be got at any of the islands which he had just discovered. In his run thither several new islands were visited; and in prosecuting these discoveries our navigator once more narrowly escaped being shipwrecked. The danger at this time arose from a low sandy island, which the Resolution was very near running upon. From this she was only saved by the circumstance of all the men having been accidentally called upon deck to put the vessel about, and most of them being at their stations when the danger was discovered. Soon after this both ships struck upon some sunk coral rocks, but happily were got off without damage.

After a stay of between two and three months, Captain Cook took leave of the Friendly Islands on the 13th of July 1777; and on the 12th of August reached Otaheite, where he introduced Omai to his country people, and whose reception by them is particularly related under the next article. Here the Captain found the people of Otaheite ready to engage in a war with those of Eimeo; but though strongly solicited by the former to assist them in an expedition against their enemies, he refused to take any concern in the affair, alleging, by way of excuse, that the people of Eimeo had never offended him. This seemed to satisfy most of the chiefs; but one, named Towla, was so much displeased, that Captain Cook could never regain his favour. He even threatened, that as soon as the Captain should be gone, he would make war upon Otoo, one of the princes of these islands whom he knew to be in strict friendship with him; but from this he was deterred by the Captain's threatening to return and chastise him if he made any such attempt. As a mark of Otoo's friendship, he gave our navigator a canoe, which he desired him to carry to the king of Britain, having nothing else, as he said, worth his acceptance.

From Otahite Captain Cook proceeded to Eimeo, where, on account of some thefts committed by the natives, he was obliged to commence hostilities, by burning a number of their war canoes and even some houses. These transactions gave him much concern; and the more that he had been so much solicited to make war on these people by his friends at Otahite, to whose entreaties he had refused to listen. From Eimeo he proceeded to Huaheine, where he saw Omai finally settled, and left with him the two New Zealand youths already mentioned. The youngest of these was so much attached to the English, that it was necessary to carry him out of the ship and put him ashore by force. During his stay on this island, the Captain was obliged to punish a thief with greater severity than he had ever done before, viz. by causing his head and beard to be shaved, and his ears cut off. Some other disagreeable transactions took place, particularly the detention of two of his people, who were not recovered without the greatest difficulty. In the course of his exertions for their recovery, he found it necessary to detain the son, daughter, and son-in-law, of the chief of an island named Otaha. This had almost produced very serious consequences, the natives having formed a plot for carrying off Captain Cook himself, as well as Captain Clerke and Mr Gore. With regard to the commander, they were disappointed by his own caution and vigilance; but Messrs Clerke and Gore were in particular danger; and it was only owing to the circumstance of one of them having a pistol in his hand, as they walked together on shore, that they were not seized.

Having left the Society Islands, and discovered a new group, which, in honour of his patron the Earl of Sandwich, our commander named the Sandwich Isles, he set out on the 2d of January 1778 on his voyage northward. In this he was very successful, ascertaining the vicinity of the continents of Asia and America, which had never been done, or but very imperfectly, before. From these desolate regions he returned to the island of Oonalafika; whence having refitted and taken in provisions, he returned to the southward, and on the 26th of November reached the Sandwich Islands, where he discovered a new one named Mowee, and on the 30th of the same month another of much larger extent, named O-wa-by-lee. Seven weeks were spent in exploring the coasts of this island; and during all this time he continued to have the most friendly intercourse with the people, who, however, appeared to be much more numerous and powerful than those of any island our navigators had yet touched at. Several of the chiefs and principal people had attached themselves greatly to the commander, and in general the people appeared to be much more honest in their dispositions than any whom he had ever visited. But by the time he had finished his circumnavigation of the island, and cast anchor in a bay called Karakakoa, matters were greatly altered. An universal disposition to theft and plunder had now taken place; and in this it was evident that the common people were encouraged by their chiefs, who shared the booty with them. Still, however, no hostilities were commenced; the greatest honours were paid to the commander; and, on his going ashore, he was received with ceremonies little short of adoration. A vast quantity of hogs and other provisions were procured for the ships; and on the 4th of February 1779, they left the island, not without most magnificent presents from the chiefs, and such as they had never before received in any part of the world. Unfortunately they met with a storm on the fifth and seventh of the same month; during which the Resolution sprung the head of her forecastle in such a manner that they were obliged to return to Karakakoa bay to have it repaired. As they returned, Captain Cook had an opportunity of showing his humanity to the people by the relief he afforded to some of their canoes which had suffered in the storm. The same friendly intercourse which had formerly been held with the natives now commenced, and Captain Cook was treated with the usual honours; but on the 13th of this month it was unhappily broken off on the following account. One of the natives being detected in stealing the tongs from the armourer's forge in the Discovery, was dismissed with a pretty severe flogging; but this example was so far from being attended with any good effect, that in the afternoon another, having snatched up the tongs and chisel, jumped overboard with them and swam for the shore. The matter and midshipman were instantly dispatched in pursuit of him; but he escaped on board a canoe, which paddled away so quickly that the cutter could not come near it. A chief named Pareah, who was at this time on board the Resolution, notwithstanding what had happened, promised to go ashore and get back the stolen goods; but before this could be done the thief had made his escape into the country. Captain Cook, who was at that time ashore, had endeavoured to intercept the canoe when it landed, but was led out of the way by some of the natives who pretended to be his guides. The tongs and chisel, however, were brought back to the matter as he advanced to the landing place; but he being now joined by some of the rest of the people in the pinace, could not be satisfied with the recovery of the stolen goods, but insisted upon having the thief or the canoe which carried him by way of reprisal. On his preparing to launch this last into the water, he was interrupted by Pareah, who insisted that it was his property, and that he should not take it away. As the officer paid no regard to his remonstrances, Pareah, who seems to have been a very strong man, seized him, pinioned his arms behind, and held him fast by the hair of the head. On this one of the sailors struck the chief with an oar, on which, quitting the officer, he instantly snatched the oar out of the man's hand, and broke it in two across his knee. The Indians then attacked the sailors with stones, and soon drove them to their boats, to which they were forced to swim, as they lay at some distance from the shore. The officers who could not swim retired to a small rock, where they were closely pursued by the Indians; and here the master narrowly escaped with his life, till Pareah returned and obliged the Indians to give over their attacks. The gentlemen, sensible that Pareah's presence alone could protect them, entreated him to remain with them till they could be brought off in the boats. On his refusal, the master set out to the place where the observatories had been erected, for farther assistance; but Pareah, who met him, and suspected his errand, obliged him to return. In the meantime the multitude had begun to break in pieces the pinnace, after having taken every thing out of her that was loose: on the return of Pareah, however, they were again dispersed, and some of the oars restored, after which the gentlemen were glad to get off in safety. Before they reached the ship Pareah overtook them in a canoe, and delivered the midshipman's cap which had been taken from him in the scuffle; he also joined forces with them in token of friendship, and desired to know whether Captain Cook would kill him on account of what had happened. They assured him that he would not, and made signs of reconciliation on their part. On this he left them, and paddled over to the town of Kavaroah; and that was the last time that he was seen by the English. In the nighttime the sentinels were much alarmed by shrill and melancholy sounds from the adjacent villages, which they took to be the lamentations of the women. Next day it was found that the large cutter of the Discovery had been carried off in the night-time; on which Captain Cook ordered the launch and small cutter to go under the command of the second lieutenant, and to lie off the east point of the bay in order to intercept all the canoes that might attempt to get out, and if necessary to fire upon them. The third lieutenant of the Resolution was dispatched to the western part of the bay on the same service; while the master was sent in pursuit of a large double canoe already under sail, and making the best of her way out of the harbour. He soon came up with her, and by firing a few shots, obliged her to run on shore, and the Indians to leave her. This was the canoe belonging to a chief named Omea, whose person was reckoned equally sacred with that of the king, and to the neglect of securing him we may attribute the succeeding disaster. Captain Cook now formed the resolution of going in person to seize the king himself in his capital of Kavaroah; and as there was reason to suppose that he had fled, it was his design to secure the large canoes, which on that account he caused to be hauled up on the beach. With this view he left the ship about seven o'clock in the morning of Sunday the 14th of February, being attended by the lieutenant of marines, a sergeant, corporal, and seven private men. The crew of the pinnace, under the command of Mr Roberts, were also armed; and as they rowed towards the shore, the captain ordered the launch to leave her station at the opposite point of the bay, in order to assist his own boat. Having landed with the marines at the upper end of the town, the Indians flocked round him, and prostrated themselves before him. No sign of hostility, nor even much alarm, appeared; the king's sons waited on the commander as soon as he sent for them, and by their means he was introduced to the king, who readily consented to go on board; but in a little time the Indians began to arm themselves with long spears, clubs, and daggers, and to put on thick mats which they use as defensive armour. This hostile appearance was greatly augmented by an unlucky piece of news which was just now brought by a canoe, viz. that one of the Indian chiefs had been killed by the people in the Discovery's boats. On this the women, who had hitherto sat on the beach conversing familiarly, and taking their breakfasts, removed, and a confused murmur ran through the crowd. An old priest now appeared with a cocoa-nut in his hand, which he held out as a present to Captain Cook, singing all the while, and making a most troublesome noise as if he meant to divert the attention of the Captain and his people from observing the motions of the Indians, who were now everywhere putting on their armour. Captain Cook beginning to think his situation dangerous, ordered the lieutenant of the marines to march towards the shore, as he himself did, having all the while hold of the king's hand, who very readily accompanied him, attended by his wife, two sons, and several chiefs. The Indians made a lane for them to pass; and as the distance they had to go was only about 50 or 60 yards, and the boats lay at no more than five or six yards distance from land, there was not the least apprehension of the catastrophe which ensued. The king's youngest son Keowa went on board the pinnace without the least hesitation, and the king was about to follow, when his wife threw her arms about his neck, and, with the affiance of two chiefs, forced him to sit down. The Captain might now have safely got aboard, but did not immediately relinquish the design of taking the king along with him. Finding at last, however, that this could not be accomplished without a great deal of bloodshed, he was on the point of giving orders for the people to reembark, when one of the Indians threw a stone at him. This insult was returned by the Captain, who had a double barrelled piece, by a discharge of small shot from one of the barrels. This had little effect, as the man had a thick mat before him; and as he now brandished his spear, the Captain knocked him down with his musket. The king's son, Keowa, still remained in the pinnace, and the detaining him would have been a great check upon the Indians; but unluckily Mr Roberts, who commanded the pinnace, set him ashore at his own request soon after the first fire. In the mean time another Indian was observed in the act of brandishing his spear at the commander; who thereupon was obliged to fire upon him in his own defence. Missing his aim, however, he killed one close by his side; upon which the sergeant observing that he had missed the man he aimed at, received orders to fire also, which he did, and killed him on the spot. This repelled the foremost of the Indians, and made them fall back in a body; but they were urged on again by those behind, and discharged a volley of stones among the marines, who immediately returned it by a general discharge of their muskets; and this was instantly followed by a fire from the boats. Captain Cook expressed his astonishment at their firing, waved his hand to them to cease, and called to the people in the boats to come nearer to receive the marines. This order was obeyed by Mr Roberts; but the lieutenant who commanded the launch, instead of coming nearer, put off off to a greater distance; and by this preposterous conduct deprived the unfortunate commander of the only chance he had for his life; for now the Indians, exasperated by the fire of the marines, rushed in upon them and drove them into the water, leaving the Captain alone upon the rock. A fire indeed was kept up by both boats; but the one was too far off, and the other crowded with the marines, so that they could not direct their fire with proper effect. Captain Cook was then observed making for the pinnace, carrying his musket under his arm, and holding his other hand on the back-part of his head to guard it from the stones. An Indian was seen following him, but with marks of fear, as he stopped once or twice seemingly undetermined to proceed. At last he struck the Captain on the back of the head with a club, and then precipitately retreated. The latter staggered a few paces, and then fell on his hand and one knee, and dropped his musket. Before he could recover himself another Indian stabbed him with a dagger in the neck, though still without putting an end to his life. He then fell into a pool of water knee-deep, where others crowded upon him; but still he struggled violently with them, got up his head, and looked towards the pinnace as if soliciting assistance. The boat was not above five or six yards distance; but such was the confused and crowded state of the crew, that no assistance could be given him. The Indians then got him under again, but in deeper water, though he still continued to struggle, and once more got his head up; but being quite spent, he turned towards the rock as if to support himself by it, when a savage struck him with a club, which probably put an end to his life, as he was never seen to struggle any more. The savages hauled his lifeless body up on the rocks, and used it in the most barbarous manner, snatching the daggers out of one another's hands, in order to have the pleasure of mangling it. If anything could add to the misfortune of this celebrated navigator's death, it was that even his mangled remains were not saved from the hands of the barbarians. The lieutenant already mentioned, who, by his removing to a distance when he ought to have come on shore, seemed to have been the occasion of his death, returned on board without making any attempt to recover his body; though it appeared from the testimonies of four or five midshipmen who arrived soon after at the fatal spot, that the beach was almost deserted by the Indians, they having at last yielded to the continual fire from the boats. The officer alleged in his own excuse for removing at first from the shore, that he mistook the signals; but be this as it will, the complaints against him were so many and so great, that Captain Clerke was obliged publicly to take notice of them, and to take the depositions of his accusers in writing.—The papers, however, were not found, and it is supposed that the Captain's bad state of health had induced him to destroy them. After all we are informed, that, in the opinion of Captain Philips, who commanded the marines, it is very doubtful whether any effectual relief could have been given to the commander, even if no mistake had been committed on the part of the lieutenant. The author of all the mischief was Pareah, the chief already mentioned, who had employed people to steal the boat in the night-time. The king was entirely innocent both of the theft and the murder of Captain Cook; but the latter was perpetrated by some chiefs who were his near relations. The chief who first struck him with a club was named Karimans raba, and he who stabbed him with the dagger was called Nooab. The latter, Mr Samwell, from whose narrative this account is taken, observes, was stout and tall, had a fierce look and demeanour, and united in his person the two properties of strength and agility more than he had ever observed in any other person.—Both of them were held in great estimation by their countrymen on account of the hand they had in his death.

By reason of the barbarous disposition of the Indians, it was found impossible to recover Captain Cook's body after the first opportunity already mentioned was lost. By dint of threats and negotiations, however, some of the principal parts were procured with great difficulty; by which means the navigators were enabled to perform the last offices to their much respected commander. These being put into a coffin, and the service read over them, were committed to the deep with the usual military honours on the 21st of February 1779. Soon after his death a letter was issued by M. de Sartine, secretary to the marine department of France, and sent to all the commanders of French ships, importing, that Captain Cook should be treated as the commander of a neutral and allied power; and that all captains of armed vessels who might meet with him, should make him acquainted with the king's orders, but at the same time let him know, that, on his part, he must refrain from hostilities. This humane and generous proceeding, with regard to France, originated from M. Turgot; but the thought seems first to have struck Dr Franklin. Thus much at least is certain, that the doctor, while ambassador from the United States, wrote a circular letter to the American naval commanders something to the purport of that already mentioned: but in this he was not supported by Congress; for an edict was instantly issued, that special care should be taken to seize Captain Cook if an opportunity of doing it occurred. The Spaniards proceeded in the same manner, and both acted on a principle equally mean and absurd, that the obtaining a knowledge of the western coast of America, or of a northern passage into the Pacific Ocean, might be attended with some bad consequence to their respective states.

Captain Cook was a man of plain address and appearance, but well looked, and upwards of six feet high. His head was small, and he wore his hair, which was brown, tied behind. His face was full of expression; his nose exceedingly well shaped; his eyes, which were small and of a brown cast, were quick and piercing; his eye-brows prominent, which gave his countenance altogether an air of austerity. Notwithstanding this, it was impossible for any one to excel him in humanity, as is evident from the whole tenor of his behaviour both to his own people and the many savage nations with whom he had occasion to interfere. This amiable property discovered itself even in the final catastrophe of his life; his utmost care being directed to the preservation of his people, and the procuring them a safe retreat to their boats. And it cannot be enough lamented, that he who took so much care care of others, should have perished in such a miserable manner for want of being properly supported by them. The perseverance with which he pursued every object which happened to be pointed out as his duty was unequalled. Nothing ever could divert him from what he had once undertaken; and he persevered in the midst of dangers and difficulties which would have disheartened persons of very considerable strength and firmness of mind. For this he was adapted by nature, having a strong constitution, inured to labour, and capable of undergoing the greatest hardships. His stomach bore without difficulty the coarsest and most ungrateful food; and he submitted to every kind of self-denial with the greatest indifference. To this strength of constitution he joined an invincible fortitude of mind, of which the circumnavigation of New Holland, and his voyage towards the South Pole, furnish innumerable instances. He was master of himself on every trying occasion; and the greater the emergency, the greater always appeared his calmness and recollection; so that in the most dangerous situations, after giving proper directions to his people, he could sleep soundly the hours that he had allotted to himself. That he possessed genius in an eminent degree cannot be questioned: his invention was ready, and capable not only of suggesting the most noble objects of pursuit, but the most proper methods of attaining them. His knowledge of his own profession was unequalled; and to this he added a very considerable proficiency in other sciences. In astronomy, he became so eminent, that he was at length enabled to take the lead in making the astronomical observations during the course of his voyages. In general learning he likewise attained to such a proficiency as to be able to express himself with clearness and propriety; and thus became respectable as the narrator, as well as the performer, of great actions. He was an excellent husband and father, sincere and steady in his friendship, and possessed of a general sobriety and virtue of character. In conversation he was unaffected and unassuming; rather backward in pushing discourse, but obliging and communicative to those who wished for information; and he was distinguished by a simplicity of manners almost universally the attendant of truly great men. With all these amiable qualities, the Captain was occasionally subject to an hastiness of temper, which has been set forth in its utmost extent, if not exaggerated by some, though but few, who are not his friends: but even these, as well as others, when taking a general view of his character, are obliged to acknowledge that he was undoubtedly one of the greatest men of his age.

Captain Cook is distinguished as an author by an account of his second voyage written by himself. His first voyage, as well as that of several other navigators, had been recorded by Dr Hawkeworth; but on the present occasion it was not judged necessary to have recourse to any other than the pen of the author himself; and his journal, with a few occasional alterations, and being divided into chapters, was sufficient for the purpose. The style is clear, natural, and manly; and it is not improbable that even a pen of more studied elegance could not have made it appear to more advantage. When it appeared, which was not till some time after the author had left England, the book was recommended by the accuracy and excellency of its charts, and by a numerous collection of fine engravings done from the original drawings of Mr Hodges.

We cannot conclude this article without taking some notice of the honours paid to our celebrated navigator after his death, both by his own countrymen and those of other nations. Perhaps indeed it may be said with justice, that foreigners hold his memory in an estimation unequalled even in this country; a remarkable proof of which occurs in the eulogy upon him by Michael Angelo Gianetti, read in the Florentine academy on the 9th of June 1785, and published at Florence the same year. It is said also, that one of the French literary academies proposed a prize for the best eulogium on Captain Cook; and many poetical testimonies of his merit appeared in our own language. The Royal Society of London resolved to testify their respect to him by a medal, for which purpose a voluntary subscription was opened. A gold medal was given to such of the fellows as subscribed 20 guineas, and a silver one for those who subscribed smaller sums; and each of the other members received one of bronze. Those who subscribed 20 guineas were, Sir Joseph Banks president, the Prince of Anspach, the Duke of Montague, Lord Mulgrave, and Messrs Cavendish, Peachey, Perrin, Poli, and Shuttleworth. Many designs were proposed on the occasion; but the following was that which was actually struck. On one side was the head of Captain Cook in profile, with this inscription round it, Jac. Cook oceani investigator accurimus; and on the exergue, Reg. Soc. Lond. socii sui. On the reverse is a representation of Britannia holding a globe, with this inscription round her, Nil intentatum nostri liquere; and on the exergue, Auspicis Georgii III. One of the gold medals struck on this occasion was presented to the king; another to the queen, and a third to the prince of Wales. Another was sent to the French king on account of the protection he had granted to the ships; and a second to the empress of Russia, in whose dominions they had been treated with every expression of friendship and kindness. Both these great personages condescended to accept of the present with marks of satisfaction. The French king wrote a handsome letter to the Society, signed by himself, and underigned by the Marquis de Vergennes; and the Empress of Russia commissioned Count Olterman to signify to Mr Fitzherbert the sense she had of the value of the present, and that she had caused it to be deposited in the museum of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. As a further testimony of the pleasure she derived from it, the empress presented to the Royal Society a large and beautiful gold medal, containing on one side the effigies of herself, and on the other a representation of the statue of Peter the Great. After the general adjustment of the medals, which took place in 1784, there being a surplus of money still remaining, it was resolved by the president and council, that an additional number of medals should be thrown off, to be disposed of in presents to Mrs Cook, the Earl of Sandwich, Dr Benjamin Franklin, Dr Cooke provost of King's College Cambridge, and Mr Planta. At the same time it was agreed that Mr Aubert should be allowed to have a gold medal of Captain Cook on his paying paying for the gold and the expense of striking it, in consideration of his intention to present it to the King of Poland.

During the two visits of the ships at Kamtschatka, Colonel Behm, the commandant of that province, had bestowed, in the most liberal manner, every kind of assistance which it was in his power to bestow; and such was the sense entertained by the lords of the admiralty of the kindness he had showed, that they determined to make him a present of a magnificent piece of plate, with an inscription expressive of his humane and generous conduct. The inscription was drawn up by Dr Cooke, and afterwards submitted to the opinion and correction of some gentlemen of the first eminence in classical taste.

Sir Hugh Pallister, who had all along displayed an uncommon respect and kindness for Captain Cook, likewise displayed his regard for his memory in a most eminent manner. On his estate in Buckinghamshire he constructed a small building with a pillar containing the character of Captain Cook, which is given at the end of the introduction to the last voyage. This was drawn up by the Honourable Admiral Forbes, admiral of the fleet and general of the marines, to whom Captain Cook was known only by his merit and extraordinary actions.

Amidst all these expressions of unavailing praise, it was not forgotten to show some essential service to the widow and family of our celebrated navigator. A memorial for a pension of £200 per annum was given in to the king from the commissioners of the admiralty, and signed by the Earl of Sandwich, Mr Butler, the Earl of Lisburne, Mr Panton, Lord Mulgrave, and Mr Mann. His Majesty complied with the request of the memorial, and the grant was passed through the usual forms with all possible speed. By this £200 per annum were settled on the widow during life; and £25 a-year on each of her three sons. After her death the £200 was to be divided between her children; a fourth was allotted to Captain King, and the remaining fourth to Mr Bligh and the representatives of Captain Clerke.

The last honour paid to the memory of Captain Cook was the granting a coat of arms to the family, which was done by patent on the 3rd of September 1785; and of this we have the following description. Azure, between the two polar stars: Or, a sphere on the plane of the meridian, north pole elevated, circles of latitude for every ten degrees, and of longitude for every 15°; showing the Pacific Ocean between 60° and 240° west, bounded on one side by America and on the other by Asia and New Holland; in memory of the discoveries made by him in that ocean, so very far beyond all former navigators. His track thereon is marked with red lines; and for crest, in a wreath of the colour is an arm imbowed, vested in the uniform of a captain of the Royal Navy. In the hand is the Union Jack, on a staff proper. The arm is encircled by a wreath of palm and laurel.

Cook's Discoveries. The number of countries discovered by Captain Cook, and which had never before been visited by any European, is very considerable; but it was a remarkable property of our celebrated navigator, that, wherever he touched, everything relative to the place was determined with such accuracy and precision, that all former accounts seemed to go for nothing, and the discovery to belong entirely to Captain Cook. Thus it was not unusual with him to make discoveries in places already well known; and thus his voyages have conveyed a vast fund of knowledge perfectly original. Though the accounts of the different places, therefore, at which he touched, are particularly given under their names in the order of the alphabet, we shall in this article endeavour to join the whole together in such a manner as to give the reader some idea of the benefit which has accrued to science from voyages attended not only with much expense and labour, but even with the loss of the celebrated navigator's life.

When he set out in the Endeavour in the year 1768, Madeira, the first place touched at was Madeira. Here Mr Banks and Dr Solander, besides some additions to the island, science of botany, discovered undoubted marks of the island having a volcanic origin. On leaving this place they found it necessary to touch at Rio de Janeiro for provisions; and during the run thither the commander had an opportunity of determining the cause of the luminous appearance of the sea. On the 29th of October they observed that the water frequently emitted appearance flashes like lightning, though much smaller; but such was their frequency, that eight or ten of them were visible almost at the same moment. This appearance they found, both at this time and afterwards, to arise from a small kind of animal with which the water abounded. While staying at Rio de Janeiro, a melancholy observation was made of the prodigious waste of human lives with which the working of the Portuguese gold mines was attended, no fewer than 40,000 Valet negroes being annually imported for this purpose, none of whom, it seems, survive the labour of the year; and our navigator was informed, that in 1766 this work-number was so far short, that they were obliged to ing the gold draught 20,000 more from the town of Rio itself. Proceeding from thence to the southern coasts of America, he had an opportunity of determining a question of great importance to navigation, viz., whether, in failing to the Pacific Ocean, it is better to pass through the straits of Magellan, or to double Cape Horn and Ocean fail through those of Le Maire? From Captain Cook's through the voyage it appears, contrary to the opinion of former straits le navigators, that the latter is the preferable passage. Through this he was only 33 days in coming round the land of Terra del Fuego from the east entrance of the strait of Le Maire till he had advanced about 12 degrees to the westward, and three and a half to the northward, of Magellan's straits. During all this time the ship scarcely received any damage, though if he had passed the other way he could not have accomplished his passage in less than three months, besides immense fatigue to his people and damage to the ship. In these stormy regions, however, he experienced the same inconveniences felt by other navigators; such as storms and sea being met with off Cape Diego, that the ship frequently pitched her bowsprit under water. Here also the excessive cold and mutability of weather in these southern regions was experienced in such a manner as had nearly proved fatal to some of the gentlemen who sailed along with him. Dr Solander, Mr Banks, Mr Monkhouse the surgeon, and Mr Green the astronomer, with their attendants and servants, set out on a botanical cal expedition while the ship lay at anchor in the bay of Good Success. It was then the middle of summer, and the morning on which they set out was as mild and warm as it usually is in the month of May in England; but having ascended a mountain for the purpose of botanizing, they were surprised by such storms of snow and hail that they could not get back that night. Dr Solander, who warned them of their danger, that people when about to perish with cold were seized with a violent inclination to sleep, was the first who seemed likely to fall a victim to it; and it was not in the power of his companions to keep him from fitting down for that purpose. He was awakened in a few minutes; but during this short interval his feet had become so much diminished by the contraction of the vessels, that his shoes fell off from them when he was again made to rise. Even these dreary regions, however, are not without inhabitants, whom our voyagers justly concluded to be the lowest of the human species. Indeed, the consideration of the little convenience they have, it is wonderful how they can resist the severity of the climate, for they are almost without clothing; they dwell in miserable hovels, which admit both the wind and snow or rain; and they have not any utensil for dressing their food. Nevertheless, these miserable creatures, as they appeared to our navigators, seemed to have no wish to possess more than they enjoyed; and they were absolutely indifferent about every thing that was offered them, except large beads which they would take as ornaments. Hence Dr Hawkesworth, who wrote the account of the voyage, concludes, that these people may be on a level with ourselves with respect to the real happiness they enjoy.

On the 26th of January 1769 our navigators left Cape Horn; and from that time to the first of March, during which they run no less than 660 leagues, met with no current by which the ship was affected. Hence it is probable, that during all this time they had never been near any land, the currents of the ocean being usually met with in the neighbourhood of islands. Several islands, however, were discovered before they reached Otaheite, on which they bestowed the names of Lagoon Island, Thumb-cap, Bow Island, the Groups, Bird Island, and Chain Island. All these seemed to be inhabited, and were covered with a most delightful verdure; which appeared to the greater advantage, as our navigators had for a long time seen no land but the dreary hills and wastes of Terra del Fuego. Having arrived at Otaheite, they set about observing the transit of Venus over the sun, which indeed was the main purpose for which the voyage had been undertaken. The anxiety which they underwent when the time of the expected phenomenon approached may easily be imagined, as the whole depended on the circumstance of a clear sky, which though more readily to be expected in that climate than one more to the northward, was still a matter of uncertainty. In consequence of some hints which had been given by the Earl of Morton, Captain Cook determined to send out two parties to different places to make the observations; by which means there would be a chance of success, even if those at Otaheite should fail. For this purpose he sent Mr Gore in the long-boat to Eimeo, a neighbouring island, along with Mr Monkhouse, Mr Banks, and Mr Sporing, who were furnished with proper instruments by Mr Green the astronomer. Messrs Hicks, Clerke, Pickersgill, and Saunders, were sent in the pinnace to a convenient spot to the eastward of the main observatory, where they were likewise ordered to make observations with such instruments as they had. The day on which the transit happened was the 3rd of June 1769, when they had the satisfaction to see the sun rise without a cloud; and as the weather continued equally clear throughout the day, there was the best opportunity of making the observations in a proper manner. All of them saw an atmosphere or dusty cloud round the planet, which disturbed their observation, and probably caused them to differ from each other more considerably than they would otherwise have done. According to Mr Green, the times of ingress and egress of the planet were as follow:

**Morning.**

| Event | h. min. sec. | |-------------------------------|--------------| | First external contact | 9 25 43 | | First internal contact, or total immersion | 9 44 4 |

**Afternoon.**

| Event | h. min. sec. | |-------------------------------|--------------| | Second internal contact | 3 14 8 | | Second external contact, or end of the transit | 3 32 10 |

From these observations the latitude of the observatory was found to be 17° 29' 15" S. and the longitude 149° 32' 30" W. of Greenwich. Several curious remarks were made both on the country itself and on the inhabitants. Mr Banks, in an excursion up the Otaheite country, discovered many traces of volcanic fire; the volcanic stones, like those of Madeira, had evidently the appearance of being burnt, and the very clay on the hills had the same appearance. The natives, though addicted to thieving, appeared in general harmless and the natives friendly, and very ready to supply the ship with necessaries in exchange for such things as they wanted. The articles on which they fet the greatest value were hatchets, axes, large nails, spikes, looking glasses, and beads. They were also fond of fine linen, whether white or printed; but an axe of the value of half a crown would buy more provisions than a piece of cloth of the value of 20 shillings. They are very fickle and inattentive; so that it was not possible to engage them to pay any regard to the worship of the Deity which they saw performed before them; nor would they attend to any explanation of it that was given them. They are not, however, destitute of a religion of their own; and are particularly careful of the repositories of the dead, which they will not allow to be violated on any account. Of this Captain Cook had an instance, when some of his people offered to take down an inclosure of one of these repositories. They were violently opposed by the natives, who sent a messenger to acquaint them that they would never suffer any such thing; and the only insult that ever was offered to an Englishman by the people of this island was on a similar account. From Otaheite our navigators carried with them Tupia, formerly high-priest of the country and prime minister to Queen Oberea. From his practice it appeared that the priests of Otaheite, as well as elsewhere, take care to place themselves a step nearer the Deity than the common people, and to use the deceptions too frequently put in practice by such mediators. While on board the Endeavour, he frequently prayed to his god Tane for a wind; and according to his own account never failed of success. This, however, he took care to ensure; for he never began his prayers till he perceived the breeze already on the water, and so near that it must reach the ship before they could well be ended. It was observed likewise of the people of Otaheite, that they had their bards or minstrels, who went about the country with musical instruments. The band whom they saw at this time consisted of two players on flutes and three drummers; the latter accompanying the flutes with their voices. Their songs were made extempore, and the English themselves were generally the subject.

From Otaheite our navigators sailed towards a neighbouring island named Tethuroa; but finding it small, low, and without any settled inhabitants, the Captain chose rather to direct his course towards Huahine and Ulietea, which he was informed were well inhabited. These had never been visited by any European ship; but the inhabitants, though peaceable and friendly, were very slow and cautious in trading, so that the Captain was obliged to bring out his hatchets to market; a commodity which he had hoped might have been concealed from those who had never seen an European ship before. On his arrival at Ulietea he found, by the discourse of Tupia, that the inhabitants of a neighbouring island named Bolabola were of such a martial disposition as to be the terror of those of Huahine, Ulietea, and others, inasmuch that he apprehended great danger to our navigators should they touch at an island which the Bolabola men had lately conquered. This, however, had no little effect upon Captain Cook, that he not only landed on the island already mentioned, but took possession, in his Majesty's name, of Bolabola itself, together with Ulietea, Huahine, and another named Otaha, which were all visible at once. During their stay here they paid a visit to Opoony, the formidable monarch of Bolabola; whom, to their surprise, they found a feeble wretch, withered and decrepid, half blind with age, and so stupid that he seemed scarce to be possessed of a common degree of understanding. About these islands they spent six weeks, bestowing upon them the name of the Society Isles, on account of their being so near to each other. They are six in number, Ulietea, Huahine, Bolabola, Otaha, Tubai, and Maurna. The smaller ones in their neighbourhood are Tethuroa, Eimeo, Tapoamanoo, Oatara, Opururu, Tamou, Toa-hoatu, and Whenuaia.

Leaving the Society Islands, which are situated between Lat. 16° 10' and 16° 55' S. and between 150° 57' and 152° W. from the meridian of Greenwich, they fell in with the island of Oheteroa, situated in S. Lat. 22° 27' and W. Long. 150° 47'; but this was found to be destitute of any harbour or safe anchorage, and the disposition of the inhabitants so hostile that they could not by any means be conciliated, so that no attempts were made to land. From Tupia Captain Cook learned that there were several islands in the neighbourhood, which our navigator conjectured to be Bocawen and Keppel's Islands, discovered by Captain Wallis; but without spending more time in exploring these, he set sail to the southward in search of a continent.

Our voyagers left Oheteroa on the 15th of August 1769, and on the 30th had a view of the comet which appeared that year; its tail subtending on an angle of 42 degrees. This proved a new source of apprehension to Tupia, who instantly cried out, that as soon as it was seen at Bolabola, the people of that country would attack those of Ulietea, who would undoubtedly be obliged to fly with precipitation to the mountains to save their lives. On the 6th of October they discovered land, which from its size, and the enormous mountains observable on it, was supposed by the gentlemen on board to be part of Terra Australis incognita; but on farther examination it was found to be part of New Zealand. Here the inhabitants were found to speak a dialect of the language of Otaheite, so that they could understand Tupia, and he them; yet so extremely hostile were their dispositions, that not the smallest intercourse could be held with them; nor could anything necessary for the ships be procured excepting wood; so that the name Captain Cook thought proper to bestow on this part of the country was Poverty-Bay. By the natives it is called Teconeroa, and lies in S. Lat. 38° 42', and W. Long. 181° 36'. During the time of his stay in this part of the world the Captain circumnavigated almost the whole country of New Zealand, which he found to consist of two islands separated from each other by a narrow strait, which, from its discoverer, has obtained the name of Cook's Strait. In some places the disposition of the inhabitants was as favourable as could be wished; so that Dr Solander, Mr Banks, and other gentlemen, had an opportunity of exploring the country in some degree, with a view to discover its natural productions. In one of their excursions, as they passed through a valley, the hills on each side of which were very steep, they were suddenly struck with the sight of a very extraordinary natural curiosity. It was a rock perforated through its whole substance, so as to form a rude but stupendous arch or cavern, opening directly to the sea. This aperture was 75 feet long, 27 broad, and 45 in height, commanding a view of the bay and the hills on the other side, which were seen through it; and opening at once on the view, produced an effect far superior to any of the contrivances of art. On that part of the coast, which, from having observed the transit of Mercury, they named Mercury Bay, oysters were found in such plenty, that they might have loaded not only their boats but even their ship with them. They were about the same size with those met with in this country; and on account of their being found in such plenty, and likewise that the adjacent country abounds with conveniences, Captain Cook was at great pains to point out the situation of the place. By his observations, the latitude of Mercury Bay is 36° 48' 28" S.

Leaving this bay our commander proceeded to explore other parts of the country, which by their account seems to abound with rivers. Two large ones were met with in Mercury Bay; one of which, from the abundance of oysters found at its mouth, was called Oyster River; the other they named Mangrove River, from the number of mangrove trees growing there. A third, which they called Thames, was met with in that part called the Bay of Islands, up which they sailed 14 miles. Its banks were everywhere adorned with lofty trees, which they had likewise observed in other parts of the country. They were too heavy for masts. The inhabitants of New Zealand are in a very barbarous state, and have a degree of ferocity unknown to the inhabitants of the South-Sea islands, though they seem to have the same origin. During their residence there, our navigators had the most convincing evidences of their being cannibals, and accustomed to the inhabitant devour the bodies of their slain enemies. Notwithstanding these barbarous practices, however, they seemed to enjoy a state of uninterrupted health. In all the visits made to their towns, none was ever perceived who had the least bodily complaint, not even the slightest eruption on the skin. This extraordinary degree of health was likewise manifested by the ease with which their wounds were healed without the smallest application, as well as by the number of old men with which the island abounded. Many of these, by the loss of their hair and teeth, seemed to be extremely old, but none of them were decrepid; and though inferior in strength to the young men, they came not behind them in the least with regard to cheerfulness and vivacity. The universal and only drink of the New Zealanders is water.

Our navigator had now explored three-fourths of that part of the globe where the southern continent was supposed to lie, without being able to find it; and his voyage had demonstrated, that the lands seen by former navigators could not have been parts of such a continent, though, as he had never proceeded farther to the southward than 40 degrees, the arguments for it were not as yet entirely overthrown. Mr Cook, however, did not at this time proceed farther in the search of any such a continent, but sailed from New Zealand to the coasts of New Holland, where he anchored in Botany Bay on the 20th of April. Here he found a few savage inhabitants more barbarous and degenerate than any that had yet been observed. Their language was harsh and dissonant, totally unintelligible even to Tupia; they appeared to have little curiosity, and set no value upon any present that could be made them. The most remarkable circumstance in this country seems to be its extreme scarcity of water; not a single stream of any consequence having ever been observed by any navigator. Some were of opinion indeed, that Moreton’s Bay, in S. Lat. 26° 56’ and W. Long. 22° 28’, opens into a river; though the only reason they had for this opinion was, that the sea looked paler in that part than usual, and the land at the bottom part of the bay could not be seen. At this time, however, the matter could not be determined by experiment, on account of the wind being contrary. The scarcity of water here is the more surprising, on account of the vast extent of the country, and likewise its having abundance of tolerable high hills. In this island there were found many curious plants and animals; and it was found, that in several places the magnetic needle was affected to such a degree as to vary its position priltingly even to 30 degrees. At one time it varied no less than two points on being removed to the distance of only 14 feet. Some of the loose stones being taken up and applied to the needle produced no effect; but Mr Cook was of opinion that the whole phenomenon was to be ascribed to iron ore in some of the mountains, and of which traces had been already met with. This irregularity continued in some degree even at sea; for when the ship was close under Cape Upstart, the variation... ation of the needle in the evening of the 4th of June was 9° East, and next morning only 5° 35′; and this was in like manner accounted for from iron ore, or some magnetic matter below the surface of the ground. The great island has many other small ones round it; several of which were visited by our navigators. One of them named Eagle Island, seemed to be inhabited by a monstrous kind of birds, the nest of one of which measured no less than 26 feet in circumference and two feet eight inches in height; and in the Philosophical Transactions, vol. xx., there is an account of one of these nests still larger; but the bird to which it belonged was not seen. That which our navigators saw was built of sticks, and lay upon the ground.

The country which goes by the name of New Holland is by far the largest island in the world. Its eastern part, called New South Wales, now first explored by Captain Cook, extends upwards of 2000 miles in length, if the coast were reduced to a straight line. Though inhabited, as we have already said, by very barbarous savages, their number appears to bear no proportion to the extent of their territory. The intercourse they had with our navigators was so small, that they could pick up but a few words of their language. As a British settlement, however, is now made in that country, there is no doubt that much more exact and accurate accounts will soon be obtained than even the diligence and attention of Captain Cook could collect on such a transient visit.

In this voyage our navigator, besides exploring the eastern part of the island, which had never been done before, discovered that it was separated from the island of New Guinea, to which it had formerly been thought to join. The two countries are separated by a strait to which the commander gave the name of Endeavour Strait. The north entrance of this lies in S. Lat. 10° 39′ and W. Long. 218° 36′. The passage is formed by the mainland and a congeries of islands to the north, on which our navigator bestowed the name of Prince of Wales’s Islands. These are very different both in height and extent; and the Captain was of opinion that several passages might be found out among them. On the coast of New Holland opposite to New Guinea are found cockles of an immense size; some of them being as much as two men could move, and containing 20 pounds of good meat. In these seas as well as on the coasts of Brazil, our navigators found the surface of the water covered with a kind of scum, called by the sailors sea-sawm. It was examined by Mr Banks and Dr Solander; but they could determine nothing farther than that it was of vegetable origin.

The natives of New Guinea were so hostile that no discoveries of any consequence could be made. They resembled the New Hollanders in stature, and having short cropped hair. Like them too they were absolutely naked, but somewhat less black and dirty. They had a surprising method of letting off a kind of fires, exactly resembling the flashes of fire-arms, but without any explosion. It was not known in what manner this was done, as they were never near enough to make a particular observation. Those who discharged them had a short piece of stick which they swung sideways from them, upon which there issued the fire and smoke just mentioned. This seems to have been intended as a defiance; for they had no effect as offensive weapons, and others were armed with bows and arrows. The country appeared extremely pleasant and fertile. The place at which they touched lies in S. Lat. 6° 15′.

As the condition of the Endeavour was now very much shattered by having failed so long in these dangerous seas, the commander determined to make the best of his way for Batavia in order to refit. In this voyage he first passed two unknown islands without touching at either of them. They were supposed to belong to the Aurora islands; but if this be the case, the latter must be laid down at too great a distance from New Guinea. The Weasel Isles, laid down by former navigators at about 20 or 25 leagues from the coast of New Holland, were not seen; for which reason Mr Cook is of opinion that they are erroneously laid down.

Passing by the islands of Timor, Timor-lavet, Rotta, and Seman, they next arrived at the island of Savu, where a settlement had lately been made by the Dutch. In this voyage they had the satisfaction of observing the aurora australis, which here seemed to differ in some respects from that in the northern hemisphere. It consisted of a dull reddish light extending about 20 degrees above the horizon; and though it varied at some times in extent, it was never less than eight or ten degrees. From this general mass of light there sometimes issued rays of a brighter colour, which vanished and were renewed like those of the aurora borealis, but without any of that tumultuous motion observed in the aurora borealis. The body of the light bore S. S. E. from the ship, and continued without any diminution of its brightness from 10 to 12 at night.

The middle part of the island of Savu lies in 10° Excellent 35′ south, and 237° 30′ west longitude, and afforded a character most beautiful prospect from the ship. The people are pitants of remarkable for the purity of their morals, which are said to be irreproachable, even on the principles of Christianity. Though no man is allowed to have more than one wife, instances of illicit commerce between the sexes are scarce known among them. Instances of theft are likewise very rare; and so far are they from revenging a supposed injury by murder, that when any differences arise among them, they are immediately and implicitly referred to the determination of the king. They will not even make it the subject of private debate, lest they should be provoked to resentment and ill-nature; and the delicacy and cleanliness of their persons are said to be proportionate to the purity of their morals.

On the arrival of the Endeavour at Batavia, our navigator had an opportunity of observing the good effects of the electrical chains applied to ships in securing chains in them from the effects of lightning. A dreadful storm preserving of thunder happened one evening, during which the main-mast of one of the Dutch East India-men was effects of split and carried away close by the deck, the main lightning, top-mast, and top-gallant-mast being shivered to pieces. This ship lay so near the Endeavour, that the latter would probably have shared the same fate, had it not been for the conducting chain which fortunately was just put up. The explosion shook her like an earthquake, the chain at the same time appearing like a line of fire. The stroke seemed to have been directed by the Dutch vessel by an iron spindle at the mast head; which practice our commander disapproves, but strongly advises the use of the electrical chain.

On their landing at Batavia, Tupia was confined by sickness, so that he appeared quite listless and dejected when put into the boat; but on his arrival at land recovered his spirits surprisingly. The scene, to him so new and extraordinary, seemed to produce an effect similar to what is ascribed to enchantment. His attention was particularly engaged by the various dresses of the people; and being informed that at Batavia every one appeared in the dress of his own country, he expressed a desire of likewise appearing in the garb of Tahiti. Having therefore been furnished with South Sea cloth from the ship, he equipped himself with great quickness and dexterity. After the first flow of spirits had subsided, however, he soon began to feel the fatal effects of the climate; and his boy Tayeto, whose spirits had been still more elevated on his arrival, was attacked with an inflammation of the lungs, and in a little time fell a victim to the disease. Tupia himself did not long survive him, and his death was not attributed entirely to the unwholesomeness of the climate. Having been accustomed from his infancy to subsist chiefly upon vegetable food, and particularly on ripe fruit, he had soon contracted the disorders incident to a sea-life, and could scarcely have been expected to reach England, even if the unwholesome climate of Batavia had been out of the question.

The Endeavour left Batavia on the 27th of December 1770, and on the 5th of January 1771 reached Prince's Island. This place had been formerly much frequented by the India ships, but of late entirely deserted on account of the supposed bad quality of the water; but this our navigator has discovered to be a mistake; and that though the water near the sea is brackish, it may be had of excellent quality by going a little way up the country. He is of opinion that this island is a more proper place for ships to touch at than either North Island or New Bay, because neither of these can afford other refreshments which may be had at Prince's Island.

The rest of this voyage affords little interesting matter. The Cape of Good Hope, which was their next stage, has been fully described by former navigators that there was little room for addition. At St Helena the commander made some remarks on the rigorous treatment of the slaves, which was represented as worse than that of the Dutch either at Batavia or the Cape of Good Hope. In the account of his second voyage, however, this accusation was retracted.

Captain Cook's second voyage was undertaken in an especial manner to determine finally the question concerning the existence of a southern continent. It commenced in the year 1772; and, as in the former, he proceeded first to Madeira. From thence he proceeded to St Jago, one of the Cape de Verde Islands; where an opportunity was taken of delineating and giving such a description of Port Praya, and the supplies to be there obtained, as might be of use to future navigators. On the 8th of September he crossed the line in 8° west longitude, and had the satisfaction to meet with good weather, though he had been informed that he had sailed at an improper time of the year, in consequence of which he would probably be becalmed. From his account, however, it appears, that though in some years such weather may be expected, it is by no means universally the case. In this part of the ocean he had also an opportunity of observing the cause of the luminous property of sea-water, which in his former voyage had been attributed to insects. Mr Forster being of a different opinion, the matter was again particularly inquired into, but the result was entirely conformable to the former determination. Some buckets of water being drawn up from along side the ship, sea-water was found to be filled with those insects of a globular form, and about the size of a small pin's head. No life indeed could be perceived in them; but Mr Forster was thoroughly convinced of their being living animals when in their proper element.

Proceeding southward in quest of a continent, they fell in with ice islands in S. Lat. 50° 40' and two degrees of longitude east from the Cape of Good Hope. One of these was so much concealed by the haziness of the weather, that it could not be seen at the distance of more than a mile. Captain Cook judged it to be about 50 feet in height and half a mile in circumference; its sides rising in a perpendicular direction, and the sea breaking against them with great violence. Two days after, they passed five others, some of which were two miles in circumference and 60 feet in height; yet such was the strength and violence of the waves that the sea broke quite over them. On the 14th they were flopped by a vast field of low ice, of which they could perceive no end. In different parts of this field there were seen islands or hills of ice like those already described, and some of the people imagined that they saw land over them; but upon a narrow examination this was found to be a mistake. On getting clear of the field of ice they again fell in with loose islands; and as it was a general opinion that these are only formed in bays and rivers, our navigators concluded that they could not be at a great distance from land. They were now in the latitude of 55° 40' south; and as they had sailed for more than 30 leagues along the edge of the ice without finding any opening, the Captain determined to run 30 or 40 leagues farther to the eastward, in hopes of then getting to the southward. If in this attempt he met with no land or other impediment, his design was to stretch behind the ice altogether, and thus determine the matter at once. In a short time, however, it became evident that the field of ice along which they had sailed so long did not join with any land; and the Captain now came to a resolution of running as far to the west as the meridian of Cape Circumcision. In the prosecution of this design he met with a very severe storm, which was rendered the more dangerous by the pieces of loose ice among which they were still entangled, and a vast field of which they could not perceive the boundaries, about three miles to the northward. Of this they could not get clear without receiving some severe strokes; and after all, when they arrived at the place where they ought to have found Cape Circumcision, it could not be discovered; so that the Captain concluded that what Bouvet took for land could have been nothing but ice.

During this run the fallacy of the general opinion had had been discovered, that the ice with which the polar regions abound has been formed in the vicinity of land. It was found likewise, that the water produced from the melting of ice, even though formed in the ocean, was perfectly sweet and well tasted. Of this circumstance the Captain took advantage to supply himself with water; and gave it as his opinion, that it was the most expedient method of watering he had ever known. He had likewise an opportunity of detecting another popular error, viz. that penguins, albatrosses, and other birds of that kind, never go far from land. This indeed may be the case in open seas, but in such as are covered with ice it is very different; for they then inhabit the ice islands, and float out with them to sea at a great distance.

When in the latitude of 49° 13' S., some signs of land were perceived; but as the wind did not admit of any search being made in the direction where it was supposed to lie, the Captain proceeded in his voyage to the eastward. A very remarkable alteration in the direction of the needle was now perceived, and which could not be supposed owing to the vicinity of any magnetic matter, as it happened while the ships were far out at sea. The circumstance was, that when the sun was on the starboard side of the ship the variation was least, but greatest when on the opposite side. An aurora australis was again observed, which broke out in spiral or circular rays, and had a beautiful appearance; but did not seem to have any particular direction, being conspicuous at various times in different parts of the heavens, and diffusing its light over the whole atmosphere.

The extreme cold and stormy weather which now began to take place, determined Captain Cook not to cross the antarctic circle a second time as he had once designed. His observations confirmed the accounts of former navigators, that the cold of the southern seas is much more intense than in equal latitudes in the northern hemisphere; but at the same time it showed that this cold cannot be owing to the vicinity of a continent, as had formerly been imagined. On the contrary, it was now determined beyond dispute, that if any such continent existed in the eastern part of the southern ocean, it must be confined within the latitude of 60 degrees. No farther discoveries therefore being practicable in higher latitudes, as the winter season was approaching, the commander steered for New Zealand, where he anchored in Dusky Bay on the 25th of March, having been at sea 117 days without once coming in sight of land. Here the time was spent in procuring proper refreshments for the people, and exploring the sea-coast and country for the benefit of future navigators. Nor was our commander unmindful of the inhabitants. Here he left the five geese which yet remained, choosing for them a place where there were no people at the time to disturb them; and as they had there great plenty of food, he had no doubt of their breeding, and in a short time spreading over the country. Some days after a piece of ground was cleared by setting fire to the topwood, after which it was dug up and sown with garden seeds. Dusky Bay is situated in the western island of New Zealand, called Tawaipenamoo, which, as has already been said, is less fertile than the other. The inland part is full of rugged mountains of a vast height; but the sea-coast is covered with trees, among which is the true spruce, which was found to be of great use. It was remarked, that though a vast quantity of rain fell during the time of residence here, it was not attended with any bad effects on the health of the people; which furnishes an additional argument of the healthiness of the place. Dusky Bay is reckoned by Captain Cook to be the most proper place in New Zealand for the procuring of refreshments, though it is attended with some disagreeable circumstances, particularly being infested with great numbers of black sand-flies, which were troublesome to an extreme degree. The natives seen at Dusky Bay were apparently of the same race with those seen in other parts of the country, and led a wandering life, without any appearance of being united in the bonds of society or friendship.

From Dusky Bay the Captain proceeded to Queen Charlotte's Sound, where he met with the Adventure, which had been separated from the Resolution for above 14 weeks. In his passage thither he had an opportunity of observing six water-spouts, one of which spouts passed within 50 yards of the Resolution. It has been a common opinion, that these meteors are dissipated by the firing of a gun, and the Captain was sorry he had not made the experiment; but he acknowledges, that though he had a gun ready for the purpose, and was near enough, his attention was so much engaged in viewing them, that he forgot to give the necessary orders.

Having planted another garden in this part of the country, and left two goats, two breeding sows and a boar, in as private a situation as possible, that they might be for some time out of the reach of the natives, the Captain set sail for Otaheite. During the long absence of the Adventure, Captain Furneaux had visited the coast of New Holland, and discovered that there was no probability of Van Diemen's land being separated from it by straits; he had likewise found additional proofs that the natives of New Zealand were accustomed to eat human flesh. Captain Cook also remarked with concern, that the morals of the New Zealanders were by no means mended by the visit he had formerly paid them. At that time he looked upon the women to be more chaste than those of most of the nations he had visited; but now they were ready to prostitute themselves for a trifle, and the men to force them to such an infamous traffic, whether agreeable to the inclinations of the females or not.

In the run from New Zealand to Otaheite, our commander passed very near the situation assigned by Captain Carteret to Pitcairn's island, discovered by him in 1767, but without being able to find it, though a sight of it would have been useful for correcting its longitude as well as that of others in the neighbourhood; but there was not at present any time to spend in searching for it. Proceeding farther on in his voyage, however, he fell in with a cluster of islands supposed to be the same discovered by M. Bougainville, and named by him the Dangerous Archipelago. To four of these Captain Cook gave the names of Resolution, Doubtful, Furneaux, and Adventure Islands. Resolution Island is situated in S. Lat. 17° 24' W. Long. 141° 39'. Doubtful Island in S. Lat. 17° 20' W. Long. 141° 38'. Furneaux Island in S. Lat. 17° 5' W. Long. No discovery of any great consequence was made at the island of Otaheite or those in its neighbourhood, excepting that the Captain had an opportunity of correcting the opinion which till now had prevailed, of the excessive dissoluteness and immodesty of the women of Otaheite; and which had been enlarged upon by Dr. Hawkeworth more than seemed to be consistent with decency. The charge, however, according to the accounts of this second voyage, is far from being indiscriminately true, even of the unmarried females of the lower class. Some additions were made to the knowledge of the geography of those islands; and from Huahine Captain Furneaux took on board his ship one of the natives of Ulietea named Omai, afterwards so much spoke of in England. Captain Cook at first appeared dissatisfied with his choice of this youth, as being inferior in rank to many others, and having no particular advantage in shape, figure, or complexion; however he had afterwards reason to be better pleased. During the Captain's residence at Otaheite, he used his utmost endeavours to discover whether the venereal disease was endemic among them, or whether it had been imported by Europeans; but in this he could not meet with any perfectly satisfactory account; though it was universally agreed, that if it had been introduced by Europeans, it must have been by the French under M. Bougainville.

Captain Cook having left Ulietea on the 17th of September 1773, directed his course westward, with an inclination to the south. In this course he discovered land in S. Lat. 19° 8' and W. Long. 158° 54', to which he gave the name of Harvey Island. From thence he proceeded to the island of Middleburg, where he was treated in the most hospitable manner possible. To such an extent did the people carry their generosity, that they seemed to be more fond of giving away their goods than in receiving anything for them; insomuch that many, who had not an opportunity of coming near the boats, threw over the heads of others whole bales of cloth, and then retired without either waiting or asking for anything in return. From Middleburg he proceeded to Amsterdam Island, where the beauty and cultivation of the island afforded the most enchanting prospect. There was not an inch of waste ground; the roads were no wider than what was absolutely necessary, and the fences not above four inches thick. Even this was not absolutely lost; for many of these contained useful trees or plants.

It is observable of the isles of Middleburg and Amsterdam, as well as of most others in the South Sea, that they are guarded from the waves by a reef of coral rocks which extend about one hundred fathoms from the shore. Thus they are effectually secured from the encroachments of the ocean; by which they would probably soon be swallowed up, as most of them are mere points in comparison of the vast quantity of water which surrounds them. Here he left a quantity of garden vegetable seeds and pulse, which it was not doubted would be taken care of by the industrious inhabitants. In the last mentioned islands our navigators found no animals but hogs and fowls; the former being of the same kind with those usually seen in the other islands of the South Sea; but the latter greatly preferable, equalling those of Europe in their size, and even preferable in respect of the goodness of their flesh.

On the 7th of October Captain Cook left the island of Amsterdam, with a design to pay another visit to New Zealand, in order to take in wood and water for his voyage in quest of a southern continent. The day after he left Amsterdam, he fell in with the island of Pillart, formerly discovered by Tafman, and situated in S. Lat. 26°, W. Long. 175° 59', 32 leagues distant from the east end of Middleburg. On his arrival at New Zealand, he exerted himself as much as possible to leave a proper assortment of vegetables and animals for the benefit of the inhabitants. One of the first things he did, therefore, was to make a present to a chief, who had come off in a canoe, of a quantity of the most useful garden seeds, such as cabbage, turnips, onions, carrots, parsnips, and yams; together with some wheat, French and kidney beans, and peas. With the same person he left also two boars, two fowls, four hens, and two cocks. This present, however valuable in itself, seems to have been but indifferently received; for the chief was much better satisfied with a spike nail half the length of his arm than with all the rest; notwithstanding which, he promised to take care of the seeds, and not to kill any of the animals. On inquiring about those animals left in the country in the former part of his voyage, the Captain was informed, that the boar and one of the fowls had been separated, but not killed. The other he saw in good condition, and very tame. The two goats, he was informed, had been killed by a native of the name of Gauhiah. The gardens had met with a better fate; all the articles being in a very flourishing condition, though left entirely to nature, excepting the potatoes. Captain Cook, however, still determined to supply these islanders with useful animals, put on shore a boar, a young fowl, two cocks and two hens, which he made a present of to the adjacent inhabitants. Three other fowls and a boar, with two cocks and hens, he ordered to be left in the country without the knowledge of the Indians. They were carried a little way into the woods, and there left with as much food as would serve them for 10 or 12 days, in order to prevent them from coming down to the coast in quest of it, and thus being discovered.

A second separation with the Adventure had now taken place; notwithstanding which, Captain Cook set out alone with his vessel in quest of a southern continent; and such was the confidence put in him by the sailors, that all of them expressed as much satisfaction and alacrity as if not only the Adventure, but ever so many ships had been in company.

On the 26th of November the Captain set sail from New Zealand; and on the 12th of December began to fall in with the ice, but considerably farther to the southward than they had met with it in the former part of his voyage; being now in the latitude of 62° 10' S. and 172° W. Long. As they proceeded southward, the number of ice islands increased prodigiously; and in Lat. 67° 31' and W. Long. 142° 54', they all at once got in among such a clutter of these islands, that it became a matter of the utmost difficulty and danger to keep clear of them. Finding it impossible, therefore, to get any farther to the southward at present, the Captain determined to explore a considerable tract of sea to the north of his present situation, and then again to stand to the south. But in this he was still unsuccessful; no land being discovered either in failing northward, eastward, westward, or southward; though he proceeded as far in the last direction as 71° 10' S. Lat. and 106° 54' W. It was now impossible to proceed; and the opinion of the Captain himself, as well as of most of the gentlemen on board, was, that the ice by which they were now stopped extended as far as the pole. As there was still room, however, in parts of the ocean entirely unexplored, for very large islands, our Commander determined not to abandon the pursuit in which he was engaged until there should not be any possibility of doing more; and besides the possibility of making new discoveries, he was conscious that many of the islands already discovered were so obscurely known, that it was of consequence to pay them a second visit. With this view he proposed to go in quest of Easter or Davis's Island; the situation of which was known with so little certainty, that none of the attempts lately made to discover it had been successful. He next intended to get within the tropic, and then to proceed to the west, touching at any islands he might meet with, and settling their situations, until he should arrive at Otaheite, where it was necessary for him to make some stay in order to look for the Adventure. It was part of his design also to run to the western as far as Terra Australis del Espiritu Santo, discovered by Quiros, and which M. Bougainville had named The Great Cyclades. From this land he proposed to sail to the southward, and from thence to the east between the latitude of 50° and 60°. In the execution of this design, he determined if possible to reach Cape Horn during the ensuing November, when he would have the best part of the summer before him to explore the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean.

In pursuing his course to the northward, it had been part of his design to find out the land said to have been discovered by Juan Fernandez in about the latitude of 38°; but he was soon convinced, that if any such land existed, it could only be a very small island: but the prosecution of the design was for some little time interrupted by a violent bilious disorder by which the Captain was attacked. In this, when he began to recover, as there was no fresh meat on board, he was obliged to have recourse to dog's flesh; and a favourite animal belonging to Mr Forster was sacrificed on the occasion. The Captain was able to eat not only of the broth made of this, but likewise of the flesh, when his stomach could bear nothing else. On the 11th of March they arrived at Easter Island, before which time the Captain was tolerably recovered. Here they made but few discoveries farther than determining the situation of it to be in S. Lat. 27° 5' 30", and W. Long. 109° 46' 20". The island itself was found barren and desolate, having every appearance of being lately ruined by a volcanic eruption; without either wood, fuel, or fresh water worth taking on board. The inhabitants were few in number; and the women in very small proportion to the men, but remarkable for their lewdness. A number of gigantic statues were observed, which had also been taken notice of by Commodore Roggewein, and the origin of which could not be accounted for.

On leaving Easter Island, Captain Cook was again attacked by his bilious disorder; but happily recovered before he reached the Marquesas, which they did on the 6th and 7th of April. One of these, being Marquesas, a new discovery, received the name of Hood's Island, from the young gentleman by whom it was first observed. These are five in number; situated between 9° and 10° degrees of south latitude, and between 138° 47' and 139° 13' of west longitude. They were discovered by Mendana a Spaniard; and their names are, La Magdalena, St Pedro, La Dominica, Santa Christina, and Hood's Island. The inhabitants are, without exception, the finest race of people in the South Sea, surpassing all others in that part of the world in the symmetry of their persons and regularity of their features. Their origin, however, from the affinity of language, was evidently the same with that of Otaheite. It was in St Christina that our commander anchored; and he has left particular directions for finding a particular cove in Resolution Bay in that island, which is the most convenient for procuring wood and water.

In the passage from the Marquesas to Otaheite, our navigators passed several low and small islands connected together by reefs of coral rocks. One of these, named by the inhabitants Tiookea, was visited by Lieutenant Cooper. It was discovered and visited by Captain Byron; and is situated in S. Lat. 27° 30" W., Long. 144° 56'. The inhabitants are much darker in their complexions, and seem to be of a fiercer disposition than those of the neighbouring islands. They have the figure of a fish marked upon their bodies; a very proper emblem of their profession, deriving their subsistence almost entirely from the sea. Passing by St George's Islands, which had been also discovered and named by Captain Byron, our Commander now discovered four others, which he named Palliser's Islands. One of these is situated in S. Lat. 15° 26', Palliser's and W. Long. 146° 20'; another in S. Lat. 15° 27', and W. Long. 146° 3'. They were inhabited by people resembling those of Tiookea, and like them were armed with long pikes. Here our navigator observed, that from W. Long. 138° to 148° or 150°, the sea is so full of small low islands, that one cannot proceed with too much caution.

On his arrival in Otaheite, provisions were met with in great plenty; and they were now very acceptable, by reason of the long time the ship had been at sea without obtaining any considerable supply. Two goats which had been given by Captain Furneaux to a chief named Otoo, appeared to be in a very promising situation. The female had brought forth two kids, which were almost large enough to propagate; and as she was again with kid, there was little doubt that the island would soon be stocked with these useful animals; though it was otherwise with the sheep, all of which had died except one. On this occasion, also, the Captain furnished the natives with cats, of which he gave away twenty; so that there was little danger of the stock of these animals decaying. During his residence at this time, he had an opportunity of making some computation of the number of inhabitants on the island, which he supposed to be no less than 200,000. Huaheine and Ulietea Islands were next visited, but without any remarkable occurrence. From the latter our Commander set sail on the 5th of June 1774; and next day came in sight of Howe Island, discovered by Captain Wallis, and situated in S. Lat. 16° 46', and W. Long. 15° 48'. On the 16th a new island, named Palmerstone Island, was discovered in S. Lat. 18° 4', W. Long. 163° 10'; and, four days after, another was observed in S. Lat. 19° 1', W. Long. 169° 37'.

As it was evidently inhabited, the Captain determined to land; but found the people so extremely hostile, that no intercourse could be had: nay, he himself was in danger of losing his life by a lance thrown by one of the natives, which passed close over his shoulder. From the extreme hostility of the people of this island, it was named by Captain Cook Savage Island. It is of a round shape, pretty high, and has deep water close to the shore, but has no good harbour.

Passing by a number of small islands, Captain Cook next anchored at that of Anamocka or Rotterdam, discovered by Tasman. It is situated in 20° 15' S. Lat. and 174° 31' W. Long. Its form is triangular, each side extending about three and a half or four miles. From the north-west to the south it is encompassed by a number of small islands, sand banks, and breakers; of which no end can be seen from the island on the northern side, and may possibly be as far extended as Amsterdam or Tongataboo. While the Captain remained on this island, he learned the names of more than 20 of the adjacent isles, some of which were in sight between the north-west and north-east. Two of these, which lie more to the westward than the others, are named Amatatafa and Oghao. They are remarkable for their height; and from a great smoke visible about the middle of Amatatafa, it was supposed to have a volcano. The island of Rotterdam, Middleburg or Eaoowe, with Pillart, form a group extending about three degrees of longitude and two of latitude. The whole group was named The Friendly Isles by Captain Cook, on account of the friendship which seemed to subsist among the inhabitants, and their courteous behaviour to strangers. The people of Rotterdam Island are similar to those of Amsterdam; but the island is not in such a state of high cultivation as Amsterdam, nor do its fruits come to such perfection. It is also inferior in the articles of cloth, matting, &c., which are accounted the wealth of these parts.

From Rotterdam island our navigator continued his course to the westward, where he first discovered a small island in S. Lat. 19° 48' W. Long. 178° 2'. It was named Turtle Island, from the great number of these animals found upon it. Sixteen days after he fell in with the cluster of islands named by M. Bougainville the Great Cyclades. The first island on which he landed was Mallicollo, where, though the people were at first very hostile, they were soon conciliated, and a friendly intercourse took place. The language of these people is considerably different from that of the other South-sea islands; they are diminutive in their persons, and of ugly features; their hair black or brown, short and curling, but less soft than that of the negroes. They had no name for a dog in their language, and had never seen the animal; so that they were extremely fond of a dog and bitch of which Captain Cook made them a present. The harbour in this island, in which the ship came to an anchor, was named Sandwich harbour, and lies on the north-east side in S. Lat. 16° 25' 20", E. Long. 167° 57' 53". It is very commodious for the carrying on any operations at land, having a good depth of water, and many other advantages.

The next discovery was that of the Group named Shepherd's Isles, in honour of Dr. Shepherd, Plumian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford. Numbers more were every day observed; of which one peaked rock, named the Monument, was uninhabited, being apparently inaccessible to any other creature but birds. Sandwich island is of considerable extent, and exhibits a most beautiful prospect. It is surrounded with other smaller islands, the principal of which were named Montague and Hinchinbrook. At Erromango they found the people hostile and treacherous; and from skirmish they had with them near a promontory on the north-east point of the island, it was named Traitor's Head. Its situation is in S. Lat. 10° 43', E. Long. 169° 28'.

From Erromango our navigator proceeded to Tanna, an island they had formerly discovered at a distance, and which is surrounded by some others, three of which are named Immer, Fotevona or Erronan, and Anatom. At Tanna they laid for some time, on account of their wanting some quantity of wood. A volcano was seen about the middle of this island, which burned with great violence, particularly in moist and wet weather; but notwithstanding the friendly terms on which they were with the natives, the latter would never allow them to approach this mountain. There were some spots on the sea-coast which emitted an hot and sulphurous smoke; and the people also expressed much uneasiness when these were approached or meddled with. The port which the ship entered in this island was named Resolution Harbour, and is situated in S. Lat. 19° 32' 25", E. Long. 169° 44' 35". It is a small creek three quarters of a mile long, and about half as broad. It is extremely convenient, having plenty of wood and water close to the shore. Among the vegetable productions of this island, there is reason to suspect the nutmeg-tree to be one, a pigeon having been shot, in the craw of which was a wild nutmeg. The inhabitants are two distinct races of people, and speak two different languages; one that of the Friendly islands, the other peculiar to Tanna and those in the neighbourhood. The people are very expert in the use of their weapons; on which Mr. Wales makes the following remarks: "I must confess I have often been led to think the feats of their spears a little too much of the marvellous to be admitted in an heroic poem, I mean when confined within the strict laws of Aristotle; nay, even so great an advocate for him as Mr. Pope acknowledges them to be surprising; but since I have seen what these people can do with their wooden spears, and them badly pointed, and not of an hard nature, I have not the least exception to any one passage in that great poet on this account. But if I see fewer exceptions, I can find infinitely more beauties in him, as he has, I think, scarcely an action, circumstance, or description of any kind whatever relating to a spear, which I have not seen and recognised among these people; as their whirling motion and whistling noise as they fly; their quivering..." quivering motion in the ground when they fall; their meditating their aim when they are going to throw; and their making them in their hand as they go along."

The Archipelago, in which Captain Cook had now remained a considerable time, is situated between 14° 29' and 20° 4' S. Lat. and between 66° 41' and 170° 21' E. Long., extending 125 leagues in the direction of N. N. W. ½ W. and S. S. E. ½ E. The principal islands are the Peak of the Etoile, Tierra del Espiritu Santo, Malicolo, St Bartholomew, the Isle of Leper, Aurora, Whitfuntide Isle, Ambrym, Paoom, Apoe, Three Hills, Sandwich, Erramango, Tanna, Immer, and Anatom. They were first discovered in 1606 by Quiros, who supposed them to be part of a southern continent; nor were they visited from that time till the year 1768, when M. Bougainville bestowed upon them the name of the Great Cyclades, as already mentioned. This gentleman, however, besides landing in the Isle of Leper, only discovered that the country was not connected, but consisted of islands. Captain Cook examined the whole in such an accurate manner, ascertaining the situation of many of the islands, and discovering such numbers of new ones, that he thought he had an undoubted right to impose a new name upon them; and therefore called them the New Hebrides.

From the New Hebrides Captain Cook set sail for New Zealand, in order to prosecute his voyage in search of a southern continent, but in three days discovered a large island, which he named New Caledonia; and which, next to New Zealand, is the largest in the Pacific Ocean. It lies between 19° 37' and 22° 30' S. Lat. and between 163° 37' and 167° 14' E. Long., lying N. W. ½ W. and S. E. ½ E. extending about 87 leagues in that direction, though its breadth does not anywhere exceed 10 leagues. The natives are strong, active, well made, and seem to be a middle race between those of Tanna and the Friendly Isles; and the women were more chaste than those of the islands farther to the eastward. The island afforded a considerable variety of plants for the botanists, and some excellent timber of the species of the pitch-pine, for masts and spars. The wood is close-grained, white, and tough; and very fit for the purpose. One of the small islands surrounding the large one was named the Isle of Pines, from the quantity of these trees found upon it; and another, from the number and variety of plants it afforded, had the name of Botany Island. The coast, however, was so dangerous, that our navigator, having no more time to spare, was obliged to leave some part of it unexplored, though the extent was determined, as has been already related. Mr Forster was of opinion, that the language of this people is totally different from that of any of the other South Sea islands.

Proceeding from New Caledonia, our navigator next fell in with an island about five leagues in circumference, and of a good height, situated in S. Lat. 29° 2' 30' and E. Long. 168° 16'; on which he bestowed the name of Norfolk Island. It was entirely uninhabited. Various trees and plants common at New Zealand were observed here, particularly the flax-plant, which is more luxuriant in this island than in any part of New Zealand. The chief produce of the island is a kind of spruce pine, many of the trees of which are 10 or 12 feet in circumference. The palm-cabbage likewise abounds here; and the coasts are well stocked with excellent fish. On the 18th of October they arrived at Queen Charlotte's Sound in New Zealand; the situation of which was now ascertained by Mr Wales Arrival at the utmost accuracy, its latitude being found 41° 5' 56" S. and its longitude 174° 25' 7" E. On examining the gardens which had been made, it was found that they were in a thriving condition, though they had been entirely neglected by the natives. Some of the cocks and hens were supposed to be still in existence, as a new laid hen's egg was found, though none were seen.

On the 10th of November Captain Cook set sail from New Zealand in search of a southern continent; but having traversed a vast extent of sea for 17 days, from S. Lat. 43° 0' to 55° 48', he gave up all thoughts of finding any more land in this part of the ocean, and therefore determined to steer directly for the west entrance of the straits of Magellan, with a design of coaling the southern part of Terra del Fuego quite round Cape Horn to Le Maire's Straits. As the world had hitherto received but very imperfect accounts of this coast, he thought a survey of it would be of more advantage to navigation and geography than anything he could expect to meet with in a higher latitude. On the 17th of December he reached the coast of Terra del Fuego, and in three days more anchored in a place to which he gave the name of Christmas Sound. The land appeared desolate beyond anything he had hitherto experienced. It seems to be entirely composed of rocky mountains without the least appearance of vegetation. These mountains terminate in horrid precipices, the craggy summits of which rise up to a vast height; so that scarcely anything in nature can have a more barren and savage aspect than the whole of the country. In the course of his voyage along this coast, he could not but observe, that at no time had he ever made one of such length where so little occurred of an interesting nature. Barren and dreary, however, as the coast was, it was not totally destitute of accommodations about Christmas Sound. Fresh water and wood for fuel were found about every harbour; and the country everywhere abounds with fowl, particularly geese. A considerable number of plants were also found upon it, almost every species of which was new to the botanists. In passing by Cape Horn, it was wished to determine whether it belonged to the land of Terra del Fuego or to a small island south from it; but this was found impracticable on account of the foggy weather and dangerous sea. Its latitude was now determined to be 55° 58' S. and its longitude 67° 46' W. The coast appeared less dreary here than on the western side of Terra del Fuego; for though the summits of some of the hills were rocky, the sides and valleys seemed covered with a green turf and wooded in tufts. In passing this cape a remark was made by the Captain, that if he were on a voyage round a voyage Cape Horn to the west, and not in want of wood or round Cape water, or any other thing which might make it necessary to put into port, he would sail a considerable way to the southward, so as to be out of the reach of land altogether. By this method he would avoid the currents, whose force, he was of opinion, would be broken. at 10 or 12 leagues distance from the shore, and farther off would be entirely destroyed. The extent of Terra del Fuego, and consequently of Magellan's Straits, was found to be less than what is commonly laid down in maps and charts, and the coast, in general, less dangerous than has been usually represented; though this must undoubtedly have been owing in a great measure to the weather, which happened to be remarkably temperate. In one of the small islands near Staten Land, and which, from their being discovered on new year's day, were called New Year's Isles, a remarkable harmony was observed among the animals of different species with which these desolate regions abound. The sea-lions occupy the greatest part of the sea-coast; the bears occupy the island; the shags are posted in the highest cliffs; the penguins in such places as have the best access to and from the sea; and the other birds choose more retired places. Occasionally, however, all these animals were seen to mix together like domestic cattle and poultry in a farmyard, without one attempting to hurt the other in the least. Even the eagles and vultures were frequently observed sitting together on the hills among the shags, while none of the latter, either old or young, appeared to be disturbed at their presence. It is probable, therefore, that these birds of prey subsist by feeding on the carcases of the animals which die naturally or by various accidents, and which must be very numerous from the immense quantity existing on the island.

Our navigator now set out in quest of that extensive coast laid down in Mr Dalrymple's chart, and in which is marked the Gulph of St Sebastian; but when he came into the place where it is supposed to lie, neither land nor any certain signs of it could be met with. Some islands, however, were discovered, particularly Willis's island, in S. Lat. 54° W. Long. 38° 23'; another named Bird Island and South Georgia, situated between 53° 57' and 54° 57' S. Lat. and between 38° 13' and 35° 34' W. Long. All these were covered with snow and ice to a great height. Not a tree was to be seen, not even a shrub, nor were there any rivulets or streams of water; the only vegetables to be met with were a coarse strong bladed grass, wild barberry, and a kind of moss. A considerable quantity of seals and penguins were met with, whose flesh, though very coarse, was preferred by the ship's company, even by Captain Cook himself, to the salt provisions, which were now greatly decayed. The most southerly land discovered by our navigator was that on which he bestowed the name of Southern Thule, and which is situated in S. Lat. 59° 13' 30", W. Long. 27° 45". This was still more desolate than South Georgia, being forsaken even by the seals and penguins which abounded on it. Not a single herb of any kind was seen upon it, but vast high and barren mountains, the tops of some of which reached above the clouds; and it may be remarked, that this seems to be the only part of the world hitherto discovered, entirely unfit for the support of animal life.

Southern Thule was discovered on the 31st of January 1775; and from this to the 6th of February several other lands were discovered, and named Cape Bristol, Cape Montague, Saunders's Isle, Candlemas Isles, and Sandwich's Land. With regard to this last, Captain Cook was undetermined whether it was a group of islands or part of a continent lying near the pole, as after all his disappointments he still was inclined to think that such a continent has an existence, on account of the vast quantity of ice met with in the southern seas; and which from its great height appears to be formed in bays and gulfs of the land, and not in the ocean itself. The greatest part of this southern continent, however, if it has any existence, must be within the polar circle, where the sea is so incumbered with ice, that the land must be inaccessible. So great is the danger in navigating these southern seas, that Captain Cook affects on the most probable grounds in the world, that such lands as lie to the southward of his discoveries could not be explored; and that no man would ever venture farther than he had done. Thick fogs, snow-storms, intense cold, and everything that can render navigation difficult or dangerous, must be encountered; all which difficulties are greatly heightened by the inexpressibly horrid aspect of the country itself. It is a part of the world doomed by nature never once to feel the warmth of the sun's rays, but to be buried in everlasting snow and ice. Whatever ports there may be on the coast, they are almost entirely covered with frozen snow of a vast thickness. If, however, any of them should be so far open as to invite a ship into it, she would run the risk of being fixed there for ever, or of coming out in an ice island. To this it may be added, that the islands and floats on the coast, the great falls from the ice-cliffs in the port, or a sudden snow-storm, might be attended with equally fatal effects. For these reasons our commander determined to abandon the pursuit of a land whose existence was so equivocal, but whose insufficiency, if it should be discovered, was certain. One thing only remained to complete what he wished to accomplish, and that was to determine the existence of Bouvet's land. In this inquiry he spent 16 days; but having run for 13 quarts of these directly in the latitude assigned to that land, Bouvet's and found no appearance of it, or of Cape Circumcision, he concluded, that neither of them had any existence, but that the navigators had been deceived by the appearance of ice islands. Two days more were spent in quest of some land which had been observed more to the southward, but with the like bad success: after which our commander abandoned all further thoughts of southern discoveries, and prepared for returning to England. On his way home, however, he determined to direct his course in such a manner as to fall in with the isles of Denia and Marfeveen. These are laid down in Dr Halley's variation chart in the of Denia latitude of 41° S. and about 4° E. from the meridian of the Cape of Good Hope. None of these veen. islands could be found; and therefore our commander, having very little time to spare either in searching for them or attempting to disprove their existence, made the best of his way to the Cape of Good Hope, and thence to England. In his passage thither he visited the isles of St Helena, Ascension, and Fernando de Noronha. An experiment was made on the use of the still for procuring fresh water at sea; the result of which was, that though the invention was useful upon distilling the whole, yet it would not by any means be advisable to trust entirely to it. Provided indeed that there was not a scarcity of fuel, and that the coppers were good, as much might thus be procured as would support life; but that no efforts would be sufficient to procure the quantity necessary for the preservation of health, especially in hot climates. He was likewise convinced that nothing contributes more to the health of seamen than having plenty of fresh water. His last stage in this second voyage before his arrival in England was at Fayal, one of the Azores islands; and his only design in stopping here was to give Mr Wales an opportunity of finding the rate of the watches going, that he might be enabled to find the longitude of these islands with the greatest certainty.

In our commander's third voyage he touched at the island of Teneriffe instead of Madeira, looking upon the former to be a better place for procuring refreshments; and was convinced of the justness of his conjecture by the facility with which provisions of all kinds were obtained. The air of the country is exceedingly healthy and proper for those subject to pulmonary complaints. This was accounted for by a gentleman of the place from the great height of the island, by which it was in the power of any person to change the temperature of the air as he pleased; and he expressed his surprize that physicians, instead of sending their patients to Nice or Lisbon, did not send them to Teneriffe. From the same gentleman it was learned, that the tea-shrub grows in that island as a common weed, which is constantly exterminated in large quantities. The Spaniards, however, sometimes use it as tea, and ascribe to it all the qualities of that brought from the East Indies. They give it also the name of tea, and say that it was found in the country when the islands were first discovered. Another botanical curiosity is the fruit called the impregnated lemon, which is a perfect and distinct lemon inclosed within another, and differing from the outer only in being a little more globular.

From Teneriffe Captain Cook proceeded to the Cape of Good Hope, and from thence to the southward, where he fell in with two islands, the larger of which is about 15 leagues in circuit, and the smaller about nine; their distance from one another being about five leagues. The one of these islands lies in S. Lat. 46° 53', and E. Long. 37° 45'; the other in S. Lat. 46° 4' E. Long. 38° 8'. As the ships passed through between them, they could not discern either tree or shrub upon any of them even with the assistance of their best glasses. The shore seemed to be bold and rocky, their internal parts full of mountains, whose sides and summits were covered with snow. These two, with four others, which lie from 9 to 12 degrees of longitude more to the east, and nearly in the same latitude, had been discovered in the year 1772 by Captains Marion du Fresne and Crozet, two French navigators, in their passage from the Cape of Good Hope to the Philippines. As no names had been assigned to them in a chart of the Southern Ocean communicated to Captain Cook in 1775, the two larger ones were by him distinguished by the name of Prince Edward's Islands, in honour of his Majesty's fourth son; the other four, with a view to commemorate the discoveries, were called Marion's and Crozet's Islands.

From these our commander steered to the southward in search of Kerguelen's land, which he had been instructed to touch at, in order to discover, if possible, a good harbour there. In his passage to it several new islands were discovered; to one which Kerguelen had given the name of the Island of Rendezvous, Captain Cook, on account of its shape, changed it to that of Bligh's Cap. It is situated in S. Lat. 48° 29' E. Long. 68° 40' and is a high round rock, inaccessible to all creatures but birds. Next day he fell in with Kerguelen's land, at first thought to be a part of that southern continent, but afterwards found by Kerguelen himself to be an island. The extent of it, however, was not determined either by the French navigator or by Captain Cook. The former reckons it at 200 leagues in circumference, but Captain Cook estimates it at much less. Our navigator could not get any extensive view of it on account of the foggy weather; but as far as could be discovered, it was barren and desolate, inasmuch that there was neither food nor covering for cattle of any kind, so that they would inevitably perish if any were left. Even the sea-coasts were in a great measure destitute of fish; but the shore was covered with innumerable multitudes of seals, together with penguins and other birds; all of which were so void of fear, that any quantity whatever might be killed without any difficulty. Not a single tree nor shrub could be seen, nor a piece of drift wood on the shore; and herbage of every kind was likewise very scarce. A prodigious quantity of the sea-weed, called by Sir Joseph Banks fucus giganteus, was found in one of the bays. The whole variety of plants found in this island did not exceed 16 or 18 species. The harbour in which our navigator made his longest stay on this desolate coast was named Port Palliser, and is situated in S. Lat. 49° 3' E. Long. 69° 37'. In this voyage our navigator undoubtedly displayed superior nautical abilities to those of M. Kerguelen, who in two voyages to the place had never been able to bring his ships to anchor on any part of the coast.

From Kerguelen's land our navigator proceeded to the coast of New Holland, where he now touched at Diemen's the southern part called Van Diemen's land, where he landed anchored in Adventure Bay. Here they found plenty of wood and water, with abundance of grass, coarse indeed, where they went first ashore, but afterwards much finer and proper for the cattle. Here, as everywhere else, the latitudes and longitudes were settled with the greatest exactness. The bottom of Adventure Bay was found to lie in S. Lat. 43° 21' 6'' E. Long. 147° 29'. The inhabitants visited them in a friendly manner, but seemed as stupid and insensible as those they had formerly seen. They seemed to be totally ignorant of the use of iron, and set no value upon any thing in the ornamental way excepting beads; nor did they seem to be acquainted even with the use of fish hooks. Here they found the stories of the ancient fauns and satyrs living in hollow trees realized. Some huts covered with bark, and of a most wretched construction, were indeed found near the shore; but the most commodious habitations were afforded by the largest trees. These had their trunks hollowed out by fire to the height of six or seven feet; and there was room enough in one of them for three or four persons to sit round a hearth made of clay; and it may justly seem surprising, that notwithstanding the extreme violence offered to the vegetative powers of the tree by forming this habitation, it still continued to flourish in consequence of one side being left entire.

The people, notwithstanding their extreme barbarity, were supposed to proceed from the same stock with those of the South Sea Islands. As in one of their visits the natives had feasted upon two pigs which had been brought ashore, apparently with an intention to kill them, the commander determined to make them a present of these animals; though from their excessive stupidity and inattention there was no probability of their allowing them to propagate, if they had been put directly into their hands. To prevent this, Captain Cook ordered the two they had attempted to seize, being a boar and sow, to be carried about a mile within the head of the bay, and saw them left by the side of a fresh water rivulet. He was prevented from leaving any other species by a consideration of the barbarity of the inhabitants.

From New Holland our navigator proceeded to New Zealand, where he arrived on the 12th of February 1777, and anchored in Queen Charlotte's Sound. Here he was desirous of leaving a further supply of animals; but the inhabitants had hitherto shown such carelessness about those which had been left, that he durst not venture to leave any other than two goats, a male and a female with kid, and two hogs, a boar and sow. He was informed, however, that one chief had several cocks and hens in his possession, so that there was some probability of these animals being allowed to multiply; and as ten or a dozen hogs had at different times been left by Captain Cook, besides those put on shore by Captain Furneaux, it seems also to be likely that this race of creatures will increase either in a wild or domestic state, or both. The gardens had still been almost totally neglected, and some of them destroyed. Those which remained, however, produced cabbages, onions, leeks, purslains, radishes, and a few potatoes. These last had been brought from the Cape of Good Hope, and were so greatly meliorated by the change of soil, that with proper cultivation they seemed to bid fair for excelling those of most other countries.

Our navigator's next course was towards the Island of Otaheite; in the run to which he discovered the Island of Mangea, situated in S. Lat. 22° 57', E. Long. 301° 53'. From thence he proceeded to Wa-tea, where Omai, now on his way home, recognized three of his countrymen, natives of the Society Islands, who had arrived here by the following accident. About 12 years before, 20 of the natives of Otaheite had embarked in a canoe, in order to visit the neighbouring island of Ulictea. A violent storm arose, which drove them out of their course, and they suffered incredible hardships by famine and fatigue, so that the greatest part of them perished. Four men continued hanging by the side of the vessel for four days after it was overcast, when they were at last brought within sight of the people of this island. The latter immediately sent out their canoes, and brought them ashore, treating them afterwards with so much kindness, that the three who now survived expressed no desire of returning to their own country, though they had now an opportunity, but chose rather to remain where they were. This island is situated in S. Lat. 20° 1', E. Lon. 201° 45', and is about six leagues in circumference.

The inhabitants are said to be equally amiable in their persons and appearance.

Visiting a small island named Wennooa, etc., or Ota-kootia, situated in S. Lat. 19° 15' and E. Long. 201° 37', our commander found it without inhabitants, tho' there were undoubted marks of its being occasionally frequented. Harvey's Island, which in his former voyage had been destitute of inhabitants, was now found to be well peopled; but the inhabitants showed such an hostile disposition that no refreshments could be procured; for which reason it was determined to steer for the Friendly Islands, where there was a certainty of meeting with an abundant supply. In his way this palmerston then he touched at Palmerston Island, from a small isle island a pro- near which a supply of 1200 cocoa nuts were obtained, per place besides abundance of fish and birds of various kinds, of refresh- ment, but Had the island been capable of furnishing water, the without Captain would have preferred it to any of the inhabited water ones for the purpose of procuring refreshments, as they could be had in any quantity without molestation from the petulance of the inhabitants. As water at this time happened to be a scarce article, our navigator was obliged to supply himself from the showers which fell, and which afforded as much in an hour as he could procure by distillation in a month.

During the time of residence at the Friendly Islands our navigator visited one named Hapace, at which no European ship had ever touched before. Here he was entertained in a friendly manner, supplied with refreshments, and left some useful animals; great additions were made to the geography of these islands, and many curious remarks made on the inhabitants and natural products. It was observed by Mr Anderson, that the people had very proper notions of the immateriality and immortality of the human soul, and he thought himself authorized to assert, that they did not worship any part of the visible creation.

Passing by a small island named Toolouai, about five or six miles in extent, and situated in S. Lat. 23° 25' of Omai at E. Long. 210° 37', our navigator now arrived at Ota-heite. Here Omai met with his relations, some of whom received him with apparent indifference; but his meeting with an aunt and a sister was marked with expressions of the most tender regard. It was Huahine, however, that was destined for the place of Omai's final residence, and thither the Captain repaired on purpose to settle him. The affair was conducted with great solemnity; and Omai brought with him a suitable assortment of presents to the chiefs, went through a great number of religious ceremonies, and made a speech, the subject of which had been dictated to him by Captain Cook. The result of the negotiation was, that a spot of ground was assigned him, extending about 200 yards along the shore of the harbour, with a proportionable part of an adjacent hill. The carpenters of both ships were then employed in constructing a house for him, in which he might secure his European commodities. At the same time a garden was made for his use, in which were planted shadocks, vines, pine-apples, melons, and several other garden vegetables. Here he met with a brother, sister, and sister-in-law, by whom he was very affectionately received; but it was discovered with concern, that none of his relations were able to protect him in case of any attack on his person. or property; so that there was too much reason to departure of the English. To prevent this, if pos- sible, Captain Cook advised him to conciliate the fa- vour and engage the patronage and protection of some of the most powerful chiefs by proper presents; at the same time that he himself took every opportunity of letting the inhabitants know that it was his intention to return to the island again, and if he did not find Omai in the same state of security in which he left him, those by whom he had been injured would cer- tainly feel the weight of his resentment. About a fortnight after leaving Huahine, the Captain had a message from Omai; in which he informed him that everything went well, only that his goat had died in kidding, for which lie desired another might be sent; and accompanied this request with another for two axes, which were sent along with a couple of kids, male and female. On taking his final leave of the So- ciety Islands, Captain Cook observes, that it would have been far better for these poor people never to have known the superiority of the Europeans in such arts as render life comfortable, than after once being acquainted with it to be again abandoned to their ori- ginal incapacity of improvement; as, if the intercourse between them and us should be wholly discontinued, they could not be restored to that happy state of me- diocrity in which they were found. It seemed to him that it was become in a manner incumbent on the Eu- ropeans to visit these islands once in three or four years, in order to supply them with those conveniences of which they have taught them the use. It is indeed to be apprehended, that by the time the iron tools which were then among them are worn out, they will have forgot the use of their own; as in this last voyage it was observed that the use of their former tools was al- most totally abolished.

Having left the Society Islands, Captain Cook now proceeded to the northward, crossing the equator on the 22d and 23d of December; and on the 24th dis- covered a low uninhabited island about 15 or 20 leagues in circumference. Here the longitude and la- titude were exactly determined by means of an eclipse of the sun. The west side of it where the eclipse was observed, lies in N. Lat. 1° 59'. E. Long. 202° 30'. From the time of its discovery it obtained the name of Christmas Island. Plenty of turtle were found upon it, and the Captain caused the seeds of the cocoa-nut, yams, and melons, to be planted.

Proceeding still to the northward, our navigator next fell in with five islands, to which he gave the ge- neral name of Sandwich Isles, in honour of his patron. Their names in the language of the country are Woa- hoo, Atoo, Onecheow, Oreehoua, and Tehoora. They are situated in the latitude of 21° 30' and 22° 15' North, and between 199° 20' and 201° 30'. E. Long. The longitude was deduced from no fewer than 72 sets of lunar observations. The largest of these islands is Atooi, and does not in the least resemble the other islands of the South Sea formerly visited by our na- vigator, excepting only that it has hills near the centre, which slope gradually towards the sea-side. The only domestic animals found upon it were hogs, dogs, and fowls. Captain Cook designed to have made the inhabitants of this island a present of some others; but being driven out of it by stress of wea- ther, he was obliged to land them upon a smaller one named Oncebecow. They were a he-goat with two fe- males, and a boar and sow of the English breed, which is much superior to that of the South-Sea Islands. He left also the seeds of melons, pumpkins, and onions. The soil of this island seemed in general to be poor: it was observable that the ground was cov- ered with shrubs and plants, some of which had a more delicious fragrance than had been experienced before. The inhabitants of these islands are much commended, notwithstanding their horrid custom of eat- ing human flesh. In every thing manufactured by them there is an ingenuity and neatness in an uncommon de- gree; and the elegant form and polish of some of their fishing-hooks could not be exceeded by an European artificer, even assisted by all his proper tools. From what was seen of their agriculture also, it appeared that they were by no means novices in that art, and that the quantity and goodness of their vegetable productions might with propriety be attributed as much to their skilful culture as to the fertility of the soil. The lan- guage of the Sandwich Isles is almost identically the same with that of Otaheite.

Proceeding farther to the northward, our navigators American discovered the coast of New Albion on the 7th of March 1778. Its appearance was very different from that of the countries with which they had hitherto been conver- sant. The land was full of mountains, the tops of which were covered with snow; while the valleys between them, and the grounds on the sea-coast, high as well as low, were covered with trees, which formed a beau- tiful prospect as of one vast forest. The place where they landed was situated in N. Lat. 44° 33'. E. Long. 235° 20'. At first the natives seemed to prefer iron to every other article of commerce; but at last they showed such a predilection for brass, that scarcely a bit of it was left in the ships except what belonged to the necessary instruments. It was observed also, that these people were much more tenacious of their property than any of the savage nations that had hitherto been met with, insomuch that they would part neither with wood, water, grass, nor the most trifling article, with- out a compensation, and were sometimes very unrea- sonable in their demands; with which, however, the Captain always complied as far as was in his power.

The place where the Resolution was now anchored Nooaka was by our navigator called St George's Sound, but he afterwards understood that the natives gave it the name of Nooka. Its entrance is situated in the east corner of Hope Bay, in N. Lat. 49° 33'. E. Long. 233° 12'. The climate, as far as they had an opportunity of ob- serving it, was much milder than that on the eastern coast of the American continent in the same parallel of latitude; and it was remarkable that the thermometer, even in the night, never fell lower than 42°, while in the day-time it frequently rose to 60°. The trees met with here are chiefly the Canadian pine, white cypress, and some other kinds of pine. There seemed to be a scarcity of birds, which are much harassed by the natives, who ornament their clothes with the feathers, and use the flesh for food. The people are no strangers to the Natives ac- use of metals, having iron tools in general use among quainted them; and Mr Gore procured two silver spoons of a use of me- construction similar to what may be observed in some tails.

Flemish Flemish pictures, from a native who wore them round his neck as an ornament. It is most probable that these metals have been conveyed to them by the way of Hudson's Bay and Canada; nor is it improbable that some of them may have been introduced from the north-western parts of Mexico.

While Captain Cook sailed along this coast, he kept always at a distance from land when the wind blew strongly upon it; whence several large gaps were left unexplored, particularly between the latitudes of 50° and 55°. The exact situation of the supposed straits of Anian was not ascertained, though there is not the least doubt, that if he had lived to return by the same way in 1779, he would have examined every part with his usual accuracy. On departing from Nootka Sound, our navigator first fell in with an island in N. Lat. 59° 49', E. Long. 216° 58', to which he gave the name of Kay's Island. Several others were discovered in the neighbourhood; and the ship came to an anchor in an inlet named by the Captain Prince William's Sound. Here he had an opportunity of making several observations on the inhabitants, as well as on the nature of the country. From everything relative to the former, it was concluded, that the inhabitants were of the same race with the Esquimaux or Greenlanders. The animals were much the same with those met with at Nootka, and a beautiful skin of one animal, which seemed to be peculiar to the place, was offered for sale. Mr Anderson was inclined to think that it was the same to which Mr Pennant has given the name of the esom marmot. The alcedo, or great king's fisher, was found here, having very fine and bright colours. The humming-bird also came frequently, and flew about the ship while at anchor; though it is scarce to be supposed that it can live throughout the winter on account of the extreme cold. The water-fowl were in considerable plenty; and there is a species of diver which seemed to be peculiar to the place. Almost the only kinds of fish met with in the place were torsk and halibut. The trees were chiefly the Canadian and spruce pine, some of which were of a considerable height and thickness. The Sound is judged by Captain Cook to occupy a degree and a half of latitude and two of longitude, exclusively of its arms and branches, which were not explored. There was every reason to believe that the inhabitants had never been visited by any European vessel before; but our navigator found them in possession not only of iron but of beads, which it is probable are conveyed to them across the continent from Hudson's Bay.

Soon after leaving Prince William's Sound, our navigators fell in with another inlet, which it was expected would lead either to the northern sea or to Hudson's or Baffin's bay; but upon examination it was found to end in a large river. This was traced for 210 miles from the mouth, as high as N. Lat. 61° 30', and promises to vie with the most considerable ones already known, as it lies open by means of its various branches to a very considerable inland communication. As no name was given by our commander to this river, it was ordered by Lord Sandwich to be named Cook's River. The inhabitants seemed to be of the same race with those of Prince William's Sound; and like them had glass beads and knives, they were also clothed in very fine furs; so that it seemed probable that a valuable fur-trade might be carried on from that country. Several attempts have accordingly been made from the British settlements in the East Indies to establish a traffic of that kind; but little benefit accrued from it except to the proprietors of the first vessel, her cargo having greatly lowered the price of that commodity in the Chinese market. It must be observed, that on the western side of the American continent, the only valuable skins met with are those of the sea-otter; those of the other animals, especially foxes and martins, being of an inferior quality to such as are met with in other parts.

Proceeding farther to the northward, our navigator now fell in with a race of people who had evidently been visited by the Russians, and seemed to have adopted from them some improvements in dress, &c. In the prosecution of this part of their voyage, it appeared that they had been providentially conveyed in the dark through a passage so dangerous, that our commander would not have ventured upon it in the daytime. They were now got in among those islands which had lately been discovered by Captain Beering and other Russian navigators, and came to an anchor in an harbour of Oonalashka, situated in N. Lat. 53° 55', E. Long. 193° 30'. Here it was remarked, that the inhabitants had as yet profited very little by their intercourse with the Russians; so that they did not even dress the fish they used for their food, but devoured them quite raw.

From Oonalashka our navigator proceeded again towards the continent, which he continued to trace as far as possible to the northward. In the latitude of 54° 48', E. Long. 195° 45', N. Lat. is a volcano of the shape of A volcano, a perfect cone, having the crater at the very summit. On the coast farther to the north the soil appears very barren, producing neither tree nor shrub, though the lower grounds are not destitute of grass and some other plants. To a rocky point of considerable height, situated in N. Lat. 58° 42', E. Long. 197° 36', our commander gave the name of Cape Neumham.

Here Mr Anderson, the surgeon of the Resolution, died of consumption under which he had laboured for more than twelve months. Soon after he had breathed his last, land being seen at a distance, it was named Anderson's Island; and on the 9th of August the ship anchored under a point of the continent, which he named Cape Prince of Wales. This is remarkable for being the most westerly point of the American continent of Wales hitherto known. It is situated in N. Lat. 65° 46', E. Long. 191° 45'. It is only 39 miles distant from the eastern coast of Siberia; so that our commander had the pleasure of ascertaining the vicinity of the two continents to each other, which had only been imperfectly done by the Russian navigators. Setting sail from this point next day, he steered to the west and north, when he soon fell in with the country of the Tchutchek, which had been explored by Beering in 1728. Here he had an opportunity of correcting M. Stechlin's map, who had placed in these seas an imaginary island, on which he bestowed the name of Alafcheka. Being convinced that the land he had now reached was part of the Asiatic continent, our commander directed his course eastward, in order to fall in with that of America; and on the 17th reached the latitude of 70° 33', and E. Long. 197° 41'. they began to perceive that brightness in the horizon called by mariners the blink of the ice; and in 70° 41' they had got quite up to it, so that no farther progress could be made. Next day they made a shift to get as far as 70° 44'; but the ice was now as compact as a wall, and about ten or twelve feet in height. Its surface was extremely rugged, and farther to the northward appeared much higher. Its surface was covered with pools of water; and great numbers of sea-lions lay upon it, whose flesh they were now glad to use as food. Our commander continued to traverse the Icy Sea till the 29th; but the obstructions becoming every day greater and greater, it was thought proper to give over all further attempts of finding a passage to Europe for that year. He did not, however, omit the investigation of the Asiatic and American coasts until he had fully ascertained the accuracy of Captain Beering's accounts as far as he went, and corrected the errors of M. Stéphlin. Great additions were thus made to the geographical knowledge of this part of the globe, and Mr. Coxe observes, that "it reflects no small honour upon the British name, that our great navigator extended his discoveries much farther in one expedition, and at so great a distance from the point of his departure, than the Russians accomplished in a long series of years, and in parts belonging or contiguous to their own empire."

An end of this celebrated navigator's discoveries, however, was now at hand. From Beering's straits he sailed for Oonalashka, where he arrived on the 2d of October, and stayed for some time in order to repair his ships. While the carpenters were employed in this work, one third of the people had permission to go on shore by turns, in order to gather berries, with which the island abounds, and which, though now beginning to decay, were of great service, in conjunction with the spruce-beer, to preserve the people from the scurvy. Such a quantity of fish was likewise procured, as not only served to supply the ships for the present, but likewise allowed a great number to be carried out to sea; so that hence a considerable saving was made of the provisions of the ships, which was an article of very considerable consequence. On the eighth of the month our commander received a very singular present from some persons unknown, by the hands of an Oonalashka man named Derramoukhk. It consisted of a rye-loaf, or rather a salmon pie in the form of a loaf, and highly seasoned with pepper. This man had the like present for Captain Clerke, and each of them was accompanied with a note which none on board could understand: a few bottles of rum, with some wine and porter, were sent in exchange; it being supposed that such a present would be more acceptable than any other thing that could be spared. Corporal Leclercq of the marines, an intelligent man, was at the same time directed to accompany Derramoukhk, for the purpose of gaining a more satisfactory account of the country. On the tenth of the month he returned with three Russian seamen or furriers, who, with several others, resided at Egoochuck, where they had a dwelling house, some store-houses, and a sloop about 30 tons burden. One of these people was either master or mate of the vessel, and all of them were very sober and decent in their behaviour. The greatest difficulty arose from the want of an interpreter; for which reason the conversation was carried on by signs. However, the Captain obtained a sight of two sea-charts, both of which he was allowed to copy. One of them included the sea of Penshink, part of the coast of Tartary down to the latitude of 41°; the Kurile Islands, and the peninsula of Kamchatka. The other comprehended all the discoveries that had been made from the time of Captain Beering to the year 1777; but these were found to be very trifling. Indeed our navigator was assured by all the Russians whom he had occasion to see, that they knew of no other islands than those laid down in the charts just mentioned, and that none of them had ever seen any part of the American continent excepting what lies opposite to the country of the Tschutski. With regard to the natives of Oonalashka, they are to appearance the most of the inoffensive and peaceable people in the world, not to habitants. In a state of civilization; though perhaps this may be owing in some measure to the connection they have long had with the Russians. From the affinity observed between the language of the Esquimaux, Greenlanders, and those of Norton's Sound in N.Lat. 64° 55', there is great reason to believe that all those nations are of the same extraction; and if that be the case, there is little reason to doubt that a communication A communication by sea exists between the eastern and western sides of the American continent; which, however, may very probably be shut up by ice in the winter time, or even for the most part throughout the year.

The return of Captain Cook to the Sandwich Islands, with the lamentable catastrophe that ensued, have been already related under the former article. We shall now briefly enumerate the consequences of his discoveries with respect to the advancement of science. These are principally his having overthrown the hypotheses of a southern continent of immense extent, usually spoken of under the name of Terra Australis incognita; his demonstration of the impracticability of a northern passage either by Asia or America to the East Indies; and his having established a sure method of preserving the health of seamen through the longest sea-voyages. It is remarked by the bishop of Carlisle, that one great advantage resulting from the late surveys of the globe, is the refutation of fanciful theories too likely to give birth to impracticable undertakings. The ingenious reveries of speculative philosophers will now be obliged to submit, perhaps with reluctance, to the sober dictates of truth and experience; nor is it only by discouraging future unprofitable searches that the late voyages are likely to be of service to mankind, but likewise by lessening the dangers and distresses formerly experienced in those seas which are within the actual line of commerce and navigation.

The interests of science, as well as of commerce, are highly indebted to the labours of our illustrious navigator. Before his time almost half the surface of the globe was involved in obscurity and confusion: but now such improvements have been made, that geography has assumed a new face, and become in a manner a new science; having attained such completeness as to leave only some less important parts to be explored by future voyagers. Other sciences besides geography have have been advanced at the same time. Nautical astronomy, which was in its infancy when the late voyages were undertaken, is now brought to much greater perfection; and, during Captain Cook's last expedition, many even of the petty officers could take the distance of the moon from the sun or from a star, the most delicate of all observations, with sufficient accuracy; and the officers of superior rank would have been ashamed to have it thought that they did not know how to observe for, and compute, the time at sea; a thing before hardly mentioned among seamen. It must, however, be remembered, that a great part of the merit in this respect is due to the board of longitude. In consequence of the attention of that board to the important object just mentioned, liberal rewards have been given to mathematicians for perfecting the lunar tables and facilitating calculations; and artists have been amply encouraged in the construction of watches, and other instruments better adapted to the purposes of navigation, than any that formerly existed.

A vast addition of knowledge has been gained with respect to the ebbing and flowing of the tides; the direction and force of the currents at sea; the nature of the polarity of the needle, and the cause of its variations. Natural knowledge has been increased by experiments on the effects of gravity in different and very distant places; and from Captain Cook's having penetrated so far into the southern regions, it is now ascertained, that the phenomenon usually called the aurora borealis, is not peculiar to high northern latitudes, but belongs equally to all cold climates, whether north or south.

No science, however, perhaps stands more indebted to these voyages than that of botany. At least 1200 new species of plants have been added to those formerly known; and every other department of natural history has received large additions. Besides all this, there have been a vast many opportunities of observing human nature in its different situations. The islands visited in the middle of the Pacific Ocean are inhabited by people, who, as far as could be observed, have continued unmixed with any different tribe since their first settlement. Hence a variety of important facts may be collected with respect to the attainments and deficiencies of the human race in an uncultivated state, and in certain periods of society. Even the curiosities brought from the newly discovered islands, and which enrich the British museum and the late Sir Ashton Lever's (now Mr Parkinson's) repository, may be considered as a valuable acquisition to this country, and affording no small fund of instruction and entertainment.

There are few inquiries more generally interesting than those which relate to the migrations of the various colonies by which the different parts of the earth have been peopled. It was known in general, that the Asiatic nation called the Malayans possessed in former times much the greatest trade of the Indies, and that their ships frequented not only all the coasts of Asia, but even those of Africa likewise, and particularly the large island of Madagascar; but that from Madagascar to the Marquesas and Easter Island, that is, nearly from the east side of Africa till we approach the west coast of America, a space including almost half the circumference of the globe, the same nation of the oriental world should have made their settlements, and founded colonies throughout almost every intermediate stage of this immense tract, in islands at amazing distances from the mother continent, is an historical fact that before Captain Cook's voyages could not be known, or at least but very imperfectly. This is proved, not only by a familiarity of manners and customs, but likewise by the affinity of language; and the collections of words which have been made from all the widely diffused islands and countries visited by Captain Cook, cannot fail to throw much light on the origin of nations, and the manner in which the earth was at first peopled.

Besides this, information has been derived concerning another family of the earth formerly very much unknown. This was the nation of the Esquimaux or Greenlanders, who had formerly been known to exist only on the north-eastern part of the American continent. From Captain Cook's accounts, however, it appears, that these people now inhabit also the coasts and islands on the west side of America opposite to Kamtschatka. From these accounts it appears also, that the people we speak of have extended their migrations to Norton Sound, Oonalafika, and Prince William's Sound; that is, nearly to the distance of 1500 leagues from their stations in Greenland and the coast of Labrador. Nor does this curious fact rest merely on the evidence arising from the similarity of manners; for it stands confirmed by a table of words, exhibiting such an affinity of language as must remove every doubt from the mind of the most scrupulous inquirer.

From the full confirmation of the vicinity of the two great continents of Asia and America, it can no longer be supposed ridiculous to believe, that the latter received its inhabitants from the former; and by the facts recently discovered, a degree of further evidence is added to those which might formerly be derived from nature concerning the authenticity of the Mosaic accounts. It is not indeed to be doubted, that the inspired writings will stand the test of the most rigorous investigation; nor will it ever be found, that true philosophy and Divine Revelation can militate against each other. The rational friends of religion are so far from dreading the spirit of inquiry, that they wish for nothing more than a candid and impartial examination of the subject, according to all the lights which the improved reason and enlarged science of man can afford.

Another good effect of the voyages of Captain Cook is, that they have excited in other nations a zeal for similar undertakings. By order of the French government, Messrs de la Peyrouse and de Langle sailed from Brest in August 1785, in the frigates Bouffle and Astrolabe, on an enterprise, the purpose of which was to improve geography, astronomy, natural history, and philosophy, and to collect an account of the customs and manners of different nations. For the more effectual prosecution of the design, several gentlemen were appointed to go out upon the voyage, who were known to excel in different kinds of literature. The officers of the Bouffle were men of the best information and firmest resolution; and the crew contained a number of artificers in various branches of mechanics. Marine watches, &c. were provided, and M. Dagelet the astronomer was particularly directed to make observations with M. Condamine's invariable pendulum, to determine the differences in gravity, and to ascertain the true proportion of the equatorial to the polar diameter of the earth. It has likewise been made evident, that notwithstanding all that has been done by Captain Cook, there is still room for a farther investigation of the geography of the northern parts of the world. The object accordingly was taken up by the Empress of Russia, who committed the care of the enterprise to Captain Billings an Englishman in her majesty's service. We shall only make one observation more concerning the benefits likely to accrue from the voyages of Captain Cook, and that is relative to the settlement in Botany Bay. Whatever may be supposed to accrue to the nation itself from this settlement, it must undoubtedly give the highest satisfaction to every friend to humanity to be informed, that thus a number of unhappy wretches will be effectually prevented from returning to their former scenes of temptation and guilt, which may open to them the means of industrious subsistence and moral reformation. If the settlement be conducted with wisdom and prudence, indeed it is hard to say what beneficial consequences may be derived from it, or to what height it may arrive. Rome, the greatest empire the world ever saw, proceeded from an origin little, if at all, superior to Botany Bay. For an account of this settlement see the article New-Holland.

One other object remains only farther to be considered with regard to these voyages, and that is the advantages which may result from them to the discovered people. Here, however, it may perhaps be difficult to settle matters with precision. From the preceding accounts, it must be evident that the intentions of Captain Cook were in the highest degree benevolent; and if at any time the people were the sufferers, it must have been through their own fault. In one instance indeed it might be otherwise, and that is with respect to the venereal disease. The evidence in this case cannot be altogether satisfactory. Mr Samwell, who succeeded Mr Anderson as surgeon of the Resolution, has endeavoured to show, that the natives of the lately explored parts of the world, and especially of the Sandwich islands, were not injured by the English; and it was the constant care and solicitude of Captain Cook to prevent any infection from being communicated to the people where he came. But whether he was universally successful in this respect or not, it is evident that the late voyages were undertaken with a view exceedingly different from those of former times. The horrid cruelties of the Spanish conquerors of America cannot be remembered without concern for the cause of religion and human nature; but to undertake expeditions with a design of civilizing the world, and meliorating its condition, is certainly a noble object. From the long continued intercourse between this country and the South Sea islands, there cannot be any doubt that some degree of knowledge must already have been communicated to them. Their stock of ideas must naturally be enlarged by the number of uncommon observations which have been presented to them, and new materials furnished for the exercise of their rational faculties. A considerable addition must be made to their immediate comfort and enjoyment by the introduction of useful animals and vegetables; and if the only benefit they should ever receive from Britain should be the having obtained fresh means of subsistence, this of itself must be considered as a valuable acquisition. Greater consequences, however, may soon be expected. The connection formed with these people may be considered as the first step towards their improvement; and thus the blessings of civilization may be spread among the various tribes of Indians in the Pacific Ocean, which in time may prepare them for holding an honourable place among the nations of the earth.

As a supplement to this account of the discoveries made by Captain Cook himself, we shall here subjoin Captain Clerke's narrative of the subsequent part of the voyage by Captains Clerke, &c., until the return of the ships to England. At the time of Captain Cook's death, the great point of a north-west passage remained in some measure to be still determined; for though, by the event of the former attempt, it had been rendered highly improbable that they should succeed in this, it was still resolved to try whether or not, at certain seasons of the year, the ice might not be more open than they had hitherto found it. The first object that naturally occurred, however, was the recovery of Captain Cook's body; for which Mr King was of opinion that some vigorous measure ought instantly to be pursued. His motives for this, besides the personal regard he had for the Captain, were to abate the confidence which must be supposed to ensue on the part of the natives, which would probably incline them to dangerous attempts; and this the more particularly, as they had hitherto discovered much less fear of the fire-arms than other savage nations were accustomed to do. Mr Samwell also takes notice of the intrepidity of the natives in this respect; but attributes it, in the first instance, to ignorance of their effects; and in the next, to a notion, that as the effects of these arms were occasioned by fire, they might be counteracted by water. For this purpose they dipped their war-mats in water; but finding themselves equally vulnerable after this method had been pursued, they became more timid and cautious.

As matters stood at present, there was every reason to dread the consequences of a general attack upon the ships; and therefore Mr King was the more confirmed in his opinion of the necessity of doing something to convince them of the prowess of their adversaries. In these apprehensions he was seconded by the opinion of the greater part of the officers on board; and nothing seemed more likely to encourage the islanders to make the attempt than an appearance of being inclined to an accommodation, which they would certainly attribute to weakness or fear. Captain Clerke, however, and those who were in favour of conciliatory measures, urged, that the mischief was already irreparable; that the natives, by reason of their former friendship, had a strong claim to the regard of the English; and that the more particularly, as the late calamitous accident did not appear to have taken its rise from any premeditated design; they urged also the ignorance of the king concerning the theft, and the mistake of the islanders who had armed themselves on a supposition that some attempt would be made to carry off the king. To all this was added, that the ships were in want of refreshments, particularly water; that the Resolution's forecastle would require seven or eight days before it could be properly repaired; and as the spring was fast advancing, the speedy prosecution of the voyage to the northward... ought now to be the only object; that a vindictive content with the natives might not only justify an imputation of needless cruelty, but would occasion great delay in the equipment of the ships.

In consequence of the prevalence of these sentiments lenient measures were adopted, though the behaviour of the natives continued to be very insolent. A great body still kept possession of the shore; many of whom came off in their canoes within pistol-shot of the ships, and provoking the people by every kind of insult and defiance. A train of negotiations for Captain Cook's body took place; in which the natives showed the most hostile and treacherous disposition, and, as afterwards appeared, had cut the flesh from the bones and burnt it. A piece of about ten pounds weight was brought by two natives at the hazard of their lives, who gave information that the rest had been burnt, and that the bones were in the possession of the king and some of the principal chiefs. Information was given, at the same time, that the chiefs were very desirous of war in order to revenge the death of their countrymen.

Thus it appeared that the pacific plan had answered no good purpose. No satisfactory answer had been given to the demands made of the bodies of the slain; nor was any progress made in the great work intended, viz., a reconciliation with the natives; they still remained on shore in an hostile posture, as if determined to oppose any endeavours that might be made by our people to land; at the same time that a landing was become absolutely necessary, in order to complete the stock of water. Had this spiritless conduct been persisted in, there is not the least doubt that neither this purpose nor any other could have been effected. The insolence of the natives became every day greater and greater; infomuch that one of them had the audacity to come within musket-shot of the Resolution, and, after throwing several stones, waved Captain Cook's hat over his head, while his countrymen on shore were exulting and encouraging his audacity. By this insult the people were so highly enraged, that, coming on the quarter-deck in a body, they begged that they might no longer be obliged to put up with such reiterated provocation, but might be allowed to make use of the first opportunity of revenging the death of their Captain. The necessity of more vigorous measures, therefore, being now apparent, a few discharges of the great guns, with the burning of a village and some other acts of severity, at last produced the mangled remains of Captain Cook. They were wrapped up in a bundle, in which were found both his hands entire, which were easily known by a scar in one of them dividing the fore-finger from the thumb the whole length of the metacarpal bone. Along with these was the skull, but with the scalp separated from it, and the bones of the face wanting; the scalp, with the ears adhering to it, and the hair cut short; the bones of both the arms, with the skin of the fore-arms hanging to them; the bones of the thighs and legs joined together, but without the feet. The ligaments of the joints were observed to be entire; the whole showing evident marks of having been in the fire, except the hands, which had the flesh remaining upon them, and were cut in several places and crammed with salt, most probably for the purpose of preserving them. The skull was not fractured; but the scalp had a cut in the back part of it. The lower jaw and feet were wanting, having been seized by different chiefs.

Having accomplished the purposes of their stay in this place, Captain Clerke set sail from Karakakooa bay Unsuccessful in Owhyhee towards Mowee, with a design to explore further attempts the coasts of that island more fully than had been done, but were unable to accomplish their purpose; nor indeed was it in their power to accomplish any discovery of consequence among these islands. The only intelligence worth mentioning which they were able to procure was, that wars had ensued about the property of the goats which were left by Captain Cook on the island of Oneehow, as has been already mentioned, and that during the contest all these poor animals, who had already begun to multiply, were destroyed; so that the benevolent attempts of our illustrious navigator in favour of these islanders had proved abortive.

On quitting the island of Oneehow our navigators set sail for another named Modoopaapapa, which they were assured by the natives lay within five hours sailing of Tahooraa, a small island in the neighbourhood of Oneehow. In this they proved unsuccessful; on which it was determined to steer for the coast of Kamtchatka. In the passage thither they arrived at that place where de Gama is said to have discovered a great extent of land; but of this they could discover no appearance. This imaginary continent is said to have been discovered by a navigator called John de Gama, but who seems also to have been imaginary, as no person can find out either the country where he lived or the time when he made the discovery. We are informed by Muller, that the first account of it was published by Texeira in a chart in 1649, who places it between the latitude of 44 and 45 degrees, and about 160° E. Long. and calls it "land seen by John de Gama, in a voyage from China to New Spain." By the French geographers it is removed five degrees farther to the east. When they arrived at Kamtchatka they were entertained in the most hospitable manner, and furnished with everything that could be procured in that distant and barren region. "In this wretched extremity of the earth (says the narrator of the voyage), beyond conception barbarous and inhospitable, out of the reach of civilization, bound and barricaded with ice, and covered with summer snow, we experienced the tenderest feelings of humanity, joined to a nobleness of mind and elevation of sentiment which would have done honour to any clime or nation." From Major Behm, in particular, they received so many and so great obligations, that an handsome acknowledgment was made him by the Royal Society, as has been already observed. Even the sailors were so struck with his gratitude, that they voluntarily requested that their allowance of grog might be withheld, in order to compliment the garrison of Bolcheretsk with the spirits; saying, that they knew brandy was extremely scarce in that country, the soldiers on shore having offered four roubles a bottle for it. The officers, however, would not allow them to suffer by their generosity in this inclement country and season of the year (the month of March not being yet expired); but, in room of the small quantity of brandy which Major Behm consented to accept, substituted an equal quantity of rum. It is worth observing, that the kindness with which the emperors had ordered the British navigators to be treated in this part of her dominions was amply rewarded, even with no less than the addition of a new kingdom to the Russian empire, which hitherto her arms had not been able to subdue. Among the northern Asiatics none had been able to maintain their independence except the Tschutski, who inhabit the north-eastern extremity of the continent. No attempt to subdue these people had been made since the year 1759, when the Russian forces had at last been obliged to retreat, after having lost their commanding officer. The Russians afterwards removed their frontier fortresses from the river Anadyr to the Ingiga, which runs into the northern extremity of the sea of Okotik, and gives its name to a gulf to the west of the sea of Pennisk. On the day that Captains Clerke and Gore arrived at Bolcharetsk, Major Behm received dispatches from this fort, acquainting him that a party of the Tschutski had been there with voluntary offers of friendship and a tribute. That on asking the reason of such an unexpected alteration in their sentiments, they had acquainted his people, that two large Russian boats had visited them towards the end of the preceding summer; that they had been shown the greatest kindness by the people who were in them, and had entered into a league of amity with them; and that, in consequence of this, they came to the Russian fort in order to settle a treaty upon terms agreeable to both nations. This incident had occasioned much speculation, and could never have been understood without the assistance of those who were now present; the large Russian boats having been in truth no other than the Resolution and Discovery, under Captains Cook and Clerke.

About the middle of May the snow began to melt very fast in this inhospitable region, and the ships being now on their passage northward, met with an excellent opportunity of supplying themselves with fish. The beach was cleared of ice on the 15th of the month; from which time vast quantities came in from every quarter. Major Behm had ordered all the Kamtschadals to employ themselves in the service of the English ships; so that often they found it impossible to take on board the quantities that were sent. They chiefly consisted of herrings, trout, flat fish, and cod. These fish were here found in such plenty, that once the people of the Discovery surrounded such an amazing quantity with the seine, that they were obliged to throw out a very considerable number, lest the net should have been broken to pieces; and the cargo was still so abundant, that, besides having a stock for immediate use, they filled as many casks as they could conveniently spare for salting; and after sending on board the Resolution a tolerable quantity for the same purpose, they left behind several bushels upon the beach.

While they remained in this country an opportunity offered of observing the pernicious effects of spirituous liquors in producing the sea-scurvy. All the Russian soldiers were in a greater or lesser degree afflicted with that disorder, some of them being in the last stage of it; and it was particularly observed that a sergeant, with whom our people had kept up a most friendly intercourse, had, in the course of a few days, brought upon himself the most alarming symptoms, by drinking too freely of the liquors with which he had been presented by the English. Captain Clerke soon relieved them, by putting them under the care of the surgeons of the ships, and supplying them with four-kroft and malt for sweet wort. In consequence of this a surprising alteration was soon observed in the figures of most of them; and their speedy recovery was principally attributed to the sweet wort.

On the 12th of June they began to proceed northward along the coast of Kamtschatka, and three days of a violent eruption of one of the volcanoes of that peninsula. On the 15th, before daylight, they were surprised with a rumbling noise like distant thunder; and when the day appeared, found the decks and sides of the ships covered near an inch thick with fine dust like emery. The air was at the same time loaded and obscured with this substance; and in the neighbourhood of the volcano itself, it was so thick that the body of the hill could not be discovered. The explosions became more loud at 12 o'clock and during the afternoon, being succeeded by showers of cinders, generally of the size of peas, though some were as large as hazel-nuts. Along with these there also fell some small stones which had undergone no alteration from the action of the fire. In the evening there were dreadful claps of thunder with bright flashes of lightning, which, with the darkness of the sky, and the sulphureous smell of the air, produced a most awful and tremendous effect. The ships were at this time about 24 miles distant from the volcano; and it appeared that the volcanic shower had been carried to a still greater distance, as they next day found the bottom of the sea to consist of such small stones as had fallen upon the decks of the ships. The mountain was still observed to be in a state of eruption on the 18th.

For some time Captain Clerke kept the coast of Kamtschatka in view, with a design to make an accurate survey of it; but in this he was disappointed by the foggy and squally weather; however, he determined the position of some remarkable promontories, and at last finding the sea too far advanced to accomplish his design, set sail for Bering's Straits, chiefly with a view to ascertain the situation of the projecting points of the coast.

On the 3d of July our navigators came in sight of the island of St Lawrence, and another which was supposed to lie between it and Anderson's island. The latter being entirely unknown to Captain Clerke, he was inclined to have approached it, but was unable to effect his purpose. All these islands, as well as the coast of the Tschutski on the continent, were covered with snow, and had a dismal appearance.

In the preceding year Captain Cook had determined the situation of the Islands of St Diomede to be in 65° 48' latitude; but now being somewhat at a loss to reconcile this with the position of the continent, they stood for some time over to the latter, till fully convinced of the accuracy of the former observation. At this time they approached within two or three leagues of the eastern cape of Asia, which is an elevated round head of land extending about five miles from north to south, and forms a peninsula connected with the continent by a narrow isthmus of low land. It has a bold shore, and three lofty detached spiral rocks are seen off its northern part. It was still encompassed with ice, and is covered with snow. Here they found a strong current setting to the northward, which at noon had occasioned an error in the computation of the latitude of no less than 20 miles. A similar effect had been observed the preceding year in passing this strait. On steering to the north-east the weather cleared up, so that they had a view of the eastern cape of Asia, Cape Prince of Wales on the western coast of America, with a remarkable peaked hill on the latter, and the two islands of St Diomede lying between them. Here they met with great numbers of very small hawks, having a compressed bill rather large in proportion to the body; the colour dark brown, or rather black, the breast whitish, and towards the abdomen of a reddish hue.

On the 6th of July at 12 o'clock, the ships were in N. Lat. 67° 0'. E. Long. 191° 6. when having already passed many large pieces of ice, and observed that in several places it adhered to the continent of Asia, they were suddenly stopped about three in the afternoon by an extensive body, which stretched towards the west. By this their hopes of reaching any higher latitude than what had been attained last year were considerably diminished; but finding the course obstructed on the Asiatic side, they proceeded to the north eastward, in order to explore the continent of America, between the latitudes of 68° and 69°; which had last year been found impracticable on account of the foggy weather; but in this also they were partly disappointed; for on the 7th, about six in the morning, they met with another large body of ice stretching from north-west to south-east; but not long afterwards, the horizon becoming clear, they had a view of the American coast at the distance of about ten leagues, extending from north-east by east to east, and lying between N. Lat. 68° and 68° 20'. As the ice was not very high, the view extended a great way over it, so that they could perceive it exhibiting a compact solid surface, and apparently adhering to the land. Soon after the weather became hazy, so that they lost sight of the land; and it being impossible to get nearer, they continued to steer northward close by the side of the ice. This course was continued till next morning, during which time the ships passed some drift-wood; but the morning following, the wind shifting to the north, they were obliged to stand to the westward. At two in the afternoon they were again close to an immense expanse of ice, which from the mast head seemed to consist of very large compact bodies, united towards the exterior edge, though in the interior parts some pieces floated in the water; it extended from west south-west to north-east by north. There was now a necessity for steering towards the south, as the strong northerly winds had drifted down such numbers of loose pieces, that they had encompassed the ships for some time, and it was impossible to avoid very severe strokes while sailing among them. Thus, however, they reached the latitude of 69° 12' and E. Long. 188° 5'; but having now sailed almost 40 leagues to the west along the edge of the ice without perceiving any opening, Captain Clerke determined to bear away south by east, the only quarter which was clear at present, and to wait till the season was somewhat farther advanced before any further attempts were made. The intermediate time he proposed to employ in surveying the bay of St Lawrence, and the coast situated to the southward of it; as it must be a great satisfaction to have an harbour so near in case of the ships receiving any damage from the ice; and the Captain was also desirous of paying another visit to the Tschutski, especially in consequence of the accounts of them that had been given by Major Behn. In this navigation they killed several sea-horses, and had an opportunity of observing the strength of parental affection in those monstrous animals. On the approach of the boats towards the ice, all of them took their young ones under their fins, and attempted to make their escape with them into the sea. Some, whose cubs were killed or wounded, and left floating upon the surface of the water, rose again, and carried them down, sometimes just as they were on the point of being taken into the boat; and could be traced bearing them to a considerable distance through the water, which was stained with their blood. They were afterwards observed bringing them at intervals above the surface, and again plunging under its surface with an horrid bellowing; and one female, whose young one had been killed and taken on board, became so furious, that she struck her tails through the bottom of the cutter.

Our navigators still found themselves disappointed in their attempts. On approaching the coast of the finally stopped Tschutski they met with a large and compact body of ice, extending to the north-east, south-west, and south-east, as far as the eye could reach; so that they were again obliged to sail back to the northward. Here also their course was soon stopped; for, on the 13th, being in N. Lat. 69° 37', and about the middle of the channel between the two continents, they once more fell in with a compact body of ice, of which they could perceive no limit. Captain Clerke therefore determined to make a final attempt on the coast of America, the passage northward having been found last year practicable much farther on that than the Asiatic side. Thus they attained the latitude of 70° 8' at the distance, as was supposed, of 25 leagues from the coast of America; and some days after got about three minutes farther to the northward, about the distance of seven or eight leagues from the Icy Cape. This, however, was the utmost limit of the voyage to the north-east; and they were soon obliged to relinquish all hopes of proceeding farther on the American side. Another effort was still resolved on to try the practicability of a north-west passage; and for this purpose our navigators altered their direction on the 21st of July, passing through a great quantity of loose ice. About ten at night the main body was discovered at a very small distance, so that they were obliged to proceed to the southward. During this perilous navigation, the Discovery, after having almost got clear out from the ice, became so entangled by several large pieces, that her progress was stopped, and she very immediately dropped to leeward, falling broadside foremost on the edge of a considerable body of ice, on which she struck with violence, there being an open sea to windward. At length the mass was either broken or moved so far, that the crew had an opportunity of making an effort to escape. But unluckily, before the ship gathered way sufficient to be under command, she fell to leeward a second time upon another... other piece of ice; and the swell rendering it unsafe to lie to windward, and finding no prospect of getting clear, they pushed into a small opening, and made the vessel fast to the ice with hooks. Here the Resolution for some time lost sight of her consort, which occasioned no small uneasiness in both vessels; but at length, on a change of wind, the Discovery, setting all her sails, forced a passage, though not without losing a considerable part of her sheathing, and becoming very leaky by reason of the blows she had received.

Thus the two vessels continued to make every effort to penetrate through the immense quantities of ice with which those seas are filled winter and summer, but without success. Captain Clerke therefore finding that it was impossible either to get to the northward, or even to reach the Asiatic continent, the ships being also greatly damaged, determined to proceed southward to the bay of Awatska, on the Kamtchadale coast, to refit, and afterwards take a survey of the coasts of Japan before the winter should set in.

During this navigation, two general conclusions were adopted relative to the extent of the Asiatic coast, in opposition to the opinion of Mr Muller. One is, that the promontory, called the East Cape, is in reality the most easterly point of Asia; and that no part of that quarter of the globe extends farther than the longitude of $190^\circ 22' \text{E}$. The other conclusion is, that the latitude of the most northerly point of Asia does not exceed $70^\circ N$, but is rather somewhat below it.

As the present discoveries, however, were terminated on the Asiatic side in the 60th degree of latitude, the probable direction of the coast afterwards can only be conjectured. The only sources of knowledge in this case are the Russian charts and journals; and these in general are so defective and contradictory, that the particulars of their real discoveries can scarce be collected. Hence the Russian geographers are greatly divided in their opinions concerning the extent and figure of the peninsula of the Tschutski. Mr Muller, in a map published in 1754, supposes it to extend northeast as far as the latitude of $75^\circ$ and E. Long. $190^\circ$, ending in a round cape which he calls Tschukafkoi Nos.

To the southward of this cape he supposes the coast to form a bay to the west, bounded in the latitude of $67^\circ 18'$ by Serdze Kamen, the most northerly point observed by Bering in his expedition in 1728. A new form is given to the whole peninsula in a map published by the academy at Petersburg in 1776. Here its most northerly extremity is placed in N. Lat. $73^\circ$, E. Long. $178^\circ 30'$; and its most easterly point in N. Lat. $65^\circ$, E. Long. $189^\circ 30'$. All the other maps vary between these two situations; and the only thing in which all of them agree is the position of the east cape in N. Lat. $66^\circ$. The form of the coast, however, is very erroneous in the map published by the academy, and may be entirely disregarded. In Mr Muller's map, the northern part of the coast has some resemblance to that laid down in Captain Cook's and Clerke's survey, as far as the latter extends; only that Mr Muller does not make it trend sufficiently to the west, but supposes it to recede only five degrees of longitude between the latitudes of $66^\circ$ and $69^\circ$; whereas it really recedes almost ten.

We must next examine Mr Muller's authority for No. 91, supposing the coast to bend round to the north and north-east in such a manner as to form a large promontory. Mr Cox, whose accurate researches into this matter must give great weight to his opinion, thinks, that the extremity of the promontory was never doubted by any person except Defneff and his party; who failed, in the year 1648, from the river Kovyma, and are imagined to have got round to the river Anadyr. The account of this voyage, however, gives no geographical delineation of the coast, so that its figure must be determined by other circumstances; and from these it evidently appears, that the Tschukafkoi Nos of Defneff is in reality the East Cape of Captain Cook. Speaking of this Nos, he says, that a person, with a favourable wind, may sail from the isthmus to the Anadyr in three days and three nights. This agrees entirely with the situation of the East Cape, which is about 120 leagues from the mouth of the river Anadyr; and there being no other isthmus to the north between that and the latitude of $66^\circ$, it seems evident, that by this description he certainly means either the East Cape or some other situated to the southward of it. In another place he says, that opposite to the isthmus there are two islands, upon which some of the Tschutski nation were observed, having pieces of the teeth of sea-horses fixed in their lips; and this exactly coincides with the two islands that lie to the south east of the East Cape. Our navigators indeed did not observe any inhabitants upon these islands; but it is by no means improbable, that some of those from the American coast, whom the above description perfectly suits, might have accidentally been there at the time, and been mistaken for a tribe of Tschutski.

Other circumstances, though less decisive than those just mentioned, concur in the same proof. Defneff says, that in sailing from the Kovyma to the Anadyr, a great promontory, which projects far into the sea, must be doubled; and that this promontory extends between north and north-east. From these expressions, perhaps, Mr Muller was induced to represent the country of the Tschutski in the form we find in his map; but if he had been acquainted with the position of the East Cape as determined by Captain Cook, and the striking agreement between that and the promontory or isthmus in the circumstances above mentioned, it is most probable that he would not have deemed these expressions of sufficient weight to authorise his extending the north-eastern extremity of Asia either as far to the north or to the east as he has done.

Another authority used by Mr Muller seems to have been the deposition of the Cosiac Popoff, taken at the Anadiriskoi Ostrog in 1711. Popoff was sent by land, in company with several others, to demand tribute of the independent Tschutski tribes, who inhabited the country about the Nos. In the account of this journey, the distance between Anadirik and Tschukafkoi Nos is represented as a journey of ten weeks with loaded rein-deer. From such a vague account, indeed, we can judge but very little; but as the distance between the East Cape and Anadirik does not exceed 200 leagues, and consequently might be accomplished in the space above mentioned at the rate of 12 or 14 miles a-day, we cannot reckon Popoff's account of its situation inconsistent with the supposition of its being the East Cape. It may likewise be observed, that Popoff's rout lay along the foot of a rock named Matkol, situated at the bottom of a spacious gulf, which Muller supposes to have been the bay he lays down between the latitudes of 66° and 72°; and he accordingly places the rock Matkol in the centre of it: but it seems more probable, that it might be a part of the gulf of Anadyr, which they would undoubtedly pass in their journey towards the East Cape.

But what seems to put the matter beyond all doubt, and to prove that the cape which Popoff visited cannot be to the northward of 69° Lat. is that part of his deposition which relates to an island lying off the Nofs, from whence the opposite coast might be discerned; for as the opposite continents, in the latitude of 69°, diverge so far as to be upwards of 100 leagues distant, it is highly improbable that the Asiatic coast should again trend eastward in such a manner as to come almost in sight of that of America. As an additional proof of the position in question, we may observe, that the T'chukotkoi Nofs is constantly laid down as dividing the sea of Kovyma from that of Anadyr; which could not possibly be the case if any large cape had projected to the north-east in the higher latitudes.

The next question to be determined is, to what degree of latitude the northern coast of Asia extends before it inclines directly westward? Captain Cook was always strongly inclined to believe, that the northern coast of this continent, from the Indigirka eastward, has hitherto been usually laid down above two degrees to the northward of its true situation; for which reason, and on the authority of a map that was in his possession, as well as from intelligence received at Oonalakhtha, he placed the mouth of the Kovyma in the latitude of 68 degrees. Should he be right in his conjecture, it is probable that the coast of Asia does not anywhere extend beyond the latitude of 70 degrees before it trends to the west; and consequently our navigators must have been only one degree from its northern extremity. This seems to be confirmed by the silence of the Russian navigators concerning any extent of continent to the northward of Shelatikoi Nofs; nor do they mention any remarkable promontory, except the East Cape, between the Anadyr and the Kovyma. Another particular which Defneff relates may perhaps be deemed a farther confirmation of this opinion, viz., that he met with no obstruction from ice in sailing round the north-eastern extremity of Asia; though he adds, that this Sea is not at all times so free of it, which indeed appears evidently to be the case. That part of the continent which lies between Cape North and the mouth of the Kovyma is about 125 leagues in extent. A third part of this space, from Kovyma eastward, was explored in the year 1723 by Feodot Amoloff, who informed Mr Muller that its direction was easterly. Since that time it has been surveyed with some accuracy by Shalauroff, whose chart makes it trend north-east-by-east as far as Shelatikoi Nofs, which he places at the distance of about 43 leagues east of the Kovyma. The space therefore between the Nofs and Cape North, somewhat more than 80 leagues, is the only part of the Russian dominions now remaining unexplored. But if the Kovyma be erroneously laid down in point of longitude as well as latitude, a supposition far from being improbable, the extent of the undiscovered coast will be considerably diminished. The following are the reasons why it may be supposed that the mouth of the Kovyma is placed too far to the westward in the Russian charts:

1. Because the accounts that have been given of the navigation of the Frozen Ocean from that river round the north-eastern extremity of Asia to the Gulf of Anadyr, do not agree with the supposed distance between those places.

2. Because the distance from the Anadyr to the Kovyma over land is by some Russian travellers represented as a journey of no very great length, and easily performed.

3. Because the coast from the Shelatikoi Nofs of Shalauroff appears to trend directly south-east towards the East Cape. From all which it may be inferred, with some degree of probability, that only 60 miles of the northern Asiatic coast remain to be explored.

With regard to a north-west passage from the Atlantic into the Pacific Ocean, it is highly probable that no such thing exists to the southward of the 56th degree of latitude. If, in reality, it exists anywhere, east passage must certainly be either through Baffin's Bay, or into the north of Greenland in the western hemisphere, or in the eastern through the frozen sea to the north of Siberia; so that in whichever continent it is situated the navigator must pass through Beering's Straits. All that remains now to be considered therefore is, the impracticability of penetrating into the Atlantic Ocean through these Straits. From the voyages of our navigators it appears, that the sea to the northward of Beering's Straits is more free from ice in August than in July, and perhaps may be still more so in some part of September. But after the autumnal equinox, the length of the day diminishes so fast that no farther thaw can be expected; and it would be unreasonable to attribute so great an effect to the warmth of the last fortnight of September as to imagine it capable of dispersing the ice from the most northern parts of the American coast. Even admitting this to be possible, it must at least be allowed that it would be highly imprudent to endeavour to avoid the Icy Cape, by running to the known parts of Baffin's Bay, a distance of about 1260 miles, in so short a time as that passage can be supposed to be open. On the side of Asia there appears still less probability of success, as appears from the testimony of the Russian as well as the English navigators. The voyage of Defneff indeed proves the possibility of circumnavigating the north-eastern extremity of Asia; but even this affords a very slender foundation to hope for any great benefit, as no person besides himself appears to have succeeded in the attempt, though more than a century and a half has now elapsed since the time of his voyage. But even supposing that, in some very favourable season, this cape might be doubled, till the Cape of Taimura remains, extending as far as the 78th degree of latitude, and round which none pretend ever to have sailed.

These arguments seem conclusive against any expectation of a north-west or north-east passage to the East Indies, unless on the supposition of an open sea very near the polar regions. The probability of getting into the polar seas is considered under the article Pole; and indeed from what has already been advanced must appear very little. Waving this subject therefore at present, we shall return to the remarks made by our navigators during their second voyage. In this they did little more than confirm what had been observed during the first; for it never was in their power to approach the continent of Asia in any higher latitude than 67°, nor that of America in any part, excepting a few leagues, between 68° and 68° 20', which they had not seen before. In both years the ice was met with sooner on the Asiatic than the American coast; but in 1779 they met with it in lower latitudes than in 1778. As they proceeded northward, the ice was found universally more compact and solid, though they were astonished at the same time that the greatest part of what they met with was moveable. Its height on a medium was estimated at eight or ten feet; though some of the highest might be about 16 or 18. The currents were generally at the rate of one mile in the hour, and more generally set from the south-west than from any other quarter. Their force, however, was so inconsiderable, whatever their direction might be, that no conclusion could possibly be drawn from them concerning the existence or non-existence of a northern passage. With regard to the temperature of the weather, July was found much colder than August. In the former, the thermometer was once at 28°, and very frequently at 30°; whereas during the last year it was very uncommon in August to have it as low as the freezing point. High winds were experienced in both seasons, all of which blew from the south-west. The air was foggy whenever the weather became calm; but the fogs were observed to accompany southerly winds much more than others.

The straits, in the nearest approach of the continents to each other, in the latitude of 66°, are about 13 leagues over; beyond which they diverge to N. E. by E. and W. N. W.; so that in the latitude of 66°, their distance from each other is about 300 miles. A great resemblance is observed betwixt the continents on both sides of the straits. Both are destitute of wood; the shores are low, with mountains further inland, rising to a great height. The foundings in the mid way between them were from 29 to 30 fathoms, gradually decreasing as either continent was approached; with this difference, however, that the water was somewhat shallower on the coast of America than that of Asia, at an equal distance from land. The bottom, towards the middle, was a soft slimy mud; and near either shore was a brownish sand intermixed with a few shells and small fragments of bones. There was but little tide or current, and what there was came from the west.

Before the ships could reach the peninsula of Kamtschatka, Captain Clerke expired; in consequence of which the command devolved upon Mr King, Captain Gore being now the superior officer. On the return to Kamtschatka, Captain Clerke was buried in the spot on which a church was to be erected; it having been his own desire to be interred in the church.

By the time they arrived at this peninsula, the face of the country was greatly improved; the fields being covered with the most lively verdure, and every plant in the most flourishing state. The eruption of the volcano which they had observed on their last departure from Kamtschatka, had done little or no damage notwithstanding its violence. Several stones had fallen about the size of a goose's egg, but none larger. At this visit it was observed by our navigators, that the complexes of the Russians seemed to be much more unhealthy and fallow than when they saw them formerly; and the Russians made the same observation upon the complexes of their guests. As no certain cause for this alteration could be perceived, the blame was by both parties laid on the verdure of the country; which, by contrasting itself with the colour of the people, made the latter appear to disadvantage.

Having repaired as well as they could the damages sustained by the ships among the ice, our navigators now began to proceed on their voyage southward; but the shattered condition of their vessels, with the little time they had now to spare on voyages of discovery, after having been so long at sea, now rendered them much less successful than formerly. Before leaving the peninsula, however, they took care to give such a description of the bay of Awatika as must be of great service to future navigators. This bay lies in 52° 51' N. Lat. and 158° 48' E. Long. in the bight of another bay formed by Cape Gavareca to the south, and Cheeponkoi Nofs to the north. The latter of these bears from the former N. E. by N. and is 32 leagues distant. From Cape Gavareca to the entrance of Awatika bay the coast takes a northerly direction, and extends about 11 leagues. It consists of a chain of ragged cliffs and rocks, and in many parts presents an appearance of bays or inlets; but on a nearer view, low grounds were perceived by which the headlands were connected. From the entrance of Awatika bay, Cheeponkoi Nofs bears E. N. E. distant 17 leagues. The shore on this side is flat and low, with hills behind gradually rising to a considerable height. The latitude of Cape Gavareca is 52° 21'. By this remarkable difference of the land on both sides the Cape, navigators may be directed in their course towards it from the southward. When they approach it from the northward, Cheeponkoi Nofs becomes very conspicuous; it being a high projecting headland, and united to the continent by a large extent of level ground lower than the Nofs; and presents the same appearance whether viewed from the north or south. Should the weather happen to be sufficiently clear to admit a view of the mountains both on the sea coast and in the neighbourhood, the situation of Awatika bay may be known by the two high ones to the south of it. That nearest the bay is in the form of a sugar loaf, the other flat at top and not quite so high. Three very conspicuous mountains appear on the north side of the bay; of which that to the west appears to be the highest; the next, being a volcano, is readily known by the smoke which it emits; the third is the most northerly, and might properly be called a clutter of mountains, as it presents several flat tops to view. When got within the capes, the entrance of the bay of Awatika to the north is pointed out by a light-house on a perpendicular head-land. Many sunken rocks lie to the eastward of this head-land, stretching two or three miles into the sea; and which with a moderate sea or swell will always show themselves. A small round island lies four miles to the south of the entrance, principally composed of high pointed rocks, one of which is very remarkable. The entrance into the bay is at first about three miles wide, and one and an half in the narrowest part; the length is four miles in a north-west direction. Within the mouth is a noble... noble basin about 25 miles in circumference; in which are the harbours of Rakoweera to the east, Tarcinika to the west, and St Peter and St Paul to the north.

On leaving Kamtschaka, it was unanimously judged improper to make any attempt to navigate the seas between the continent of Asia and Japan. Instead of this, it was proposed to steer to the eastward of that island, and in the way thither to sail along the Kuriles; examining particularly those that are situated nearest to the northern coast of Japan, which are said to be considerable, and neither subject to the Russians nor Japanese. In case they should have the good fortune to meet with some secure and commodious harbours in any of these islands, it was supposed that they might prove of considerable importance, as convenient places of shelter for subsequent navigators, who might be employed in exploring the seas as the means of producing a commercial intercourse among the adjacent dominions of the two above mentioned empires. The next object was to take a survey of the coasts of the islands of Japan; after which they designed to sail for the coast of China as far north as possible, and then fall along it southward to Macao.

In pursuance of this plan, they sailed along the coast of Kamtschatka, till they came to the southern point called Cape Lopatka, whose situation they determined to be in Lat. 51° E. Long. 156° 45'. To the north-west they observed a very lofty mountain whose summit was lost in the clouds; and the same instant the first of the Kurile islands, named Shoomska, made its appearance in the direction of west, half south. The passage betwixt the southern extremity of Cape Lopatka and the island of Shoomska, though only one league in breadth, is extremely dangerous, both on account of the rapidity of the tides, and of the rocky rocks which lie off the Cape. In the course of this voyage, they had occasion to observe, that a violent swell from the north-east frequently took place, though the wind had been for some time in the western quarter; a circumstance for which they seem to have been altogether unable to account.

The tempestuous weather which now occurred, prevented any discoveries from being made among the Kurile Isles; however, they again sailed over the space assigned to the land of De Gama, without being able to find it; and from comparing several accounts of the Russian navigators with one another, it was judged extremely probable, that the land of Jejo, so frequently laid down in former maps, is no other than the most southerly of the Kurile Isles. On coming in view of the coast of Japan, they had the mortification to find that they could not approach the land by reason of the tempestuous weather and bad state of the ships; the coasts of these islands being extremely dangerous. Passing from thence in quest of the Baffin Islands, they found amazing quantities of pumice-stone floating in the sea; so that they seemed inclined to believe, with Mr Muller, that if there had formerly been any part of the continent, or large island, called the Land of Jejo, it must have disappeared in a volcanic convulsion; which also must have been the case with that called the Company's Land and Staten Island. Though they had not the good fortune to find the Baffin Islands, they discovered one in 24° 48' N. Lat. 141° 20' E. Long., which from its appearance, and the sulphurous smell emitted by it, they named Sulphur Island. After this nothing remarkable occurred till their arrival at Canton in China, where having laid for some time in order to put their ships in repair, they at last set sail for Britain; but through treacherous weather were driven as far north as Stromness in Orkney. From thence Captain Gore sent a dispatch to the Lords of the Admiralty to inform them of his arrival; and on the 4th of October 1780 the ships reached the Nore, after an absence of 4 years 2 months and 22 days.