For his second voyage the government employed H.M. Barque "Endeavour", 

 370 tons, complement 84. With this equipment the transit was successfully 

 witnessed (on Tahiti) and duly reported; and if you are specially interested 

 in the astronomical portion of the expedition I refer you to the full account 

 of it published in the Philosophical Transactions for the year 1771. 



Several designations remain to mark this adventure: Two of these are, 

 the group name, Society Islands, from the Royal Society ; and Point Venus, 

 about ten miles from Papeete, where the transit was observed. The British 

 were so well pleased with Cook's part in this undertaking that they placed him 

 in command of a second expedition to complete the discovery of another contin- 

 ent that most geographers believed existed in the southern hemisphere. Two 

 ships were this time commissioned for the purpose, the "Resolution" ,462 tons, 

 and the "Adventure", 336 tons. They were well equipped and liberally provided 

 with scientific apparatus and stores. As with the reports of the first voyage 

 so is the second replete with clear descriptions of the fauna of the islands 

 visited. As they sailed south from New Zealand, for instance, thoy fell in 

 with several large islands and, at last, with a quantity of loose ice. Here 

 they saw "gray albatrosses, blue peterels, pintadoes, and fuljners" , Still 

 later they got two of the antartic peterels. These are about the size of a 

 large pigeon; the feathers of the head, back and part of the upper side of 

 the wings are of a light brown the belly and under -side of the wings white; 

 the tail feathers are also white, but tipped with brown. These birds are ful- 

 ler of feathers than any we had hitherto seen; such care has nature taken to 

 clothe them suitable to the climate in which they live." And the foregoing 

 description has not since the days of Cook been much improved upon. 



Probably Captain Cook's "blue peterels" were of the genus Prion - the 

 small Dove Petrels, whose upper surface is ashy blue, with white below. They 

 are only about 12 inches long, with a jet-black, pyramidal band stretching 

 from one leg to the other across the rump, which shows very plainly during 

 flight. 



The "antarctic peterel" may be that allied species, Prion desola tus. 

 This pretty Dove Petrel is seen in flocks, and flies and flies irregularly, 

 like some land and shore birds, because of the alternate use of first one 

 wing and then the other. They do not attend ships, being suspicious of man 

 and all his works, but follow the whale and feed upon, not the crumbs but the 

 more substantial fragments that fall from his ample maw. Hence their vulgar 

 name of Whale Bird. I have never seen this species alive, but they are said 

 to be nocturnal in their habits. The "pintado" is more certainly the pretty 

 little Cape Petrel - DaptiQn capensi or Cape Pigeon, so called from its super- 

 ficial resemblance to a pigeon, with' black head spotted with black and a pure 

 white belly. This small petrel, well known to travellers in the South Pacific, 

 eagerly feeds on scraps thrown from vessels, and even dives after them, like 

 a duck. If caught, Daption, like others of his kind, tries to defend himself, 

 by ejecting an offensive fluid at and over his captor. Although essentially 

 an antarctic bird, it is occasionally seen as far north as Ceylon and 

 California . 



Although Captain Cook did not discover a Northwest passage even rrith the 

 aid of his good ..ships "Resolution," of 462 tons, and "Discovery," 300 tons- 

 yet he made for his government many other discoveries that were, perhaps of 

 greater value; all of which is set down in the encyclopedias, so that he who 

 is interested may read. 



-4- 



