c o 
North America ; yet he found time to read Euclid, and 
fupply the deficiencies of an early education. Sir Charles 
Saunders, at the fiege of Quebec, committed to his care 
fervices of the firb importance. Lord,Colville and fir 
Charles both patronized him ; and by their recommen¬ 
dation lie'was appointed to furvey the gulph of St. Lau¬ 
rence and the coabs of Newfoundland.. The conditu- 
tion of his body was robuft, inured to labour, and capa¬ 
ble of undergoing the fevered hardfliips. His domach 
bore, without difficulty, the coarfed and mod ungrateful 
food. Indeed, temperance in him was fcarcely a virtue ; 
fo great was the indifference with which he fubmitted 
to every kind of f elf-denial. The qualities of his mind 
were of the fame hardy vigorous kind with thofe of his 
body. His courage was cool and determined, and accom¬ 
panied with an admirable prefence of mind in the mo¬ 
ment of danger. His manners were plain and unaffect¬ 
ed. His temper might perhaps have been judly blame- 
able, as fubjeft to hadinefs and paffion, had not thefe 
been difarmed by a difpodtion the mod benevolent and 
humane. 
“Such were the outlines of captain Cook’s charafter ; 
but its mod didinguifliing feature was that unremitting 
perfcverance in the purfuit of hisobjeft, which was not 
only fuperior to the oppofition of dangers, and the pref- 
fure of harddiips, but even exempt from the \vant of 
ordinary relaxation. Perhaps no fcience ever received 
greater acceflions from the labours of a dngle man, than 
geography has done from thofe of captain Cook. In his 
firb voyage to the South Seas he difeovered the Society 
iflands ; determined the infulari.ty of New Zealand; dif¬ 
eovered the bruits which feparate the two iflands, and 
are called after his name ; and made a complete furvey 
of both. He afterwards explored the eadern coad of 
New Holland, hitherto unknown ; an extent of upwards 
of two thoufand miles. In his fecond expedition, he 
refolved the great problem of a fouthern continent; hav¬ 
ing traverfed that hemifphere in fuch a manner, as not 
to leave a poffibiiity of its exidence, unlefs near the pole, 
and out of the reach of navigation. During this voyage 
he dilcovered New Caledonia, the larged ifland in the 
fouthern Pacific, except New Zealand; the ifland of 
Georgia; and an unknown coad, which he named Sand¬ 
wich Land, the Thule of the fouthern hemifphere : and 
having twice vifited the tropical leas, he fettled the fitu- 
ations.of the old,^md made feveral new, difeoveries. But 
the lad voyage is didinguilhed above all the red by the 
extent and importance of its difeoveries.- Befides feveral 
fmaller iflands in the fouthern Pacific, he difeovered, to 
the north of the equinoctial line, the group called the 
Sandwich Iflands ; which, from their fituation and pro¬ 
ductions, bid fairer for becoming an objeCt of confe.quence 
in the fydem of European navigation, than any other 
difeovery in the South Seas. He afterwards explored 
what had hitherto remained unknown of the wedern 
coad of America, containing an extent of three thoufand 
five hundred miles; afeertained the proximity of the 
two great continents of Afia and America; paffed the 
ftraits between them, and furveyed the coad on each 
fide, to luch a height of northern latitude, as to demon- 
ftrate the impracticability of a paffage, in that hemi¬ 
fphere, from the Atlantic into the Pacific Ocean, either 
by an eadern or a wedern courfe. In diort, if we except 
the i'ea of Amur, and the Japanefe Archipelago, which 
bili remain imperfectly known to Europeans* he has 
completed the hydrography of the habitable globe.” 
Captain King concludes his account of this extraordinary 
man, whofe death cannot be fufficiently lamented, in 
tiie following words t “ Having given the mod faithful 
r.ccount I have been able to collect, both from my own 
obfervation, and the relation of others, of the death of 
my ever-honoured friend, and alfo of his charader and 
fervices, I fhali now leave his memory to the gratitude 
and admiration of poderity ; accepting with a melan¬ 
choly fatisfaftion the honour, which the lofs of him has 
4 
O K. 167 
procured me, of feeing my name joined with his; and of 
tedifying that afteftion and refpeft _for his memory, 
which, whild lie lived, it was no lefs my inclination than 
my condant body to fhew him.” 
We cannot clofe this article without noticing the cha¬ 
racters of the different writers by whom the lad voyage 
has been given to the world. Among thefe we ought 
to reckon the Rev. Dr. Douglas, the editor, who, in a 
dignified bile, fuilableto the fublimity of a voyage-round 
the globe, has arranged the matter; chadened the lan¬ 
guage of our circumnavigators;- and pointed out to the 
curious and philofophic eye, the benefits that have re- 
fulted, and may yet refu! t, from the late difeoveries in 
the great Pacific Ocean; and the attempt, though unfuc- 
eefsful, to explore a northern paffage from thence into 
the Atlantic. Although this gentleman lias levelled 
down the more driking peculiarities of the different wri¬ 
ters of thefe voyages into fome appearance of equality, 
yet a critic can difeern in each his proper features. Cap¬ 
tain Cook, accurate, minute, and levere, furveys every 
objeft: with a mathematical eye, ever intent to fix or to 
difeover fome truth in adronomy, geography, and navi¬ 
gation. His obfervations on men and manners, and the 
produce of countries, are not very fubtle or refined, but 
always fenfible and judicious. He fpecuiates in order 
to edablifli faCts; but does not inquire into faCts for the 
airy purpofes of (peculation. Captain King has perhaps 
a greater verfatility of genius than captain Cook, as well 
as a more lively fancy, and a greater variety and extent 
of knowledge. Agreeably to this charader of him, he 
paints the feenes that fall under his eye, in glowing and 
various colours. He has lefs perhaps of the mathemati¬ 
cian and navigator in his compofition than captain Cook, 
and more of the author. He himfelf feems confcious 
that this is his forte, and wields the pen with alacrity, 
with eafe, and fatisfaftion. The gleanings that were 
left to his induftry by captain Cook, he feems too eager 
to pick up, to dwell upon, and to amplify. Mr. Ander- 
fon is fuperior to both thefe writers in variety of know¬ 
ledge, and fubtlety and fublimity of genius. He is ver- 
fant in languages ancient and modern, in mathematics, 
in natural hidory, in natural philofophy, in civil hidory, 
in the metaphyiics of both morality and theology ; yet, 
as a counterbalance to thele brilliant qualities and en¬ 
dowments, he launches forth too much into theory, and is, 
in fome indances, too little conbrained by the limits of 
faft and nature in his fpeculations. He has found the 
doftrines of the immortality and the immateriality of 
the foul among nations, who, in all probability, have not 
terms to exprefs thele, and very few to dgni'fy abbraCted 
ideas of any kind. A quick imagination, and a fubtle 
intelleft, can fee any thing in any- fubjeft, and extend 
the ideas mod familiar to themfelves over the boundlels 
variety of the univerfe. 
The following coat of arms was given to captain Cook, 
in September, 1775 :—It was azure, two polar bars or ; a 
fphere on the plane of meridian; north pole elevated, 
circles of latitude for every ten degrees, and of longitude 
for every fifteen; fliewing the Pacific Ocean between 
60° and 240° wed, bounded on one fide by America, and 
on.the other by Ada, and New Holland, in memory of 
the difeoveries made by him in that ocean fo very far be¬ 
yond all former navigators. His track thereon is marked 
by red lines. For his creb, on'a wreath of the colours, 
is an arm embowed, veded in the uniform of a captain 
of the royal navy. In the hand is a union jack, on a 
baff proper; the arm is encircled by a wreath of palm 
and laurel. 
COOK’S RIVER, a river of North America, which 
runs into the northern Pacific Ocean, between Cape Eli¬ 
zabeth and Point Banks; that is, between lat. 58. 42. 
and 59. 10. N. Ion. 207. 9. and 207. 45. E. Greenwich. 
Captain Cook failed up this river, as far as lat. 61. 30. 
N. and Ion. 210. E, without finding any appearance of 
its fource. 
COOK'S 
