no CAPTAIN COOK 



ing to find the land which, according to the Gov- 

 ernor of the Cape, had recently been discovered 

 by French ships. He saw nothing but eternal 

 icebergs. As the season was becoming ever less 

 favourable, the southern summer being on the 

 wane, Cook resolved to leave the high southern 

 latitudes and make for New Zealand, in order to 

 get news of the Adventure and to give his com- 

 plement a sight of green foliage for which they 

 were beginning to long. 



During the night of February lyth-iSth the 

 sky was illuminated with a supernatural light, 

 which filled Cook and his companions with 

 ecstasy. Rays of light of spiral or circular form 

 fell from the sky and spread over the great ex- 

 panse of sea an indefinite and mysterious glow. 

 It was the Aurora Australis, the sister of the 

 Aurora Borealis of the north. 



Cook wished to visit the eastern coast of Van 

 Diemen's Land, discovered by Tasman, and to 

 discover whether or not it was connected to New 

 Holland. The wind being unfavourable, how- 

 ever, he was compelled to steer straight for New 

 Zealand, where he arrived on March 25th and 

 anchored in Dusky Bay. 



He had been at sea for a hundred and seven- 

 teen days on end, and had sailed 3,660 leagues 

 without having once sighted land. 



