ARRIVAL HOME. 



493 



he arrived on the 18th of October. He left again on the 10th 

 of November, and anchored on the 21st of December in Christ- 

 mas Sound, in Terra del Fuego. He doubled Cape Horn, dis- 

 covered numerous islands of little importance, and finally headed 

 the vessel for the Cape of Good Hope. He anchored in Table 

 Bay on the 19th of March, 1775. He here found news of the 

 Adventure, which had already passed the Cape on her way 

 home. On the 30th of July, Cook landed at Plymouth, after 

 an absence of three years and eighteen days. During this space 

 of time he had lost but four men, and only one of these four by 

 sickness. He was promoted to the rank of captain, was elected 

 a member of the Royal Society of London, and received the 

 Godfrey Copley gold medal in testimony of the appreciation in 

 which his efforts to preserve the health of his crew were held by 

 the Government. He was now forty-seven years of age. 



