482 NATURE 
[Jury 9, 1914 
have elapsed since Cook met his death at the 
hands of savages in the Sandwich Islands, and it 
is remarkable “that no monument to his memory 
should have been erected in the capital of the 
Empire. But if the statue is late it is undoubtedly 
adequate. The British Empire League deserves 
the gratitude of all citizens of the empire for its 
public spirit in raising so worthy a monument 
to one who extended the imperial bounds. 
But James Cook (1728-1779) was more than 
this. He was a geographer of no mean standing 
and his name will go down to posterity as one of 
the earliest of British discoverers. His three 
(A. Burchell, kulham. 
Statue of Capt. Cook. 
Photo. 
voyages, all of them scientific, are well known by 
now. The first (1768-1770) was undertaken at the 
instance of the Admiralty, which was moved 
thereto by the Royal Society, for the purpose of 
prosecuting geographical researches in the Pacific 
Ocean. Several well-known men of science ac- 
companied Cook on his voyage, on which, among 
other things, he struck the coasts of New Zealand 
and Australia. Round the former he sailed with 
complete success, examining it in detail; his name 
is associated with the channel which separates 
North from South Island (Cook’s Strait). Of both 
New Zealand and Australia he took possession for 
NO.)2332,. VOLMosi| 
Great Britain. The second voyage (1772-1775) 
had for its object the supposed southern continent 
in the Pacific, and Cook was able to prove finally 
that no such continent existed. It is worthy of 
note that on this second journey he reached lati- 
tude 71°49' S. The third expedition was fitted out 
in 1776, and was principally to settle the question 
of the North West passage. It was on this 
voyage, in 1779, that Cook was killed. 
Besides his contributions to geography, Cook 
was also an astronomer and mathematician. His 
skill as a geographical surveyor he had already 
shown as early as 1760, when he sounded and 
surveyed the St. Lawrence river and published a 
chart of the channel from Quebec to the sea. This 
activity he continued when, in 1763, he was ap- 
pointed ‘“‘ Marine Surveyor of the Coast of New- 
foundland and Labrador.” It was shortly after 
this appointment that the Royal Society elected 
him one of its Fellows, on his giving an account 
of an eclipse of the sun which he had observed on 
the south coast of Newfoundland. 
LHE WILDS: OF NEW, ZEALAND? 
D* J. M. BELL was for six years the director 
of the Geological Survey of New Zealand, 
and during his service there his duties and inclina- 
tions carried. him into several of the most remote 
and ‘least .settled .areas. . A’ series of valuable 
memoirs on New Zealand geology has already 
testified to the enthusiasm and cnEey with which 
he threw himself into his work. In this volume 
he records his general reminiscences of his travels, 
and describes his numerous adventures by the 
flooded rivers, on the mountains, and in the bush, 
and narrates various incidents in the early his- 
tory of the dominion. He was greatly impressed 
by the rich variety in both the’ topography and 
geology of New Zealand, and was delighted with 
its superb scenery, which is illustrated by a well- 
selected collection of excellent photographs by 
the Government Tourist Department, and by a 
series of artistically coloured sketches by his 
companion, Mr. C. H. Eastlake. 
One of the first chapters deseribes the north- 
western province of the North Island, where Dr. 
Bell went to inspect the diggings for Kauri gum, 
which by 1912 had yielded produce to the value 
of more than 16,000,000!. In connection with his 
visit to the Thames goldfield, he summarises its 
mining history, and in connection with the vol- 
canic fields of the North Island, describes his 
winter ascent of the volcano Ngauruhoe, a climb 
rendered difficult as the snow around the base 
was loose and soft, while that-on the final slope 
was dangerously hard and steep. He also de- 
scribes again the famous eruption of Tarawera, 
but the Black Geyser, Waimangu, it may be re- 
marked, ceased to. discharge daily six months 
earlier than the time mentioned by, Dr. Bell: > Bhe 
most adventurous journey described in the volume 
was an attempt with Prof. Marshall, of Dunedin, 
to reach Mt. Arthur in Karamea, the north- 
1 ** The Wilds of Maorilan?.” By Dr. J. M. Bell. 
London: Maemillan and Co., Ltd., 1914.) Price 15s. 
Pp. xiili+253+plate 
