CONYBEARE, VERY REV. WILLIAM. 



COOK, CAPTAIN JAMES. 



370 



There have been likewise several men of learning of the family of 

 Contarini, such as Cardinal Gaspare Contarini, in the 16th century, 

 who was employed on several important missions, and wrote many 

 philosophical and theological works ; among others, ' De Immortalitate 

 Auinue adversua Petrum Pomponacium,' ' De Libero Arbitrio et 

 Pradeatinatione," and also a treatise, ' De Magistratibus et Republic* 

 Venetorum.' His works were collected and published together at 

 Paris, folio, 1571. Vincenzo Contarini was professor at Padua at the 

 beginning of the 17th century. He wrote several works on classical 

 erudition ; ' De re frumentaria,' ' De ililitari Romanorurn Stipendio,' 

 and ' Variarum Lectionum Liber." 



*CONYBEARE, VERY REV. WILLIAM DANIEL, Dean of 

 Llandaff, was born at his father's rectory, St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, 

 7th of June 1787. He entered Christchurch College, Oxford, in 

 January 1805, and took his degrees B.A. in 1808, and M.A. in 1811. 

 Mr. Conybeare was one of the earliest promoters of the Geological 

 Society, and the important services he has rendered to geological 

 science may be seen in his numerous papers printed in the Society's 

 ' Transactions. 1 He is the discoverer of the Pleaiosaurus, that strangest 

 of all the antediluvian monsters, and for his descriptions of the animal 

 Cuvier paid him the highest compliment that can be offered by one 

 scientific philosopher to another. His papers on the coal-fields, giving 

 a description of the physical geography of important districts, estab- 

 lishing the relations of some of the most remarkable British rocks, 

 and their order of superposition, have ever since furnished data for 

 practical purposes, and shown how the absurd mistakes of mining 

 speculators were to be avoided. As will be seen from the subjoined 

 titles, hU researches have extended to various branches of inquiry. 

 His first paper presented to the Geological Society is ' On the Origin of 

 a remarkable class of Organic Impressions occurring in Nodules of 

 Flint,' vol. ii., 1814; 'Descriptive Notes referring to the Outline of 

 Sections presented by a part of the Coasts of Antrim and Derry,' 

 ToL iii., 1816, made in a tour conjointly with the Rev. Dr. Buckland, 

 Dean of Westminster; 'Notice of the Discovery of a New Fossil 

 Animal, forming a link between the Ichthyosaurus and Crocodile,' &c., 

 vol. v., 1821. In vol. i., new series, 1824, further notices are given, 

 and ' On the discovery of an almost perfect Skeleton of the Plesio- 

 saurus ;' and the same volume contains ' Observations on the South- 

 western Coal District of England,' written jointly with the Dean of 

 Westminster ; ' Extraordinary Landslip and great convulsion of the 

 Coast near Axmouth,' Jameson's 'Edin. Journal,' 1840; 'On the 

 Phenomena of Geology which seem to bear most directly on Theo- 

 retical speculations,' ' Phil. Mag.,' vols. viii. and ix., second series ; ' On 

 the Structure and Extent of the South- Welsh Coal Basin,' 16. vol. xi. ; 

 ' Outlines of the Geology of England and Wales ; with an introductory 

 Compendium of the general principles of that Science/ &c., 8vo, 

 London, 1822 (jointly with \V. Phillips). He also drew up the 'Report 

 on the Progress, actual state, and ulterior prospects of Geological 

 Science,' published in the first volume of the ' Reports of the British 

 Association.' 



Mr. Conybeare was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1819. 

 He is a fellow of the Geological Society, and corresponding member of 

 the Institute of France. He became Dean of Llaudatf in 1845, having 

 previously been public preacher in his own university, and Bampton 

 lecturer in 1839. 



COOK, CAPTAIN JAMES, was the son of an agricultural labourer 

 and farm-bailiff', resident at Mat-ton in Yorkshire, six miles from 

 Stockton-upon-Tees, and was born October 27, 1728. At an early age 

 he was apprenticed to a haberdasher at the fishing-town of StaithK, 

 near Whitby. Here his genius soon showed its true bent ; and having 

 procured a discharge from his master, he apprenticed himself to a 

 firm engaged in the coal trade at Whitby, in whose service he con- 

 tinued, rising gradually, till he attained the situation of mate. Being 

 in the Thames in 1755, when men were greatly sought after, he 

 resolved to take his chance as a volunteer in the royal navy. He was 

 soon distinguished as a skilful and trustworthy seaman ; and such 

 effectual interest, backed by the favourable testimony of Captain 

 (afterwards Sir) Hugh 1'alliser, was made in his behalf at the Admi- 

 ralty by some Yorkshire gentlemen, that in May 1759 he was appointed 

 matter, first of the 'Grampus' sloop, and afterwards of the 'Mercury,' 

 in which he was present at the siege and capture of Quebec by Wolfe. 

 He gave eminent proofs of skill and resolution, in taking soundings of 

 the river opposite to the French fortified camp, preparatory to an 

 attack thereon, a difficult and dangerous service, which he performed 

 BO well that be win afterwards employed to lay down a chart of the 

 river from Quebec to the sea. This chart was published, aud for a 

 long time wa-> the only one in use. 



in the same autumn he was promoted to be master of the 'Northum- 

 berland ' man-of-war, in which he served till 1762, when the ship 

 returned to England. During the winter of 1759-60, which he passed 

 at Halifax in Nova Scotia, he employed the leisure which the season 

 gave him in beginning the study of mathematics, with a view to 

 qualify himself for the higher departments of his profession. In 1763 

 he went out to survey the Newfoundland Islands; and in 1764, on the 

 appointment of Sir Hugh Palliser to be governor, Cook was appointed 

 marine surveyor of Newfoundland and Labrador. The fruit of his 

 labours during the four years in which he held that office was embodied 

 in hi* valuable charts of those countries. 



The credit which he acquired in the discharge of his functions at 

 Newfoundland, was the cause of his selection, in 1767, as a fit person 

 to conduct a voyage undertaken into the South Pacific Ocean, for 

 astronomical and geographical purposes. On this occasion Mr. Cook 

 was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. For an account of the 

 origin and objects of this undertaking, and the course of the voyagers 

 as far as Otaheite, we refer to the article BANKS, SIR JOSEPH. The 

 transit of Venus having been satisfactorily observed on the 3rd of 

 June, Cook resumed his voyage July 13, 1769, and after cruising for a 

 month among the other Society Islands, sailed southward in quest of 

 the unknown continent, Terra Australia Incognita, which was formerly 

 supposed to exist somewhere, as a counterpoise to the great mass of 

 land in the northern hemisphere. Lofty mountains were seen 

 October 6th, and it was supposed that the object of their search was 

 found. The land however proved to be New Zealand, which had not 

 been visited by Europeans since it was discovered by Tasman in 1642. 

 Cook spent six months in sailing round it, and found it to consist of 

 two large islands, divided by a narrow channel. The warlike and 

 savage temper of the natives hindered him from doing much to ex- 

 plore the interior. Sailing westward, he reached New Holland, or, as 

 it is now called, Australia, April 19, 1770, and ran down its eastern 

 side from lat. 38 to its northern extremity at Torres Strait, lat. 104, 

 where he took possession of the coast which he had explored in the 

 name of Great Britain, and denominated it New South Wales. He 

 then shaped his course towards New Guinea, aud by passing between 

 them proved what had been disputed, that Australia and New Guinea 

 were distinct islands. Of the various interesting adventures and 

 narrow escapes which occurred to the navigators during their long 

 sojourn among savage tribes and unknown seas, especially that diffi- 

 cult aud tedious navigation of near 2000 miles along one of the most 

 dangerous coasts in the world, we have no room to speak. Cook 

 continued his voyage by Timor and the south coast of Java to Batavin 

 (Oct. 9), where he was compelled to stay two months and a half to 

 repair the ship, which had received most dangerous injuries among the 

 coral-reefs of New South Wales. The pestilential climate of Batavia 

 proved very fatal to the ship's crew, already weakened by the hard- 

 ships of their long voyage. Seven died at Batavia, and twenty-three 

 more on the voyage to the Cape of Good Hope. The 'Endeavour' 

 anchored in the Downs on the 12th of June 1771. 



Shortly after his return Cook was promoted to the rank of com- 

 mander. His journal and the papers of Mr. Banks were entrusted to 

 Dr. Hawkesworth, who from these documents, and the materials of 

 Captains Byron, Wallis, and Carteret, published an account of the 

 several voyages of discovery undertaken during the reign of George III. 

 into the Pacific, illustrated with plates and charts at the expense of 

 government. 



This voyage proved that neither New Zealand nor Australia was 

 part of the supposed southern continent ; and also that no such con- 

 tinent could exist to the northward of 40" S. lat. It was now deter- 

 mined to send out a second expedition under Cook to explore the 

 higher latitudes; and the 'Resolution,' of 460 tons, and a smaller 

 ship, the ' Adventure,' Captain Furneaux which parted company in 

 the second year of the voyage were commissioned for this purpose. 

 Cook was instructed to circumnavigate the globe in high southern 

 latitudes, prosecuting his discoveries as near the South Pole as possible, 

 and making such traverses from time to time into every corner of the 

 Pacific Ocean not before examined, as might finally and effectually 

 resolve the much agitated question about the existence of a southern 

 continent in any part of the southern hemisphere to which access 

 could be had by the efforts of the boldest and most skilful navigator. 



The two ships sailed from Plymouth July 13, 1772, quitted the 

 Cape of Good Hope November 22nd, and traversed the Southern 

 Ocean in high latitudes during near four mouths, between the limits 

 of 20 and 170 E. long,, the extreme point to the southward being 

 lat. 57 15'. Having satisfied himself that no land of great extent 

 could exist between these limits, Captain Cook made sail for New 

 Zealand, which he reached March 26, 1773. After spending the winter 

 months (our summer) among the Society Islands, he resumed his 

 quest of the southern continent in November, proceeding eastward, 

 principally between the 60th and 70th parallels of latitude, and from 

 170 K long, to 106 54' W. long., where he reached his extreme 

 southing, lat. 71 10', being there finally stopped by the ice. Returning 

 northward, during the winter months he traversed the Pacific Ocean 

 in the southern tropic, from Easter Island to the New Hebrides, and 

 discovered another island, the largest in the Pacific except New 

 Zealand, which he called New Caledonia. Thence he returned to New 

 Zealand to refresh the crew, and resumed his quest of a southern 

 continent November 10. Having sailed in different latitudes between 

 43 aud 66 till the 27th, when he was in 138 56' W. long., ho gave 

 up all hope of finding any more land in this ocean, and determined to 

 steer direct for the western entrance of the Strait of Magalhaeus, with 

 a view of coasting the south side of Tierra del Fuego, which at that 

 time was very imperfectly known. He passed Cape Hum December 29, 

 and standing southward, discovered Sandwich Land, a desolate coast, 

 the extreme point of which, in lat. 59 13', W. loug. about 22, was 

 named by him the.Southern Thule, as being the most southern land 

 which had been then discovered. Thence he ran to the eastward, 

 nearly to the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope, and having thus 



