CAPTAIN COOK. 



Cook had completely finished his work by the year 1767, when happened the great 

 tide in his affairs that led to fortune. According to astronomical calculations, Venus 

 would, in 1 769, pass across the disc of 

 the sun, and as only two such pheno- 

 mena occur in a hundred and twenty 

 years, it was deemed advisable to ob- 

 tain the best possible observation of the 

 occurrence. Now the best possible ob- 

 servation of the transit was to be 

 obtained from some place in the Pacific 

 Ocean, and astronomers represented that 

 if the planet's path were accurately 

 observed it would be possible for the 

 first time to deduce approximately the 

 distance of the earth from the sun. Of 

 course the scientific world was consider- 

 ably exercised, and the Royal Society 

 petitioned the King to make the obser- 

 vation of the transit a national under- 

 taking. The petition was successful, the 

 Government acceded, and preparations 

 were immediately begun. The man who 

 could have led the expedition, Alexander 

 Dalrymple, geographer and scientist, was 

 set aside, because he wanted to command 

 the ship as well as to observe the tran- 

 sit. Cook happened to be on the spot, 

 as well as to be the only man who, as 

 a practical seaman, possessed scientific 

 attainments which were at all adequate to 

 the requirements of the mission to be 

 undertaken. Besant puts the case very 

 concisely in the following passage : 

 "Mr. Dalrymple first refused to go at 

 all, and then wanted to go ; and finally, 

 when it was too late, seems to have 

 sulked, and ever afterwards complained 

 that he had been badly treated by the 

 Admiralty. They then cast about for an 

 officer who could not only command the 

 ship but also conduct the scientific pur- 

 pose of the expedition. No other man 

 could be found than James Cook, 

 Master in the Royal Navy. Everything 



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