492 THE PROGRESS OF MARITIME DISCOVERY. 
After having thus illumined with the torch of science the 
farthest extremities of the earth, Cook once more steered to the 
south and discovered Hawaii, the largest of the Sandwich Islands. 
But better had it been for him if the glory of this discovery had 
fallen to the share of some other navigator, for it was here that. 
the illustrious seaman, who had thrice circumnavigated the 
globe, was doomed to fall by the club of a barbarous savage. 
No navigator has ever made so many important discoveries 
at such distances from each other as Cook, or done more for the 
progress of geographical knowledge. The wide Pacific he so 
thoroughly explored, that his successors found only single ears 
to glean where he had reaped the richest harvest. With the 
firm resolution and the indomitable perseverance of the ancient 
mariners who preceded him on that vast ocean, he combined a 
scientific knowledge they never possessed. What they had only 
flightily observed, or imperfectly described, he in reality dis- 
covered, and indelibly marked upon the map of the globe. 
Indefatigable with the astrolabe and the plummet, he neglected 
no opportunity of pointing out to his successors both the dan- 
gers they would have to avoid, and the harbours in which they 
might find a refuge against storms, and a supply of fresh water 
and provisions. His excellent method of preserving the health 
of seamen from the murderous attacks of the scurvy, secures 
him a lasting place among the benefactors of mankind. But he 
not only anxiously watched over the welfare of his companions— 
his humanity extended a no less salutary influence over the 
savages with whom he came in contact. He everywhere sought to 
better their condition, made them presents of useful animals and 
seeds, and pointed out to them the advantages of peace and agri- 
culture. But his chief praise remains yet to be told, and this is, 
that he owed the high position he acquired in life exclusively to 
himself. He whose fame reached as far as the limits of the 
civilised world, and whose death was mourned as a national 
calamity, was the son of a poor labourer, and had commenced 
his career as a common sailor. 
The most celebrated navigators during the last quarter of the 
eighteenth century were Vancouver and La Peyrouse. 
Vancouver, who had accompanied Cook on his last and fatal 
voyage, gained his chief laurels (1790) by thoroughly exploring 
the north-west coast of America, which his illustrious friend had 
