THIRD VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD,

BY CAPTAIN JAMES COOK,

IN THE RESOLUTION, ACCOMPANIED BY THE DISCOVERY,

CAPTAIN CLERKE.

CHAP. I.

Object of the voyage. Departure from England. Arrival at the Sandwich Islands.

ON the return of captain Cook from his polar traverse, he was promoted from the rank of master and commander, to that of a captain in the navy; and soon after, in reward for his eminent services, he was assigned an honourable retreat, by being appointed one of the four captains of Greenwich Hospital. Alike caressed by the great and the learned, by natives and foreigners, who all beheld him with an enthusiastic kind of veneration, in the prime of life, and the full possession of health and spirits, he was one of those few favoured mortals, for whom extraordinary merit has obtained an immediate, ample, and satisfactory recompense. Those navigators, who have transmitted their names with the greatest renown to future ages, have, in general, been no less remarkable for the unworthy and mortifying returns they have met with from mankind, after their labours had been crowned with success. But it was captain Cook's good fortune to live in times when merit is both discerned and requited. To a mind ardent and enterprising as his,

perhaps a long continuance of such enviable and flattering ease, would have been found deficient of happiness, and the philosophic satirist might have quoted him as an additional example of the vanity of human wishes: but the designs formed by his sovereign, to gain a still more perfect information in geography, did not allow time for this state of apathy to creep npon a man formed by nature to have his life devoted to great pursuits.

The eastern extremity of Asia, and western coast of North America, remained unknown; and although a northern passage from Europe to Asia had become an early and a favourite object, after the discovery of a new world, yet no attempt had been made to navigate the north sea from the Pacific Ocean. As a navigation of this kind therefore was not only new, but connected with the most important part of geographical knowledge, which yet remained to be revealed, namely, the exact position of the extreme points of the two continents; another voyage was resolved upon soon after the return of the Resolution, chiefly with a design to effect those important purposes; which accomplished, nothing would remain to complete the geography of the globe, but what, as an able writer observes, "might justly be called the minutiae of the science." The operations proposed to be pursued were so novel, so extensive, and so various, that the skill and experience of captain Cook were thought requisite to conduct them: he therefore relinquished the command to which he had been appointed, to engage in the conduct of an expedition, which would expose him to the toils and perils of a third circumnavigation, by a track hitherto unattempted. To excite to the fullest exertions in this undertaking,

an act of parliament was passed, by which the discovery of any northern passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans was rendered entitled to the reward of £20,000, which, by an act passed in the year 1745, had been restrained to such ships as should discover a passage through Hudson's Bay; and king's ships were now entitled to the reward on making such discovery, from which they had been excluded by the former act.

The Resolution sloop was appointed to this service, so little injury had she sustained in her former voyage; and the Discovery, a vessel of 300 tons, was joined in the same expedition, the command of which was given to captain Clerke, who had been twice round the world with captain Cook. On board the Resolution, besides the captain, were three lieutenants, the master, boatswain, carpenter, gunner, surgeon, three master's mates, six midshipmen, two surgeon's mates, the captain's clerk, the master at arms, corporal, armourer and his mate, sail-maker and his mate, three boatswain's mates, three carpenter's mates, two gunner's mates, carpenter's crew four, six quarter-masters, forty-five able seamen, a lieutenant of marines, serjeant, two corporals and fifteen privates; amounting in the whole on board the Resolution to 115; on board the Discovery were SO, officers and men.

This expedition furnished an opportunity to convey Omai, who had accompanied captain Furneaux, in the Adventure, and had resided in England upwards of two years, to his native country. We have already spoken of his departure from Huaheine, one of the Society Islands. On his arrival in England, the Earl of Sandwich and Sir Joseph Banks honoured him with their patronage and protection.

His noble patron introduced him to the king af Kew; and, during his stay in England, he was caressed by many of the principal nobility. He naturally imitated that easy and elegant politeness, which is prevalent among the great, and which is one of the ornaments of civilized society. Indeed he adopted the manner, the occupations, and amusements of his companions in general, and gave many proofs of a quick conception, and a lively fancy. He appears, however, to have been treated, whilst he resided here, rather as a fashionable exhibition than as a rational being. No attention seems to have been paid to the enriching his mind with useful knowledge, such as might have rendered him a valuable acquisition to his country on his return thither; no means were used to instruct him in agriculture, in any mechanic art, or useful manufacture; and above all, to possess him with a moral sense, to teach him the exalted ideas of virtue, and the sublime principles of revealed religion. During his stay in England, he was inoculated for the small-pox. At parting with his friends here, his tears flowed plentifully, and his whole behaviour bespoke him to be sincerely affected at the separation; but though he lived in the midst of amusements during his residence in England, his return to his native country was always in his thoughts; and though he was not impatient to go, he expressed a satisfaction as the time of his return approached. Whenever captain Cook talked to him about England, and of those who, during his stay, had honoured him with their protection and friendship, his spirits were observed to be strongly affected, and it was with difficulty he could refrain from tears: but the instant the conversation turned to his own islands, his eyes began

to sparkle with joy. He was deeply impressed with a sense of the good treatment he had received, and entertained the highest ideas of the country and the people; but the pleasing prospect he now had before him, of returning home, loaded with a profusion of such presents as he well knew would be esteemed valuable treasures there; and the flattering hope which the possession of these gave him, of attaining to a distinguished superiority among his countrymen, were considerations which operated by degrees to suppress every uneasy sensation; and he seemed quite happy when he got on board the ship.

On the 10th of June, 1776, whilst the two ships lay at Long-reach, captain Cook took on board a bull and two cows, with three calves and some sheep, to which he intended to add other useful animals at the Cape of Good Hope; he also furnished himself with a large assortment of European garden seeds, with abundance of iron tools, and various kinds of trinkets. He took with him a copy of Mr. Harrison's time-keeper, constructed by Mr. Kendal. On board the Discovery, Mr. William Bayly embarked as astronomical professor. Mr. Anderson, captain Cook's surgeon, was well versed in natural history. Mr.Webber, an eminent painter, embarked on board the Resolution, for the purpose of making drawings of such picturesque scenes as should present themselves, and to preserve an exact representation of the persons, dresses, ornaments, weapons of the inhabitants, with whatever other subjects might gratify general curiosity. Both ships had a supply of provisions for two years and upwards.

Previous to the sailing of the two ships, in the beginning of the summer of 1766, lieutenant Pick