TO THE KING. 



In availing myself of Your Majesty's gracious 

 permission to dedicate this work to Your Majesty, 

 I feel that I am performing a most pleasing duty. 



The claims of Your Majesty's family on the gra- 

 titude of the nation, for the efficient patronage they 

 have afforded to maritime discovery, require merely 

 to be alluded to, to ensure the attention of every 

 well-wisher to his country. 



Under a less powerful Sovereign than your "Royal 

 Father, the voyages of Cook and Vancouver, in all 

 probability, would never have been projected, and 

 could hardly have prospered ; while it is certain 

 that the expeditions of Parry and Franklin owed 

 their chief distinction to the enlightened encourage- 

 ment of His late Majesty. 



But these great enterprises — so productive of 

 national renown — so extensively useful in diffusing 

 the blessings of civilization over distant and savage 



vol. i. h 



