THE RETURN TO ENGLAND 91 



sick men whom he still had on board. *'The 

 women," says Hawkesworth, "in general are 

 very handsome; they have fine clear skins, and 

 a bloom of colour that indicates a purity of con- 

 stitution, and a high health. They make the 

 best wives in the world, both as mistresses of a 

 family and mothers; and there is scarcely a 

 house that does not swarm with children. 



"The air is salutary to a high degree; so that 

 those who bring diseases hither from Europe, 

 generally recover perfect health in a short 

 time. . . ." 



Cook remained for a month at Cape Town, 

 which he left on April 14th, bound for London. 

 On May ist he landed at St. Helena, where the 

 only European residents were English. The way 

 in which his countrymen treated their black 

 slaves offended Cook vastly, who noted in his 

 Journal, with the greatest bluntness, "Slaves are 

 very numerous at St. Helena, and are drawn 

 from nearly every part of the world ; they seem 

 very miserable, worn out by ill-treatment, of 

 which they frequently complain; and I am sorry 

 to say that examples of this barbarity are more 

 frequent among my countrymen than among the 

 Dutch of Batavia and the Cape, who are re- 

 proached, perhaps rightly, with lack of hu- 

 manity." 



On May 4th the Endeavour left St. Helena 



