of admitting ships of very considerable burden and fit for giving them every kind of repairs. At six in the afternoon of the 12th, they came in sight of Cape Lopatka, the southernmost extremity of Kamtschatka, the precise situation of which was determined to be 51° N. latitude, 156° 45′ E. longitude. The wind blowing steadily from the westward for the two following days, captain Gore was obliged to stand to the southward, and consequently saw no more of the Kurile islands. Five islands laid down by D'Anville, and called by him the Three Sisters, Zellany and Zunashir, were found not to lie in the position in which they are placed by that geographer; and, in confirmation of the conjecture of Mr. Muller, they were supposed to be no other than the islands of Jesso. Strong winds from the N. W. rendered it impossible to reach these islands, notwithstanding every endeavour was used; so that at length Mr. Gore was obliged, on the 24th of October, to give up all further thoughts of discovery to the north of Japan, aud, shaping his course W. S. W. on the 26th came in sight of the island of Japan, the coast of which is described by Kæmpfer as the most dangerous in the whole world. The inhabitants too, entertain such an aversion to strangers, that they are disposed to commit the most savage barbarities on all that fall into their hands. Another heavy gale arose whilst the ships lay off this coast, and continued for a considerable time; and, as they were in a leaky condition, the sails worn out, and incapable of resisting a gale of wind, with the rigging so rotten as to require constant and perpetual repairs, these were sufficient reasons to induce the commander to give up all thoughts of attempting to land; besides which,

the extraordinary effects of the currents there, the unsettled state of the weather, and the improbability of any change for the better at that late season of the year, rendered it absolutely necessary that the ships should leave Japan altogether, and prosecute the voyage to China.

In proceeding thither an island was discovered, in latitude 24° 48′ N. longitude 141° 12′ E. which, from the sulphureous smell proceeding from it, and some streams of smoke which were seen to arise from the top of the hill, was called by the commander Sulphur Island. Much time was afterwards lost in searching for the Basbee Islands, which could not be found. The ships came to an anchor at Macao in the evening of the 1st of December, and, on visiting some English gentlemen who were resident there, the important events which had occurred in Europe, during the long period of time in which they had been cut off from all intercourse with that quarter of the world, were now at once revealed. The unhappy contests in which they found their country to be engaged, filled their minds with astonishment and concern, whilst they deeply regretted that their absence had deprived them of an opportunity of taking an active part in her service. Nothing could exceed the ragged appearance both of the younger officers and seamen when they entered this port; for as the service had already exceeded, by near a twelvemonth, the time which it was at first imagined the ships would remain at sea, almost the whole of their original stock of European clothes had been long worn out, or patched up with skins, and the various manufactures which had been met with in the course of their discoveries; these were now again mixed and

eked out with the gaudiest silks and cottons of China.

Here a very advantageous market was found for the skins which had been collected on the voyage, of which a large quantity remained, notwithstanding what had been disposed of at Kamtschatka. Captain King undertook to dispose of those which had been the property of the deceased commanders; and having the address to counteract the frauds and impositions which the Chinese merchants endeavoured to practise, under the most specious professions of giving more than their intrinsic value, on account of the delicate situation in which the captain stood, he procured the sum of 800 dollars for about twenty skins of sea-otters, although he was at first offered no more than 300. Such was the estimation in which this merchandize was held, that one seaman sold his stock of skins for 800 dollars, and a few prime skins, which were clean, and had been well preserved, were sold for one hundred and twenty each, (£27.) The whole amount of the value, in specie and goods, which was got for the furs in both ships, captain King is of opinion did not fall short of £2000 sterling; and it was generally supposed, that at least two-thirds of the quantity which had been at first obtained from the Americans, were either spoiled, worn out, or had been given away or otherwise disposed of at Kamtschatka. The furs were at first collected without any idea of their real value; the greatest part had been worn by the Indians from whom they were purchased, were afterwards preserved with little care, and frequently used for bed-clothes, and other purposes, during the northern cruise. Add to which, that it is highly probable they were sold at

China below the market-price of that commodity. When all these considerations are taken into the account, the advantages which might be derived from a voyage to the American coast, if undertaken with commercial views, appear to be so great as to call for the public attention. The silver which poured into the ships in consequence of this market for furs, made the sailors frantic to return to Cook's river, and there procure a fresh cargo, by which each man might make his fortune. This chimerical scheme rendered them so ungovernable, that their behaviour was little short of mutiny. Two of the men actually stole away in one of the ship's boats, a six-oar'd cutter, as was supposed, on a scheme of this kind.-So absurd is the conduct of a sailor, when his mind is possessed with the idea of gain, although the accomplishment of his wishes would only urge him on to restless dissipation and joyless profusion.

Whilst the ships lay here, captain King was shown, in a garden belonging to an English gentleman at Macao, the rock, under which as the tradition goes, the poet Camoens used to sit and compose his Lusiad. It is a lofty arch, of one solid. stone, and forms the entrance of a grotto, dug out of the rising ground behind it. The rock is overshadowed by trees, and commands a magnificent view of the sea, and the interspersed islands.

On the 12th of January, 1780, the ships unmoored, and scaled (cleansed) the guns, which, on board the Discovery, amounted to ten; so that by means of four additional ports they could, if occasion required it, fight seven on a side. The Resolution also had increased the number of her guns from twelve to sixteen; and in both ships a stout

barricade was carried round their upper works, and every other precaution taken to give their small force as respectable an appearance as possible. Here, however, they heard of instructions having been given to all ships of war, to suffer the ships under the command of captain Cook to proceed on their voyage without molestation, in case of falling in with them; the like orders were also said to have been given by the American congress to the vessels employed in their service. Captain Gore, therefore, thought himself bound, in return for the liberal exceptions made in his favour, to refrain from availing himself of any opportunity of capture which either the French or Americans might afford, and to observe throughout his voyage a strict neutrality. On the 20th the ships touched at the island of Pulo Condore, where a plentiful supply of buffaloes was obtained, At noon, on the 7th of February, they got sight of the island of Java. At Prince's Island the Discovery was heeled, and her bottom, which was very foul, scraped and hogged. The general resemblance which the natives of this island bear, both in figure, colour, manners, and even language, to the nations of the South Sea, was very striking. Captain King, who had not escaped without his full share of the effects of the Javanese climate, from his ill state of health was rendered incapable of pursuing the comparison so minutely as he could have wished.

From the time the ships entered the Straits of Banca, the men began to experience the powerful effects of that pestilential climate. Two of the Discovery's people fell dangerously ill of malignant putrid fevers, which, however, were prevented from spreading, by putting the patients apart from the