In publishing a popular edition of my work, Captain James Cook, R.N., F.R.S., it has, of course, been necessary to condense it, but care has been taken to omit nothing of importance, and at the same time a few slight errors have been corrected, and some new information has been added, chiefly relating to the disposition of documents. I must not omit this opportunity of thanking the Reviewers for the extremely kind manner in which they all received the original work—a manner, indeed, which far ex

Notwithstanding the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748, troubles were constantly arising between the French and English in which the American Colonies of both nations took a conspicuous part, and ultimately led to open war. The first shot was fired on 10th June 1755, although war was not formally declared till May 1756. In June 1755 the Friendship was in the Thames, and it is said that to avoid the hot press which had been ordered Cook first went into hiding for some time and then decided to volunt

Cook joined H.M.S. Solebay on the 30th July 1757 at Leith, where she was then stationed, but the date of his warrant has not been ascertained, although the Public Records and Trinity House have both been searched for the purpose. His stay was not long, for after a cruise of a few days she returned to Leith, and on 17th September Cook was superseded by John Nichols; in fact, his time on board was so short that his signature is not appended to any of the rolls. In April 1757 Mr. Bissett, who was M

On the way down the river from Quebec, the fleet appears to have found the passage very difficult, the dangers of the Channel being aggravated by the strength of the current and bad weather. The Captain, Vesuvius, and Royal William were aground for some time, but were ultimately got off again without much damage; and the Terrible, which was drifting and in great danger, was only brought up by means of an anchor constructed for the occasion by lashing one of the quarter-deck guns to two small anc

The commission as Governor of Newfoundland, which now included Labrador from Hudson's Straits to the St. John's River, the island of Anticosti, the islands off the Labrador coast, and the Madelines in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, had again been conferred on Captain (afterwards Admiral Lord) Graves. He had early recognised the fact that it was necessary to have a thorough survey of the coasts of his territory, and therefore made an application to the Board of Trade to have the one commenced as far b

Till a few years ago writers on the subject were content to draw their information as to the first voyage of Cook to the South Seas from the so-called history of Dr. Hawkesworth. This gentleman, who posed as a stylist (Boswell calls him a "studious imitator of Dr. Johnson"), was introduced by Dr. Charles Burney to Lord Sandwich for the express purpose of writing an account of the expedition, and was supplied with all the records in the possession of the Admiralty relating to it, he had access to

After waiting for some days for a fair wind, Cook eventually sailed at 2 P.M. on 26th August, having, as he says in his Journal, "94 persons, including officers, seamen, Gentlemen and their servants; near 18 months' provisions, 10 carriage guns, 12 swivels, with good store of ammunition, and stores of all kinds" on board. On 1st September they had heavy gales lasting for about four-and-twenty hours, and a small boat belonging to the boatswain was washed away, and "between three and four dozen of

Hardly had the anchor reached the bottom, before they were surrounded by canoes, whose occupants were anxious to sell the supplies of fruits, raw and cooked fish, and a pig they had brought. The price asked for the pig was a hatchet, and as these were scarce, it was not purchased. When all was made safe, a party went ashore and was well received by the natives, but those who had previously been there with Wallis reported that those who were at that time said to be chiefs, were keeping in the bac

Leaving the Society Islands on 9th August, they were off Ohetiroa (Rurutu), in the Central Group, on the 14th, but the natives were unfriendly, and they did not land. A canoe came out to meet the pinnace which had been sent to obtain information. The occupants, on being presented with gifts, tried to steal the lot, and were fired over, but by some mischance one of the natives was slightly wounded in the head, whereupon they hurriedly retreated, and further attempts at communication were abandone

The next thing to be done was to decide the course to be taken towards England. Cook would have liked to have returned by the Horn and thus settle the existence or non-existence of a large body of land in the South Pacific, but the time of year and the condition of his ship suggested that would be to court disaster. The same reasons held good against a direct course to the Cape of Good Hope, with the added disadvantage of there being no probability of any fresh discoveries, as that part of the O

The water on the New Guinea coast was very shallow, and kept them far out in running westward, but on 3rd September they got a little nearer in, so Cook decided to attempt a landing, and then to leave, as he considered it was only wasting valuable time to go over ground that had already been explored by the Dutch. Banks says the crew were rather sickly, they: "were pretty far gone with the longing for home, which the physicians have gone so far as to esteem a disease under the name of Nostalgia.

After reporting himself to the Admiralty on his arrival in England, Cook proceeded to his home at Mile End Old Town, where he was for some time employed in completing his Charts and Journals, and on 14th August, the Annual Register announces, he was introduced to His Majesty at St. James's, when he: "presented his Journal of his Voyage, with some curious maps and charts of different places that he had drawn during the voyage; he was presented with a captain's commission." He also found time to w

Saying goodbye to his family on 21st June, Cook, accompanied by Mr. Wales, left London for Sheerness, and the next day dropped down to the Nore. The Resolution was now drawing only fifteen feet ten inches of water instead of seventeen, a very satisfactory improvement. She was given a good trial on a wind, and was found "to answer exceeding well." On 3rd July they arrived at Plymouth, having been boarded the day before by Lord Sandwich and Captain Pallisser, who were on a tour of inspection, and

On 4th September Midshipman Colnett sighted a large island, which was named New Caledonia, the point first seen being called Cape Colnett. An opening in the surrounding reef having been found by the boats, the Resolution worked up to an anchorage and was quickly surrounded by canoes whose occupants were totally unarmed. At first they were shy of coming near, but at length one canoe was persuaded to receive some small presents, and in return gave some fish which "stunk intolerably," but for all t

After his return Cook was busily engaged preparing his Journal and charts for publication, which had been sanctioned by the Admiralty, and was considerably annoyed and delayed by the conduct of Mr. Forster, who immediately on his return complained that the 4,000 pounds granted him to cover the whole of his expenses had proved totally inadequate. He claimed that Lord Sandwich had promised, verbally, that he was to have the exclusive duty of writing the History of the Voyage, was to receive the wh

On 24th June Cook and Omai joined the ship at the Nore, leaving next day for Plymouth, arriving there on 30th, three days after the Discovery. On 8th July the final orders, which Cook had helped to draw up, were received. They were to the effect that he was to proceed by the Cape of Good Hope; to look for some islands said to have been seen by the French in latitude 48 degrees, about the longitude of Mauritius; to touch at New Zealand, if he thought proper; and then to proceed to Otaheite and le

In case of separation, Clerke was ordered to cruise for five days near where his consort had been last seen, and then to steer for New Albion (so-called by Sir Francis Drake), endeavouring to fall in with it about latitude 45 degrees North, and there cruise for ten days; then, if his consort was not picked up, to proceed north to the first suitable port and recruit his men, keeping a good look-out for his companion. Then he was to sail on 1st April to 56 degrees North, and again cruise about fif

On 4th February the ships unmoored and sailed from the bay, steering to the north in hopes of finding a better anchorage. The wind was very light, and the progress was so slow that it gave Terreeoboo an opportunity of sending off a further present of food. Soon after a gale sprang up, and the canoes which had accompanied them beat a hasty retreat, leaving a good many, mostly women, on board the ships. About midnight the fore and main topsails were split, but towards morning the wind died away an

Of course as nothing had been heard of the expedition for a considerable time, a certain amount of anxiety was felt, which at length found vent in paragraphs in the public press, and on 11th January 1780 the London Gazette contained the following: "Captain Clerke of His Majesty's Sloop the Resolution, in a letter to Mr. Stephens, dated the 8th of June 1779, in the harbour of St. Peter and St. Paul, Kampschatka, which was received yesterday, gives the melancholy account of the celebrated Captain