492 THE PROGRESS OF MARITIME DISCOVERT. 



After having thus illumined with the torch of science the 

 farthest extremities of the earth, Cook once more steered to the 

 south and discovered Hawaii, the largest of the Sandwich Islands. 

 But better had it been for him if the glory of this discovery had 

 fallen to the share of some other navigator, for it was here that 

 the illustrious seaman, who had thrice circumnavigated the 

 globe, was doomed to fall by the club of a barbarous savage. 



No navigator has ever made so many important discoveries 

 at such distances from each other as Cook, or done more for the 

 progress of geographical knowledge. The wide Pacific he so 

 thoroughly explored, that his successors found only single ears 

 to glean where he had reaped the richest harvest. With the 

 firm resolution and the indomitable perseverance of the ancient 

 mariners who preceded him on that vast ocean, he combined a 

 scientific knowledge they never possessed. What they had only 

 flightily observed, or imperfectly described, he in reality dis- 

 covered, and indelibly marked upon the map of the globe. 

 Indefatigable with the astrolabe and the plummet, he neglected 

 no opportunity of pointing out to his successors both the dan- 

 gers they would have to avoid, and the harbours in which they 

 might find a refuge against storms, and a supply of fresh water 

 and provisions. His excellent method of preserving the health 

 of seamen from the murderous attacks of the scurvy, secures 

 him a lasting place among the benefactors of mankind. But he 

 not only anxiously watched over the welfare of his companions — 

 his humanity extended a no less salutary influence over the 

 savages with whom he came in contact. He everywhere sought to 

 better their condition, made them presents of useful animals and 

 seeds, and pointed out to them the advantages of peace and agri- 

 culture. But his chief praise remains yet to be told, and this is, 

 that he owed the high position he acquired in life exclusively to 

 himself. He whose fame reached as far as the limits of the 

 civilised world, and whose death was mourned as a national 

 calamity, was the son of a poor labourer, and had commenced 

 his career as a common sailor. 



The most celebrated navigators during the last quarter of the 

 eighteenth century were Vancouver and La Peyrouse. 



Vancouver, who had accompanied Cook on his last and fatal 

 voyage, gained his chief laurels (1790) by thoroughly exploring 

 the north-west coast of America, which his illustrious friend had 



