148 INSTRUCTIONS TO COOK. [1776. 



farther progress northward, he should find any subjects of any 

 European prince or state, upon any part of the coast which he 

 might think proper to visit, he was not to disturb them, or give 

 them any just cause of offence, but, on the contrary, to treat them 

 with civility and friendship." This latter sentence bore reference 

 to the Russians ; the application of the name of New Albion to the 

 north-west coast of North America showed that the British govern- 

 ment had no intention to resign any rights to that region, which 

 were supposed, or pretended, to have been acquired by Drake's 

 visit, in 1579. 



On reaching New Albion, Cook was " to put into the first con- 

 venient port to obtain wood, water, and refreshments, and thence 

 to proceed northward along the coast to the latitude of 65 degrees," 

 where he was to begin his search for " such rivers or inlets as might 

 appear to be of considerable extent, and pointing towards Hudson's 

 or Baffin's Bays." Should he find a passage of that description, 

 he was to endeavor to sail through it, with one or both of his ships, 

 or with smaller vessels, of which the materials were to be carried 

 out, prepared for being speedily put together ; should he, however, 

 be satisfied that there is no such passage to the above-mentioned 

 bays, sufficient for the purposes of navigation, he was to repair to 

 the Russian establishments in Kamtchatka, and to explore the seas 

 north of them, " in further search of a north-east or north-west 

 passage, from the Pacific Ocean into the Atlantic or the North 

 Sea." The instruction, not to begin the examination of the Amer- 

 ican coast south of the 65th degree of latitude, was based on the 

 proofs obtained by Hearne, that the continent extended much 

 beyond that parallel ; before reaching which, indeed, it was expected 

 that the coast would be found turning north-eastward, in the direc- 

 tion of the mouth of the Copper Mine River. 



The navigator was, likewise, " with the consent of the natives, 

 to take possession, in the name of the king of Great Britain, of 

 convenient situations in such countries as he might discover, that 

 had not been already discovered or visited by any other European 

 power ; and to distribute, among the inhabitants, such things as will 

 remain as traces of his having been there : but, if he should find 

 the countries so discovered to be uninhabited, he was to take pos- 

 session of them for his sovereign, by setting up proper marks and 

 inscriptions, as first discoverers and possessors." 



The preceding extracts, from the instructions given to Cook, will 

 suffice to explain the objects and views of the British government, 



