264 CAPTAIN COOK 



itself in the course of long voyages, the ravages 

 of which have marked the steps of the men to 

 whom we owe the discovery of new territories, 

 would have become an insuperable obstacle to 

 the execution of undertakings of this kind, with- 

 out a tyranny, impossible to justify, being im- 

 posed upon the life of the sailors. It was 

 reserved for Captain Cook to show the whole 

 world, after repeated trials, that there are means 

 of prolonging sea voyages over three or four 

 years, in unknown regions, in all climates, even 

 the most severe, and that, not only without im- 

 pairing the health of the crew, but even without 

 diminishing in the least their expectancy of life. 



"As for Captain Cook's talent for seamanship 

 and various naval duties, I leave this point to 

 the judgment of men who best know the nature 

 of the undertakings which he has led. They all 

 declare that to conduct with such uniform and 

 unvarying success the expeditions, so dangerous 

 and difficult, of such unusual length and in such 

 diverse and perilous situations, he had need not 

 only of sure and profound knowledge of his 

 profession, but of a vast and powerful genius, 

 fertile in resource, capable at the same time of 

 carrying out great operations and the most triv- 

 ial details of the service. 



"And now, I entrust his memory to the grati- 

 tude and admiration of posterity." 



