ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION. 



211 



ments. He circumnavigated the south polar region, and reached 

 latitudes which in some parts of his circuit have not yet been 

 passed. Cook's magnificent results were all the more remarkable 

 because of his distaste of the work. He described the sea as 'so 

 pestered with ice/ and the lands as having 'an inexpressibly horrid 

 aspect, and though he saw the beauty of the icebergs he regarded them 

 with a 'mind filled with horror.' While so many coasts were uncharted 

 and so many seas were unsurveyed Cook thought it a preposterous waste 

 of time to hunt for a land, which, even if it existed, would be abso- 

 lutely useless to his or to several succeeding generations. At times 

 Cook was so impressed by the worthless nature of the Antarctic lands, 

 that he believed they would be severely let alone when men heard his 

 report of them and that they are uninhabited, uninhabitable and trade- 

 less. If any one go further south than I have been, said Cook, 'I shall 

 not envy him the honor of the discovery, but I will be bold to say that 

 the world will not be benefited by it.' 



Sketch Map of the Antarctic Tract, giving the More Important Points that have 

 been named bv navigators. 



All through Cook's journal we feel his irritation at having been 

 sent on a mission which he regarded as a waste of his time and powers. 

 He was comforted by the thought that he had, however, finally shown 



