192 



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Cook. broken rock was discovered sticking in the ship's bot- 

 — — y— ■»' torn : to this circumstance alone they were indebted 

 for their preservation. That part of the coast, which 

 they explored, is particularly dangerous for the nume- 

 rous shoals that lie off it ; and to guard against these;, 

 to extricate the ship when she got entangled among 

 them, required no common degree of nautical skill, and 

 cool, steady, presence of mind. In the midst of these 

 difficulties and dangers, Captain Cook not only partici- 

 pated m the labour and fatigues of his crew, but he also 

 gave the impulse of his superior confidence and know- 

 ledge to those who were disposed to despair, orwho were 

 ignorant how to act. Hitherto the health of his ship's 

 company had been good, owing principally to the care 

 which Captain Cook took on this important point: he 

 kid down plain and strict regulations with respect to 

 cleanliness and ventilation, and he himself superintend- 

 ed and enforced adherence to these regulations. When- 

 ever an opportunity occurred of procuring fresh meat 

 or vegetables, they were always served out to the 

 crew with the most scrupulous regard to impartiality ; 

 indeed he wisely, as well as humanely, gave the pre- 

 ference to the seamen, when the supply was inadequate, 

 since their habits and mode of life exposed them more 

 to diseases, and on their exertions principally, depend- 

 ed the safety of the ship, and the accomplishment of the 

 objects of the voyage. 



The Endeavour left the coast of New Holland on 

 the 23d of August. Captain Cook intended to have 

 directed his course north west, till he had made the 

 south coast of New Guinea, but in consequence of a 

 shoal he met with, a few days after he left New Hol- 

 land, on which the vessel was nearly lost, he altered his 

 course. On the 3d of September New Guinea was in 

 sight : a singular and unaccountable circumstance oc- 

 curred here. As Captain Cook, in his boat, was ob- 

 serving the natives on the shore, they swung round 

 them short pieces of stick, from which there immediate- 

 ly issued fire and smoke, exactly resembling those of a 

 musket, and of as short a duration, but no report was 

 heard. Captain Cook did not stay long off the coast of 

 New Guinea, but during his stay, he established the 

 fact beyond all controversy, that it is a distinct coun- 

 try from New Holland. 



During his voyage from New Zealand to Batavia, 

 Captain Cook had an opportunity of rectifying the er- 

 rors of former navigators. In the latitude of 7° 6' S. 

 and the longitude 225° W. he discovered two islands, 

 which either had no place in former charts, or if they 

 were laid down in them, under the name of the Arrow 

 islands, are placed at too great a distance from New 

 Guinea. On the 7th of September, the Endeavour was 

 in lat. 9° 30' south, and in long. 229° 4', where the 

 Weasal isles are laid down in the older charts; but as no 

 land was discovered, Captain Cook considered that this 

 position of them was erroneous, though he was not able 

 to ascertain it. Even when our navigator arrived at 

 places which had been not only explored, but coloni- 

 zed by Europeans, one of his principal objects was to 

 ascertain their latitude and longitude, and to compare 

 the result of his own observations, with the exist- 

 ing charts, or the information he received from the in- 

 habitants : in conformity with this rule, when he arri- 

 ved at Savu, a Dutch settlement between Timor and 

 Java, he compared the latitude and longitude which is 

 o-iven to it in the charts with his own observations : in 

 many maps and charts, which he consulted, it was not 

 laid down at all, and in none was it laid down accu- 

 vatelv ; he ascertained the middle of it to lie in the la- 



titude of 10° So' south, and in the longitude of 237° 30' 

 west. We shall notice only one more proof of the mi- * 

 nute and valuable accuracy of Captain Cook's investi- 

 gation into every thing that could prove of service to 

 navigation ; as probably to this instance of it, we are 

 indebted for the important settlement of Prince of 

 W r ales' island. This island had formerly been much 

 frequented by the East India ships • but, on account of 

 the supposed badness of its water, it was forsaken. 

 Captain Cook remained at it 10 days, and ascertained 

 that though the lower part of the brook, which supplies 

 the Avater, is brackish, yet higher up its quality was ex- 

 cellent ; he therefore strongly recommended this island 

 as a staple place for the East India ships to touch at. 

 At Batavia he lost many of his crew, and such was the 

 fatal effect of that climate upon several others, that they 

 died during his voyage from thence to England, where 

 he arrived on the 1 2th of June 1771- The journals 

 and papers of the captain and officers, and of Mi- 

 Banks, were put into the hands of Dr Hawksworth, 

 who drew up an account of the voyage, more accepta- 

 ble from its style, to the man of taste, than useful to 

 the geographer, the seaman, or the natural historian, 

 from the facts which it contains. 



Although Captain Cook in this voyage had done away 

 one of the arguments which had been brought forward 

 for the existence of a southern continent, by having 

 ascertained that New Holland, which had been sup- 

 posed part of that continent, was in reality an island ; 

 yet many ingenious and well-informed men still ad- 

 hered to this opinion ; and the attention of the public 

 was called, in a strong and peculiar manner, to the 

 question, by Mr Dalrymple. Government, therefore, 

 resolved to ascertain its existence, by sending out two 

 vessels, for the express purpose of traversing every 

 part of the Southern Ocean, where it could possibly 

 lie. It was determined in this enterprize to send out 

 two vessels, instead of a single one, as Captain Cook, 

 in more instances than one, during his voyage, had been 

 fearfully impressed with the danger to which the lives 

 of himself and his crew, and consequently the object 

 of the expedition, had been exposed, when every thing 

 was committed to a single ship. Two vessels were ac- 

 cordingly purchased which had been built at Whitby, 

 and which, like the Endeavour-, were of that kind used 

 in the coal trade ; the larger, the command of which 

 was given to Captain Cook, was named the Resolution; 

 Captain Furneaux commanded the other, which was 

 called the Adventure. No alteration was made in their 

 mode of equipment, or in the nature of their stores or 

 provisions, but such as the experience of Captain Cook 

 suggested. That no opportunity of gaining informa- 

 tion^ might be lost, Mr Hodges, a painter ; Mr Rein- 

 hold Forster and his son, naturalists and philosophers ; 

 and Messrs W T ales and Bayley, astronomers, were to 

 accompany the expedition. 



On the 13th of July 1772, the ships sailed from Ply- 

 mouth; and before they reached the 51st degree of 

 south latitude, they met with several ice islands. On 

 the 17th of January 1773, they arrived in 67° 15' south 

 latitude, without having discovered any land. During 

 this navigation, the crews suffered extremely from the 

 intense cold; while, under this suffering, they were 

 compelled to be constantly on the alert, and active, in 

 order to avoid the danger from the ice with which they 

 were encompassed. As in the track which they had 

 pursued, Captain Cook had directed his course and ex- 

 aminations in such a manner, as to satisfy himself that 

 no southern continent existed in this part of the ocean, 



Cooic. 



