NEW CALEDONIA AND THE RETURN 173 



dinner was an excellent one. Cook remarked in 

 his Journal that "the traditional geese were 

 served roasted and boiled, as well as goose patties 

 and many other dishes. We had still several 

 bottles of Madeira, the only thing among our 

 stores which was improved by the sea voyage. 

 I do not believe that our friends in England 

 kept Christmas as merrily as we did." 



The Englishmen were visited by some 

 Fuegians, of a different race from those which 

 Cook had met when he visited Success Bay in 

 the Endeavour. These were small, ugly and 

 very thin, and were almost naked. They were 

 indescribably filthy, and their smell nauseated 

 even the most hardened of the sailors. 



Cook doubled Cape Horn and entered the 

 Atlantic. He surveyed the coast with as much 

 accuracy as the bad weather permitted and then 

 examined several little islands in the vicinity of 

 Staten Island. On one of these a regular con- 

 federation of the most diverse animals lived to- 

 gether in unity. Sea-lions mingled the harmony 

 of their language with that of sea-bears, and pen- 

 guins waddled about in company with great 

 white birds. There was never a quarrel or a 

 contest for ground or property among these 

 peaceful creatures, which showed a good ex- 

 ample to their human brothers. Eagles and 



