320 DISCOVERIES OF 1779' 



northward, and both continents were obstructed 

 by a sea blocked up with ice, it w^as deemed 

 fruitless by both Captains, with respect to the 

 design of the voyage, to make any further at- 

 tempts toward a passage ; and they determined, 

 therefore, to lose no more time in what Captain 

 Clerke concluded to be an unattainable object, but 

 to sail for Awatska Bay, to repair the damages. 



" I will not," says Captain King, " endeavour 

 to conceal the joy that brightened the counte- 

 nance of every individual, as soon as Captain 

 Clerke's resolutions were made known. We were 

 all heartily sick of a navigation full of dan- 

 ger, and in which the utmost perseverance had 

 not been repaid with the smallest probability of 

 success. We therefore turned our faces toward 

 home, after an absence of three years, with a 

 delight and satisfaction, which, notwithstanding 

 the tedious voyage we had still to make, and the 

 immense distance we had to run, v/ere as freely 

 entertained, and perhaps as fully enjoyed, as if 

 we had been already in sight of the Land's- 

 end."* 



RICHARD PICKERSGILL. 177^- 



To give facility to the success of Captain 

 Cook's expedition, in the event of his reaching 



* Cook's last Voyage, vol. iii. 



