Obesity, _corpulence_,                                  Ou'p_ee_a.
   The Ocean,                                              Ty, s. Meede.
   Odoriferous, _sweet-smelled_,                           No'nöa.
   _Perfumed_ Oil _they put on the hair_,                  Mo'nöe.

   An Ointment,_plaister, or any thing                     E'ra'pa_oo_.
       that heals or relates to medicine_,

   Old,                                                    Ora'wheva.
   One,                                                    A'tahai.
   Open, _clear, spacious_,                                Ea'tëa.
   Open, _not shut_,                                       Fe'r_ei_.
   To open,                                                Te'haddoo.
   Opposite _to, or over against_,                         Wetoo'wh_ei_tte.

   Order, _in good order, regular, without            Wara'wara.
        confusion_,

   Ornament, _any ornament for the ear_,              T_ooee_ ta'r_ee_a.

   _Burial_ Ornaments, _viz. nine noits               Ma'ray Wharre.
      stuck in the ground_,

   An Orphan,                                           _Oo_'hoppe,
                                                        poo'_ai_a.

   Out, _not in, not within_,                           T_ei_we'ho.
   The Outside _of a thing_,                            _Oo_a'p_ee_.
   An Oven _in the ground_,                              E_oo_'m_oo_.
   Over, _besides, more than the quantity_,              Te'harra.
   To overcome, _or conquer_,                            E'ma'_oo_ma.
   To overturn, _or overset_,                            Eha'pa_oo_.
   An Owner                                              E'whattoo.
   _A large species of_ Oyster,                          I't_eë_a.
   _The large rough_ Oyster, _or Spondylus_,             Paho'öa.

   P.

   The Paddle _of a canoe, or to paddle_,                 E'höe.
   To paddle _a canoe's head to the right_                What'tëa.
   To paddle _a canoe's head to the left_,                Wemma.
   Pain, _or soreness,the sense of pain_,                 Ma'my.
   A Pair, _or two of any thing together_,             Ano'ho.
   The Palate,                                         E'ta'nea.
   The Palm _of the hand_,                             Ap_oo_'r_ee_ma.
   To Pant, _or breathe quickly_,                      Oo'pou'pou,tëa'ho.
   Pap, _or child's food_,                             Mamma.
   A Parent,                                           Me'd_oo_a.
   _A small blue_ Parroquet,                           E'v_ee_n_ee_.

   _A green_ Parroquet, _with a                        E'a'a.
      red forehead_,

   The Part _below the tongue_,                           Eta'raro.
   A Partition, _division, or screen_,                    Par_oo_'r_oo_.
   A Pass, _or strait_,                                   E,aree'ëa.

   _A fermented_ Paste, _of bread,
    fruit and others_,                                  Ma'h_ee_.

   A Path, _or road_,                                     Eä'ra.
   The Pavement _before a house or hut_,                  Pÿe,pye.
   A Pearl,                                               Pöe.
   The Peduncle, _and stalk of a plant_,                  A'mäa, s. E'atta.

   To peel _or take the skin off a
      cocoa-nut_&c.                                      A'tee, s. E'atee.

   Peeled, _it is peeled_,                                Me'at_ee_.
   A Peg _to hang a bag on_,                              'Pe'a_oo_.

   A Pepper-plant, _from the root of
   which they prepare an inebriating
   liquor_,                                               Awa.

   Perhaps, _it may be so_,                               E'pa'ha.
   Persons _of distinction_,                              Patoo'nehe.
   A Petticoat _of plantane leaves_,                      AArou'm_aiee_a.
   Petty, _small, trifling, opposed to Nooe_,             R_ee_.

   _A_ Physician, _or person who
   attends the sick_,                               Taata no E'rapa_oo_.

   Pick, _to pick or choose_,                       Eh_ee_ te _mai_ my ty.
   _A large wood_ Pigeon,                           Er_oope_.

   _A large green and white_ Pigeon,                O_o_'_oo_pa.

   _A small black and white_ Pigeon,
   _with purple wings_,                               _Oooo_wy'deroo.

   A Pimple,                                          H_oo_a'h_ou_a.
   To Pinch _with, the fingers_,                      _Oo_ma.
   A Plain, _or flat_,                                E'_pee_ho.
   Plane, _smooth_,                                   Pa'_ee_a.
   A Plant _of any kind_,                             O'mo.
   _A small_ Plant,                                   E'rabo.
   _The fruit of a_ Plantane-tree                     M_aiee_'a, s. Maya.
   _Horse_ Plantanes,                                 Fai'_ee_.

   Pleased, _good humoured, not cross or              Mar_oo_.
   surly_,

   Pluck _it up_,                                        Ar_ee_te.
   To pluck _hairs from the beard_,                      H_oo_h_oo_tee.
   To plunge _a thing in the water_,                     E,_oo_'wh_ee_.
   The Point _of any thing_,                             Oë,öe, or _Oi,oi_.
   Poison, _bitter_,                                     Awa,awa.
   A Poll,                                               _Oo_ra'h_oo_.
   Poor, _indigent, not rich_,                           Tee'tee.
   _A bottle-nosed_ Porpoise,                            E'_ou_a.
   _Sweet_ Potatoes,                                     Oo'marra.
   To pour _out any liquid substance_,                   Ma'n_ee_.
   Pregnant _with young_,                                Waha'p_oo_.

   To press, _or squeeze the legs gently
   with the hand, when tired or pained_,               Roro'm_ee_.

   Prick, _to prick up the ears_,                      Eoma te ta'r_ee_.
   A Priest,                                           Ta'h_ou_a.
   Prone, _or face downwards_,                         T_ee_'opa.
   _A sort of_ Pudding, _made of fruits,
   oil_, &c.                                           Po'po'_ee_.

   Pumpkins,                                        A'h_ooa_.
   To puke, _or vomit_,                             E'awa, s. e'r_oo_'y.
   Pure, _clear_,                                   E'_oo'ee_.
   A Purging, _or looseness_,                       Hawa,hawa.

   To pursue, _and catch a person who              Er_oo_,Er_oo_,
   has done some mischief_,                        s. Eha'r_oe_.

   To push _a thing with the hand_,                T_oo_'ra_ee_.
   Put _it up, or away_,                            Orno.

   Q.

   Quickness, _briskness_,                               E'tirre.
   _To walk_ quickly,                                    Harre'n_ei_na.

   Quietness, _silence, a silent or seemingly
   thoughtful person_,                                Falle'b_oo_a.

   A Quiver _for holding arrows_,                    'P_ee_ha.

   R.

   _A small black_ Rail, _with red eyes_,             M_ai_'ho.

   _A small black_ Rail, _spotted and
   buured with white_,                                 P_oo_a'n_ee_.

   Rain,                                                E'_oo_a.
   A Rainbow,                                           E'n_oo_a.
   Raft, _a raft of bamboo_,                            M_ai_to'e.
   Rank,_ strong, urinous_,                             Ewão wao.
   A Rasp, _or file_,                                   _Ooee_.
   A Rat,                                               'Yore, s. Eyore.

   Raw _meat, flesh that is not dressed                  E'otta.
     cooked_,

   Raw _fruit, as plantanes, &c. that are               Paroure.
     not baked_

   To recline, _or lean upon a thing_,                   E'py.

   Red _colour_,                                      _Oo_ra,_oo_ra,
                                                      s. Matde.

   To reef _a sail_,                                     Epo'uie te rya.
   A Refusal,                                            Eh_oo_'nooa.
   The Remainder _of any thing_,                         T,'Ewahei.
   To rend, _burst, or split_,                           M_oo_'m_oo_m_oo_.
   Rent, _cracked, or torn_,                             E'wha.
   To reside, _live or dwell_,                           E'noho.
   Respiration, _breathing_,                             T_oo_e,t_oo_e.
   A Rib,                                                Awäo.

   Rich, _not poor, having plenty of                     Epo'too.
      goods, &c._

   A Ring,                                         'M_ai_no.

   The Ringworm, _a disease so called_,             E'n_oo_a.
   Ripe, _as ripe fruit, &c_.                       Para, s. Pai, s. Ooo
                                                    p_ai_.

   Rise, _to rise up_,                              A'too.
   To rive, _or split_,                                 Ewha_oo'_ wha_oo_.
   A Road, _or path_,                                   Eä'ra.
   Roasted, _or broiled_,                               _Oo_a'w_ai_ra.
   A Robber, _or thief_,                                E_ee_'a (taata.)
   A Rock,                                              Pa_oo_.
   _A reef of_ Rocks,                                   E'a_ou_.
   Rolling, _the rolling of a ship_,                    T_oo_'r_oo_re.
   A Root,                                              Ap_oo_, s. Ea.
   A Rope _of any kind_,                                Taura.
   Rotten, _as rotten fruit, &c_.                       R_oo_pe.
   Rough, _not smooth_,                                 Ta'rra, tarra.
   To row _with oars_,                                  E'_oo_me, s, E'höe.

   To rub _a thing, as in washing the hands            Ho'ro_ee_.
      and face_,

   The Rudder _of a boat, or steering                  Höe,fa'herre.
        paddle of a canoe_,

   Running _backwards and forwards,                    Oo'atapone.
      endeavouring to escape_,

   S.

   The Sail _of a ship or boat_,                       E_ee_'_ai_.
   To sail, _or to be under sail_,                     E'whano.
   Salt, _or salt water_,                              Ty'ty, s. Meede.
   Sand, _dust_,                                       E'one.
   Saturn,                                             Whati'hëa.
   Saunders's _island_,                                Tab_oo_a, Manoo.
   A Saw,                                              E_ee'oo_.
   A Scab,                                             E'tona.
   _A fish's_ Scale _or scales_,                       Pöa.

   _A pair of_ Scissars,                              O't_oo_bo,
                                                      s. O'tob_oo_.

   A Scoop, _to empty water from a canoe_,             E'tata.
   To scrape _a thing_,                                _Oo_'a_oo_.
   To scratch _with the fingers_,                      Era'ra_oo_.
   Scratched, _a scratched metal_, &c.                 Pah_oo_re'h_oo_re.
   The Sea-cat, _a fish so called_,                    P_oo_he.
   The Sea,                                            Ta_ee_, s. M_ee_de.
   A Sea-egg,                                          He'awy.
   A Seam _between two planks_,                        Fatoo'wh_ai_ra.
   To search _for a thing that is lost_,               Oö,s.Pae'm_ee_.
   A Seat,                                             Papa.

   Secret, _a secret whispering, or slandering
   another_,                                          Ohe'm_oo_.

   The Seed _of a plant,_                             H_oo_a't_oo_t_oo_,
                                                      s. Ehooero

   The sense _of seeing_,                              E'h_ee_'o.
   To send,                                            Eho'pöe.
   A Sepulchre, _or burying-place_,                    Ma'ray.
   A Servant,                                          T_ow_t_ow_.
   Seven,                                              A'H_ee_t_oo_.
   To sew, _or string_,                                E't_oo_e.
   Seyne, _to haul a seyne_,                           Etoroo te p_ai_a.
   Shady,                                              Mar_oo_,maroo.
   To shake, _or agitate a thing_,                     E_oo_a'wai.
   A Shark,                                            Mäo.
   Sharp, _not blunt_,                                 Oö'ëe.

   To shave, _or take off the beard_,                  Eva'r_oo_,
                                                       s.Whanne, whanne.

   _A small_ Shell,                                    Ot'eo.
   _A tyger_ Shell,                                    Pore'h_oo_.
   Shew _it me_,                                       Enara.
   A Ship,                                             P_a_hee.
   Shipwreck,                                          Ara'wha.
   _A white_ Shirt,                                    Par_oo_'y.
   To shiver _with cold_,                              A'tete.
   _Mud_ Shoes, _or fishing shoes_,                    Tama.
   The Shore,                                          Euta.
   Short,                                              Po'potoo.

   Shut, _not open_,                                  Opa'n_ee_,
                                                      s. Poo'peepe.

   Sickness,                                           Matte my Mamy.
   _The left_ Side,                                    A'r_oo_de.
   The Side,                                           E'reea'wo.
   _The right_ Side,                                   Atou,a'taou.
   Sighing,                                            Fa'ëa.
   Silence,                                            Fatte'b_oo_a.
   Similar, _or alike_,                                _Oo_whyä'da.
   To sink,                                            A'tomo.
   A Sister,                                           T_oo_'h_ei_ne.
   To sit _down_,                                      A'noho.
   To sit _cross-legged_,                              T_ee_'py.
   Six,                                                A'Hon_oo_.
   A Skate-fish,                                       E'wha_ee_.
   The Skin,                                           _Ee_'ree.
   The Sky,                                            E'ra_ee_.
   To sleep,                                           Möe.
   _The long_ Sleep, _or death_,                       Möe röa.
   To sleep, _when sitting_,                           T_oo_'roore,möe.
   A Sling,                                            E'ma.
   Slow,                                               Marra,marröa,s.Fate.
   Small, _little_,                                   _Ee_te.

   _The sense of_ smelling,                          Fata't_oo_,
                                                     s._Oo_too,too,too.

   Smell _it_,                                        H_oi_na.
   To smell,                                          Ahe'_oi_.
   Smoke,                                             E'_oo_ra.
   Smooth,                                            Pa'ya.

   Smutting _the face with charcoal for
   funeral ceremonies_,                              Bap'para.

   _A sea_ Snake, _that has alternate
   rings of a white and black colour_,               P_oo_h_ee_'ar_oo_.

   To snatch _a thing hastily_,                       E'h_ai_r_oo_.
   Sneezing,                                          Mach_ee_'_ai_.

   Snipe, _a bird resembling a snipe, of
   a black and brown colour_,                        T_ee_'t_ee_.

   Snot                                              'H_oo_pe.
   Soberness, _sobriety, sober, not given_          T_ei_r_ei_da.
      _to drunkenness_,

   To soften,                                         Epar_oo_'par_oo_.
   Softness, _that is, not hard_,                     Maroo.
   The Sole _of the foot_,                            Tap_oo_'y.
   A Son                                              My'de.
   A Son-in-law,                                      H_oo_'nöa.
   A Song,                                            Heeva.
   A Sore, _or ulcer_,                                O'pai.
   Soreness, _or pain_,                               Ma'may.
   Sound, _any sound that strikes the ear_,           Pa'_ee_na.
   A Span,                                            Ewhäe ono.
   To speak,                                          Paraou.

   Speak; _he speaks not from the heart,      Neeate _oo_t_oo_ te parou
       his words are only on his lips_,       no nona.

   A Spear, _or lance_,                               Täo.
   To spill,                                          Emare.
   To spit,                                           Too't_oo_a.

   _To_ spread, _or to expand a thing, as_           Ho'hora.
      _cloth, &c_.

   To squeeze, _or press hard_,                       Ne,'ne_ee_.
   To squeeze, _or press gently with the hand_,       Roro'm_ee_.
   Squint-eyed,                                       Matta'areva.
   _A fighting_ Stage _in a boat_,                    E't_oo_t_ee_.

   To stamp _with the feet, to trample on            Tata'hy.
     a thing_,

   Stand _up_,                                    Atëarenona.
   A Star,                                        E'f_ai_too, s. Hwettoo.
   A Star-fish,                                   Eve'r_ee_.
   To startle, _as when one dreams_               Wa'hee, te'dirre.
   Stay, _or wait a little_,                      A'r_ee_a, s. Ar_ee_'ana.
   To steal,                                      'Woreedo.
   Steep, _as steep rocks, or cliffs_,            Mato.
   _A walking_ Stick,                            'Tame.

   Stinking, _ill-smelled, as stinking water,&c_. Na'm_oo_a,
                                                  s. N_ee_'n_ee_o.

   Stink, _to stink or smell ill_,                    F_ou_, f_ou_.
   To stink, _as excrement_,                          P_ee_ro,p_ee_ro.
   The Stomach,                                      'Para_ee_'a.
   A Stone,                                           Owhay.
   _A polished_ Stone, used to beat victuals          P_ai_'noo.
        into a paste_,

   Stones, _upright stones which stand on
   the paved area before huts_,                      T_oo_'t_oo_re.

   _A small_ Stool, _to lay the head
   on when asleep_,                                  Papa, s. Papa, r_oo_ä.

   Stool, _to go to stool_,                           T_ee_t_ee_'o.
   To stop,                                           A'too.
   The Stopper _of a quiver_,                         Ponau.
   A Storm _of wind, rain, thunder_, &c.              Tarooa.
   Strait, _narrow, not wide_,                        P_ee_re,peere.
   Striking, _hollow striking in dancing_,            Ap_ee_.
   The String _of a quiver_,                          E'aha.
   Strong, _as a strong man_,                         _O'o_mara.
   Struck,                                            A'b_oo_l_a_.
   Stupidity, _ignorance_,                            W_ee_a'l_a_.
   To suck _as a child_,                              Ote,ote.
   Sugar _cane_,                                      E'To, s. Töo.
   Suicide,                                           Euha'a_ou_.
   Sultry, _or hot air_,                              Poh_ee_a.
   The Sun,                                           Mahanna, s. Era.
   _The meridian_ Sun,                            T_ei_'n_ee_a te Mahanna.
   Supine, _lying_,                               Fateeraha.
   Surf _of the sea_,                             Horo'w_ai_.

   _An interjection of_ Surprise,
   _or admiration_,                                  Allaheuee'_ai_.

   To surround,                                      A'b_oo_ne.
   To swallow,                                       Horo'm_ee_.
   The Sweat _of the body, or to sweat_          E'h_ou_, s. Eh_ou_ h_ou_.
   A sweet _taste_,                              Mona.
   Swell _of the sea_,                           E'r_oo_.

   T.

   A Tail,                                           Ero.
   A Tail _of a bird_,                               E'hoppe.
   To take _a friend by the hand_,                   Etoo'ya_oo_.
   To take _off, or unloose_,                        Eve'vette.
   To take _care of the victuals_,                   Ewhaapoo te maa.
   To talk, _or converse_,                           Paraou.
   _The sense of_ tasting,                           Tama'ta.
   A Tetotum, _or whirligig_,                        E'piröa.
   To tear _a thing_,                                Ha'hy, s. Whatte.
   A Teat, _or dug_,                                 E'_oo_.
   The Teeth,                                        E'n_ee_h_ee_o.
   Ten                                               A'h_oo_r_oo_.
   To tend, _or feed hogs_,                         Ew_h_a_ee_ te Böa.
   Tenants,                                         Af_eu_'h_au_.
   _A black_ Tern, _with a whitish head_,           O_ee_'o.
   There,                                           Te'raee.
   They, _them, or theirs_,                         To'ta_oo_a.
   Thickness, _applied to solid bodies_,            Meoo'meoo.
   Thick, _as thick cloth_, &c.                     T_oo_e'too'e.
   Thick, _muddy_,                                  Ewore'r_oo_,s.Eworepe.
   Thine, _it is yours, or belongs to you_,         No öe.
   Thirst,                                          W'ah_ee_'y.
   Thoughts,                                     Para_ou_, no te o'p_oo_.
  _An appearance of_ thoughtfulness,             Fate'b_oo_a.
   Three,                                           Tor_oo_.
   The Throat,                                      Ara'poa.
   To throw, _or heave a thing_,                    Taora.
   To throw _a thing away_,                         Harre'wai.
   To throw _a ball_,                               Ama'h_oo_a.
   To throw _a lance_,                              Evara'towha.
   Throw, _shall I throw it_,                       Taure'a'a.
   Throwing _in dancing_,                           Hoe'aire.
   The Thumb,                                       E'r_ee_ma,erahai.
   Thunder,                                         Pa't_ee_re.
   Tickle, _to tickle a person_,                    My'n_ee_na.
   A Tide, _or current_,                            A'ow.
   To tie _a knot_,                                 Ty.

   Time, _a space of time, from 6 to 10
   at night_,                                      O't_oo_e, teepo.

   Time, _a little time, a small space_,            Popo'_eu_n_oo_.
   Time, _a long time, a great while_,              Ta'moo.
   A Title _belonging to a woman of rank_,          E'tapay'r_oo_.
   A Toe _of the foot_,                             Man_ee_o.
   A Tomb,                                          T_oo_,pap'pou.
   The Tongue,                                      E'rero.
   A Tortoise,                                      E'hon_oo_.
   Touching,                                        Fa'fa.
   Tough, _as tough meat_, &c.                      Ah_oo_'_ou_e.
   A Town,                                     E'farre p_oo_to p_oo_t_oo_.
   To trample _with the foot_,                 Tata'he, s. Ta'ta'hy.
   A Tree,                                     E'räo.

   A Tree, _from which they make clubs,        Töa (Eräo.)
   spears_, &c.

   To tremble, _or shudder with cold_,        _Oo_a'titte, s. Eta.
   Trembling, _shaking_,                      A_ou_'dou.
   To trip _one up in wrestling_,             Me'häe.
   A Tropic-bird,                             Man_oo_'roa.
   Truth,                                     Eva_ee_'röa,s.Para_ou_,mou.
   To tumble,                                 P_ou_ta'heite.
   A Turban,                                  E'täe.
   To turn, _or turned_,                       _Oo_'ahöe.

   To turn, _as in walking backwards and
   forwards_,                                     H_oo_d_ee_p_ee_pe.

   Twins, _twin children_,                         Ma'hëa.
   To twist _a rope_,                              Taw_ee_'r_ee_.
   Two,                                            E'Rooä.

   U.

   An Ulcer, _or sore_,                            O'p_ai_.
   Under, _below, low down_,                       Oraro.
   Under _sail_,                                   P_ou_'pou_ee_.
   To understand,                                  Ee'te.
   To undress, _or take off the clothes_,          Ta'turra.
   An unmarried _person_,                          Ar_ee_'_oi_.
   Unripe, _as unripe fruit_,&c.                   P_oo_.

   V.

   _Luminous_ Vapour,                              Epao.
   Vassal, _or subject_,                           Manna'h_ou_na.
   Vast,                                           Ara,hai,s.Mai,ara'hai.
   The Veins _that run under the skin_,            E'w_ou_a.
   Venus,                                          T_ou_'r_oo_a.

   Vessel, _any hollow vessel, as cups of
   nuts_,&c.                                      _Ai_'boo.

   Vessel, _a hollow vessel in which they
   prepare an inebriating liquor_,                _Oo_'mutte.

   To vomit,                                       Er_oo_'y.

   W.

   Wad, _tow, fibres like hemp_,                    Ta'm_ou_.
   Wait, _stay a little_,                           Areeana.
   Wake, _awake_,                                   Arra arra, s. Era.
   To walk out,                                     Avou'_oi_a.
   To walk _backwards and forwards_,                H_oo_a p_ee_pe.
   A Warrior, _soldier, or rather a man-killer_,    Taatatöa.
   Warmth, _heat_,                                  Mahanna,hanna.
   A Wart,                                          Toria.
   To wash, _as to wash cloth in water_,            Mare.
   To watch,                                        Eteäe.
   Water,                                           A'vy.
   Water-cresses,                                   Pa'töa.
   We, _both of us_,                            Ta_oo_a, s. Ar_oo_'r_oo_a.
   A wedge,                                     Era'h_ei_.
   To weep, _or cry_,                           Hanö a,a,ta_ee_.
   Well _recovered, or well escaped_,           Woura, s. woo,ara.
   Well, _it is well, charming, fine_,          P_oo_ro'too.

   What, _whats that_,                             E'hara, E'ha'rya,s.
                                                   Ye'ha_ee_a, expressed
                                                   inquisitively.

   What _do you call that, what is the
   name of it_,                                    Owy te a_ee_'_oa_.

   When, _at what time_,                            W'hëëa.
   Where _is it_,                                   Te'hëa.

   Whet, _to whet or sharp a thing_,                Evo_ee_.
   To whistle,                                      Ma'p_oo_.

   Whistling, _a method of whistling to
   call the people to meals_,                      Ep_ou_,maa.

   To whisper _secretly, as in backbiting_, &c.    Ohe'm_oo_.

   Who _is that, what is he called_,               Owy,tanna, s.
                                                   Owy,nana.

   Whole, _the whole not a part of a thing_,      E'ta,e'tea, s. A'ma_oo_.
   Wide, _not strait or narrow_,                  Whatta,whatta.
   A Widow,                                       Wa't_oo_neea.
   Wife, _my wife_,                               Ma'h_ei_ne.
   The Wind,                                        Mattay.
   _The south-east_ Wind,                           Mattaee.
   A Window,                                        Ma'laee ou'panee.
   The Wing _of a bird_,                            Ere'_ou_.
   To wink,                                         E'am_ou_,am_oo_.
   To wipe _a thing clean_,                         Ho'ro_ee_.
   Wish, _a wish to one who sneezes_,               Eva'r_ou_a t Eät_oo_a.
   Within _side_,                                   T_ee_'ro to.
   A Woman,                                         Wa'h_ei_ne.
   _A married_ Woman,                               Wa'h_ei_ne mou.

   Woman, _she is a married woman, she
   has got another husband_,                       Terra,tanne.

   Won't _I won't do it_,                          'A_eeoo_, expressed
                                                    angrily.

   Wood _of any kind_,                              E'raö.
   A Wound,                                         Oo't_ee_.
   A Wrestler,                                      M_ou_na.
   Wrinkled _in the face_,                          M_ee_o, m_ee_o.
   The Wrist,                                       Mo'möa.
   A Wry-neck,                                      Na'na.

   Y.

   To yawn,                                           Ha'mamma.
   Yellow _colour_,                                  He'appa.
   Yes,                                              Ay, s. _ai_.
   Yesterday,                                        Ninna'hay.
   Yesternight,                                      Ere'po.
   York _island_,                                    Ei'mëo.
   Yon                                               Oë.
   young,_as a young animal of any kind_,            P_ee_'n_ai_a.

   [21] A Table exhibiting at one View, Specimens of different
       languages spoken in the South-Sea, from Easter Island,
       Westward to New Caledonia, as observed in the Voyage.

   English.   Otaheite.                   Easter Island.
      The Marquesas Isles.      The Island of Amsterdam.     New Zealand.
   Malicolo.    Tanna.                New Caledonia

   A Bird,           'Man_oo_,[22]                  'Man_oo_,
                                                  'Manu_oo_,
                 Man_oo_,                Manee, s. Man_eek_.

   A Bow         E'fanna,
                                                  'Fanna,
   Nabrr_oo_s,    Na'fanga.

   Bread-fruit   _Oo_r_oo_,
       Mai_ee_,
   Ba'rabe,     Tag'_oo_r_oo_.

   A canoe       E'väa                        'Wagga,
       Ev'äa,                                                Ta'wagga,
                                               Wang.

   Cloth         Ah_oo_,                        'Ah_oo_,
       'Ah_oo_, s. A'hoo_ee_a,           Babba'langa,Kak'ah_oo_,
                 Ta'nar_ee_,             Hamban.

   A Cocoa-nut   'Ar_ee_,
                                     'Eeoo,
   Nar_oo_,       Nab_oo_'y,             'N_eeoo_.

   To drink      Ayn_oo_'                        A_ee_n_oo_,
       'A_ee_n_oo_,
   No'a_ee_,      N_ooee_,                'Oo_d_oo_, s. _Oo_nd_oo_.

   The Eye       Matta,                        Matta,
       'Matta, s. Matta_ee_a,          'Matta,                 'Matta,
   M_ai_tang,     Nan_ee_'maiuk,          T_ee_'vein.

   The Ear       Ta'r_ee_a,                      Ta'r_ee_an,
       B_oo_'_ee_na,                                           Ta'r_ee_ka,
   Talingan,    F_ee_n_ee_'enguk,         Gain'_ee_ng.

   Fish          'Eya,                         _Ee_ka,
                                      '_Ee_ka,                  '_Ee_ka,
                 'Nam_oo_.

   A Fowl,       Möa,                          Möa,
       Möa,
   Moe'r_oo_.

   The Hand,     E'r_ee_ma,                      'R_ee_ma,
       E_oo_'my,                       E'r_ee_ma,                'R_ee_nga,
                                       Badon'h_ee_n.

   The Head,     _Oo_'po,                        Aö'po,
                                                             Tak'_oo_po,
   Ba's_ai_ne,     N_oo_gwa'n_aium,            Gar'moing.

   A Hog,        'Böa,
       'B_oo_a,                        B_oo_'acka,
   'Brr_oo_as,    'B_oo_ga, s. 'B_oo_gas.

   I,myself,     W_ou_, s. _ou_,
       'W_ou_,                                                 _Ou_.

   To laugh,     'Atta,
                                                             Katta,
                 'Häarish,             Ap, s.Gye'ap.

   A Man,        'Täata,                       Papa?
       T_ee_to,
   Ba'rang,     Nar_oo_'mäan.

   The Navel,    'P_ee_to,
      P_ee_to, s. P_ee_to'ai,                                   P_ee_to,
   Nomprtong,   Nap_ee_ rainguk,        Whanb_oo_ _ee_n.

   No,           (1)'Ayma,(2)Y_ai_ha,(3)A'_ou_re,'_Ei_sa,
                                                 '_Ee_sha,      Ka'_ou_re,
   Ta'ep,       E'sa,                 '_Ee_va, _Ee_ba.

   Plantains,    'M_ai_ya,                       (1)Maya, (2)F_oo_tse,
       M_ai_e_ea_,                       'F_oo_dje,
   Nabrruts.

   Puncturation, Ta't_ou_,
       E'pat_oo_,                      Ta't_ou_,                 Moko,
                                      'Gan, s. Gan,galang.

   Rain,         E'_oo_a,                        '_Oo_a,

                 Na'mawar,             _Oo_e.

   Sugar cane,   E'To,                         To,

                 Na'r_oo_k.

   The Teeth,    E'n_ee_h_ee_o,                    'N_ee_ho,
       E'n_ee_ho,                      'N_ee_fo,                 N_ee_ho,
   R_ee_'bohn,    'Warrewuk, s. 'R_ai_buk, Penna'w_ei_n.

   Water,        A'vay,                        E'vy,

   Er'g_ou_r,                           _Oo_e.

   To Whistle,   'Map_oo_,
                                                             F_ee_o,f_ee_o,
   Papang,      Awe'bern,             'Wy_oo_.

   A Woman,      Wa'h_ei_ne,
       Ve'h_ee_ne,
   Ra'bin,      N_ai_'bräan,            Tama.

   Yams,         E'_oo_he,                       _Oo_he,
                                      _Oo_fe,
   Nan-'ram,    _Oo_fe,                 _Oo_be.

   Yes,          _Ai_,
                                      '_Ee_o,
   _Ai_,                         '_Ee_o,                 'Elo, s. _Ee_o,
                                                         s. öe.

   You,          Oë,
       Oë.

   One,          A'Tahay,                       Katta'ha_ee_,
       Atta'ha_ee_,                    Ta'ha_ee_,

   Ts_ee_'ka_ee_,   R_ee_d_ee_,               Wag_ee'ai_ng.

   Two,          E'R_oo_a,                        'Rooa,
       A'ooa,                        E'ooa,
   E'ry,        'Karoo,               'Waroo.

   Three,       'Ter_oo_,                        'Tor_oo_,
      A'tor_oo_,                      'Tor_oo_,
   E'r_ei_,       'Kahar,               Wat_ee_ en.

   Four,         A'Haa,                        'Häa, s. Fäa,
       A'faa,                        A'fäa,
   E'bats,      'K_ai_phar,             Wam'ba_ee_k.

   Five,         E'R_ee_ma,                      'R_ee_ma,
       A'_ee_ma,                       'N_ee_ma,
   E'r_ee_m,      'Kr_ee_rum,             Wannim.

   Six,          A'ono,                        'Hon_oo_,
       A'ono,
   Ts_oo_'ka_ee_,   Ma'r_ee_d_ee_,            Wannim-g_ee_ek.

   Seven,        A'H_ei_too,                     'H_ee_d_oo_,
       A'wh_ee_t_oo_,
   G_oo_y,        Ma'kar_oo_,             Wannim'n_oo_.

   Eight,        A'war_oo_,                      'Var_oo_,
       A'wa_oo_,
   H_oo_rey,      Ma'kahar,             Wannim'g_ai_n.

   Nine,         A'_ee_va,                       H_ee_va,
       A'_ee_va,
   G_oo_dbats,    Ma'k_ai_phar,           Wannim'ba_ee_k.

   Ten,          A'h_oo_r_oo_,                     Atta'h_oo_r_oo_,
                                                   s. Anna'h_oo_r_oo_,
       Wannah_oo_, s. Wanna'h_oo_e,
   Senearr,     Ma'kr_ee_rum,           Wann_oo_'n_ai_uk.

[Footnote 21: It may be easily perceived, that notwithstanding some
words are entirely different, the first five Indian languages are
radically the same; though the distance from Easter Island to New
Zealand is upwards of fifteen hundred leagues. The principal difference
consists in the mode of pronunciation, which in Easter Island,
Amsterdam, and New Zealand, is more harsh, or guttural, than at the
Marquesas Isles, or Otaheite. The other three differ totally, not only
from the preceding, but from each other; which is more extraordinary
than the agreement of the others, as from Malicolo to Tanna you never
lose sight of land; nor is New Caledonia at a great distance from the
last place. In the language of Malicolo a great number of harsh labial
sounds prevail, very difficult to be represented in writing. At Tanna
the pronunciation is likewise harsh, but rather guttural, and the
inhabitants of New Caledonia have many nasal sounds, or snivel much in
speaking. It may however be observed, that in the three last languages,
some words are found which seem to have a distant resemblance to those
that go before; as Brr'_oo_as, in Malicolo, and 'B_oo_ga, or 'Boogas, in
Tanna, both signifying a hog, which at Otaheite and the Marquesas, is
expressed by the word 'Böa, and at Amsterdam B_oo_'acka. Yet, whether
these may not have been accidentally introduced, is hard to determine;
because they frequently use two words to express the same thing; as for
instance, in New Caledonia, they call a star both P_ee_j_oo_ and
Fya't_oo_; the first seems most consonant to the general composition of
their language, whereas the second differs very little from
E'f_ai_t_oo_, or Whet_oo_, the name of a star at Otaheite. When they
mention puncturation, it is commonly called a Gan, or Gan,galan; but
sometimes they say Tata'tou, which is almost the same as Ta't_ou_, used
to express the same thing at Otaheite and Amsterdam.]

[Footnote 22: The letters in Italic, as _oo, ee_, &c. are to be sounded
as one. Those with this ¨, as öe, &c. are separately. The accent at the
beginning of a word, signifies the chief stress in pronunciation is to
be laid there; if over it at any other part, the stress is laid on that
part immediately following. A comma in the middle of a word, either
signifies, that it is compounded of two, or, that the same syllables
repeated, make the word; in both which cases, a small stop, or pause,
must be made in pronouncing it.]

PART III. BOOK III.

A VOYAGE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN, UNDERTAKEN BY THE COMMAND OF HIS MAJESTY,
FOR MAKING DISCOVERIES IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE; TO DETERMINE THE
POSITION AND EXTENT OF THE WEST SIDE OF NORTH AMERICA, ITS DISTANCE FROM
ASIA, AND THE PRACTICABILITY OF A NORTHERN PASSAGE TO EUROPE. PERFORMED
UNDER THE DIRECTION OF CAPTAINS COOK, CLERKE, AND GORE, IN HIS MAJESTY'S
SHIPS THE RESOLUTION AND DISCOVERY, IN THE YEARS 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779,
& 1780.[23]

INTRODUCTION.

The spirit of discovery, which had long animated the European nations,
having, after its arduous and successful exertions, during the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries, gradually subsided, and for a considerable time
lain dormant, began to revive in Great Britain in the late reign;[24]
and recovered all its former activity, under the cherishing influence,
and munificent encouragement, of his present majesty.

[Footnote 23: The account of this voyage was originally published in
three volumes the first and second of which were written by Captain Cook
himself, and the third by Captain King, one of his officers. The work,
however, as the reader will soon find, is materially enriched by the
communications of Mr Anderson, surgeon of the Resolution. The valuable
introduction, and the notes interspersed throughout the volumes
contributed by Cook, were the production of Dr Douglas, Bishop of
Salisbury, who, at the request of Lord Sandwich, undertook also the
office of editor. Of the amount of his services in this character, we
have his own statement, towards the end of the introduction. From this,
it appears, that Cook, when he set out, knew he was expected to relate,
as well as to execute, the operations committed to him; and that his
journal, in consequence, was faithfully adhered to. This seems to imply
the non-interference of the editor, at least in any important sense. The
same thing may be inferred from what he says respecting Mr Anderson's
journal. And as to the third volume, we are expressly told, that it was
completely prepared for the press by Captain King himself. There is
surely, then, very little foundation for an assertion made in the memoir
of Captain Cook, inserted in the new edition of the General Biographical
Dictionary, vol. 10. viz. that Dr Douglas "has levelled down the more
striking peculiarities of the different writers, into some appearance of
equality." Certainly, we are bound either to refuse such an insinuation,
or to charge falsehood on Dr Douglas, who expressly states, that all he
has to answer for, are the notes in Captain Cook's two volumes and the
introduction. But the alternative will give no trouble to any reader
acquainted with the worthy character of the bishop, or who can
comprehend, how very readily a probable conjecture may became the basis
of an erroneous opinion.

It is necessary to apprise the reader, that the letter D is placed at
such of Dr Douglas's notes as it is thought advisable to retain in this
work, and that for the rest marked E., the editor, as formerly, is
responsible.--E.]

[Footnote 24: Two voyages for discovering a north-west passage, through
Hudson's Bay, were then performed; one under the command of Captain
Middleton, in his majesty's ships the Furnace, and the Discovery pink,
in 1741 and 1743. The other under the direction of Captains Smith and
Moore, in the ships Dobbs and California, fitted out by subscription, in
1746 and 1747.--D.]

Soon after his accession to the throne, having happily closed the
destructive operations of war, he turned his thoughts to enterprises
more humane, but not less brilliant, adapted to the season of returning
peace. While every liberal art, and useful study, flourished under his
patronage at home, his superintending care was extended to such branches
of knowledge, as required distant examination and enquiry; and his
ships, after bringing back victory and conquest from every quarter of
the known world, were now employed in opening friendly communications
with its hitherto unexplored recesses.

In the prosecution of an object so worthy of the monarch of a great
commercial people, one voyage followed another in close succession; and,
we may add, in regular gradation. What Byron had begun, Wallis and
Carteret soon improved. Their success gave birth to a far more extensive
plan of discovery, carried into execution in two subsequent voyages,
conducted by Cook. And that nothing might be left unattempted, though
much had been already done, the same commander, whose professional skill
could only be equalled by the persevering diligence with which he had
exerted it, in the course of his former researches, was called upon,
once more, to resume, or rather to complete, the survey of the globe.
Accordingly, another voyage was undertaken, in 1776; which, though last
in the order of time, was far from being the least considerable, with
respect to the extent and importance of its objects; yet, still, far
less fortunate than any of the former, as those objects were not
accomplished, but at the expence of the valuable life of its conductor.

When plans, calculated to be of general utility, are carried into
execution with partial views, and upon interested motives, it is natural
to attempt to confine, within some narrow circle, the advantages which
might have been derived to the world at large, by an unreserved
disclosure of all that had been effected. And, upon this principle, it
has too frequently been considered as sound policy, perhaps, in this
country, as well as amongst some of our neighbours, to affect to draw a
veil of secrecy over the result of enterprises to discover and explore
unknown quarters of the globe. It is to the honour of the present reign,
that more liberal views have been now adopted. Our late voyages, from
the very extensive objects proposed by them, could not but convey useful
information to every European nation; and, indeed, to every nation,
however remote, which cultivates commerce, and is acquainted with
navigation: And that information has most laudably been afforded. The
same enlarged and benevolent spirit, which ordered these several
expeditions to be undertaken, has also taken care that the result of
their various discoveries should be authentically recorded. And the
transactions of these voyages round the world, having, in due time, been
communicated, under the authority of his majesty's naval minister; those
of the present, which, besides revisiting many of the former discoveries
in the southern, carried its operations into untrodden paths in the
northern hemisphere, are, under the same sanction, now submitted to the
public in these volumes.

One great plan of nautical investigation having been pursued throughout,
it is obvious, that the several voyages have a close connection, and
that an exact recollection of what had been aimed at, and effected, in
those that preceded, will throw considerable light on our period. With a
view, therefore, to assist the reader in forming a just estimate of the
additional information conveyed by this publication, it may not be
improper to lay before him a short, though comprehensive, abstract of
the principal objects that had been previously accomplished, arranged in
such a manner, as may serve to unite into one point of view, the various
articles which lie scattered through the voluminous journals already in
the hands of the public; those compiled by Dr Hawkesworth; and that
which was written by Captain Cook himself. By thus shewing what had been
formerly done, how much still remained for subsequent examination will
be more apparent; and it will be better understood on what grounds,
though the ships of his majesty had already circumnavigated the world
five different times, in the course of about ten years, another voyage
should still be thought expedient.

There will be a farther use in giving such an abstract a place in this
introduction. The plan of discovery, carried on in so many successive
expeditions, being now, we may take upon us to say, in a great measure
completed, by summing up the final result, we shall be better able to do
justice to the benevolent purposes it was designed to answer; and a
solid foundation will be laid, on which we may build a satisfactory
answer to a question, sometimes asked by peevish refinement, and
ignorant malevolence, What beneficial consequences, if any, have
followed, or are likely to follow, to the discoverers, or to the
discovered, to the common interests of humanity, or to the increase of
useful knowledge, from all our boasted attempts to explore the distant
recesses of the globe?

The general object of the several voyages round the world, undertaken by
the command of his majesty, prior to that related in this work, was to
search for unknown tracts of land that might exist within the bosom of
the immense expanse of ocean that occupies the whole southern
hemisphere.

Within that space, so few researches had been made, before our time, and
those few researches had been made so imperfectly, that the result of
them, as communicated to the world in any narration, had rather served
to create uncertainty, than to convey information; to deceive the
credulous, rather than to satisfy the judicious enquirer; by blending
the true geography of above half the superficies of the earth with an
endless variety of plausible conjectures, suggested by ingenious
speculation; of idle tales, handed down by obscure tradition; or of bold
fictions, invented by deliberate falsehood.

It would have been very unfortunate, indeed, if five different
circumnavigations of the globe, some of them, at least, if not all, in
tracks little known, and less frequented, had produced no discoveries,
to reward the difficulties and perils unavoidably encountered. But the
following review will furnish the most satisfactory proofs, that his
majesty's instructions have been executed with ability; and that the
repeated visits of his ships to the southern hemisphere, have very
considerably added to our stock of geographical knowledge.

1. The south Atlantic ocean was the first scene of our operations.
Falkland's Islands had been hitherto barely known to exist; but their
true position and extent, and every circumstance which could render
their existence of any consequence, remained absolutely undecided, till
Byron visited them in 1764. And Captain Macbride, who followed him
thither two years after, having circumnavigated their coasts, and taken
a complete survey, a chart of Falkland's Islands has been constructed,
with so much accuracy, that the coasts of Great Britain itself, are not
more authentically laid down upon our maps.

How little was really known of the islands in the south Atlantic, even
so late as the time of Lord Anson, we have the most remarkable proofs,
in the history of his voyage. Unavoidably led into mistake, by the
imperfect materials then in the possession of the world, he had
considered Pepys's Island, and Falkland Isles, as distinct places;
distant from each other about five degrees of latitude. Byron's
researches have rectified this capital error; and it is now decided,
beyond all contradiction, that, as Captain Cook says, "Future navigators
will mispend their time, if they look for Pepys's Island in latitude
47°; it being now certain, that Pepys's Island is no other than these
islands of Falkland."

Besides the determination of this considerable point, other lands,
situated in the South Atlantic, have been brought forward into view. If
the isle of Georgia had been formerly seen by La Roche in 1675, and by
Mr Guyot, in the ship Lion, in 1756, which seems to be probable, Captain
Cook, in 1775, has made us fully acquainted with its extent and true
position; and, in the same year, he added to the map of the world
Sandwich Land, hitherto not known to exist, and the most southern
discovery that has been ever accomplished.

II. Though the Strait of Magalhaens had been formerly visited, and
sailed through by ships of different nations, before our time, a careful
examination of its bays, and harbours, and head-lands; of the numerous
islands it contains, and of the coasts, on both sides, that inclose it;
and an exact account of the tides, and currents, and soundings,
throughout its whole extent, was a task, which, if Sir John Narborough,
and others, had not totally omitted, they cannot be said to have
recorded so fully, as to preclude the utility of future investigation.
This task has been ably and effectually performed by Byron, Wallis, and
Carteret; whose transactions in this strait, and the chart of it,
founded on their observations and discoveries, are a most valuable
accession to geography.

III. If the correct information, thus obtained, about every part of this
celebrated strait, should deter future adventurers from involving
themselves in the difficulties and embarrassments of a labyrinth, now
known to be so intricate, and the unavoidable source of danger and
delay, we have the satisfaction to have discovered, that a safer and
more expeditious entrance into the Pacific Ocean, may be reasonably
depended upon. The passage round Cape Horn has been repeatedly tried,
both from the east and from the west, and stript of its terrors. We
shall, for the future, be less discouraged by the labours and distresses
experienced by the squadrons of Lord Anson and Pizarro, when we
recollect that they were obliged to attempt the navigation of those seas
at an unfavourable season of the year; and that there was nothing very
formidable met with there when they were traversed by Captain Cook.

To this distinguished navigator was reserved the honour of being the
first, who, from a series of the most satisfactory observations,
beginning at the west entrance of the Strait of Magalhaens, and carried
on with unwearied diligence, round Tierra del Fuego, through the Strait
of Le Maire, has constructed a chart of the southern extremity of
America, from which it will appear, how much former navigators must have
been at a loss to guide themselves; and what advantages will be now
enjoyed by those who shall hereafter sail round Cape Horn.

IV. As the voyages of discovery, undertaken by his majesty's command,
have facilitated the access of ships into the Pacific Ocean, they have
also greatly enlarged our knowledge of its contents.

Though the immense expanse usually distinguished by this appellation,
had been navigated by Europeans for near two centuries and a half, by
far the greater part of it, particularly to the south of the equator,
had remained, during all this time, unexplored.

The great aim of Magalhaens, and of the Spaniards in general, its first
navigators, being merely to arrive, by this passage, at the Moluccas,
and the other Asiatic spice islands, every intermediate part of the
ocean that did not lie contiguous to their western track, which was on
the north side of the equator, of course escaped due examination. And if
Mendana and Quiros, and some nameless conductors of voyages before them,
by deviating from this track, and steering westward from Callao, within
the southern tropic, were so fortunate as to meet with various islands
there, and so sanguine as to consider those islands as marks of the
existence of a neighbouring southern continent, in the exploring of
which they flattered themselves they should rival the fame of De Gama
and Columbus, these feeble efforts never led to any effectual disclosure
of the supposed hidden mine of a New World. On the contrary, their
voyages being conducted without a judicious plan, and their discoveries
being left imperfect without immediate settlement, or subsequent
examination, and scarcely recorded in any well-authenticated or accurate
narrations, had been almost forgot; or were so obscurely remembered, as
only to serve the purpose of producing perplexing debates about their
situation and extent, if not to suggest doubts about their very
existence.

It seems, indeed, to have become a very early object of policy in the
Spanish councils, to discontinue and to discourage any farther
researches in that quarter. Already masters of a larger empire on the
continent of America than they could conveniently govern, and of richer
mines of the precious metals on that continent than they could convert
into use, neither avarice nor ambition furnished reasons for aiming at a
fresh accession of dominions. And thus, though settled all along the
shores of this ocean, in a situation so commodious for prosecuting
discoveries throughout its wide extent, the Spaniards remained satisfied
with a coasting intercourse between their own ports; never stretching
across the vast gulph that separates that part of America from Asia, but
in an unvarying line of navigation, perhaps in a single annual ship,
between Acapulco and Manilla.

The tracks of other European navigators of the South Pacific Ocean,
were, in a great measure, regulated by those of the Spaniards, and
consequently limited within the same narrow bounds. With the exception,
perhaps, of two instances only, those of Le Maire and Roggewein, no
ships of another nation had entered this sea, through the Strait of
Magalhaens, or found Cape Horn, but for the purposes of trade with the
Spaniards, or of hostility against them, purposes which could not be
answered, without precluding any probable chance of adding much to our
stock of discovery. For it was obviously incumbent on all such
adventurers, to confine their cruises within a moderate distance of the
Spanish settlements, in the vicinity of which alone they could hope to
exercise their commerce, or to execute their predatory and military
operations. Accordingly, soon after emerging from the strait, or
completing the circuit of Tierra del Fuego, they began to hold a
northerly course, to the uninhabited island of Juan Fernandez, their
usual spot of rendezvous and refreshment. And after ranging along the
continent of America, from Chili to California, they either reversed
their course back to the Atlantic, or, if they ventured to extend their
voyage by stretching over to Asia, they never thought of trying
experiments in the unfrequented and unexplored parts of the ocean, but
chose the beaten path (if the expression may be used,) within the limits
of which it was likely that they might meet with a Philippine galleon,
to make their voyage profitable to themselves; but could have little
prospect, if they had been desirous, of making it useful to the public,
by gaining any accession of new land to the map of the world.

By the natural operation of these causes, it could not but happen, that
little progress should be made toward obtaining a full and accurate
knowledge of the South Pacific Ocean. Something, however, had been
attempted by the industrious, and once enterprising, Dutch, to whom we
are indebted for three voyages, undertaken for the purposes of
discovery; and whose researches, in the southern latitudes of this
ocean, are much better ascertained than are those of the earlier Spanish
navigators above mentioned.

Le Maire and Schouten, in 1616, and Roggewein, in 1722, wisely judging
that nothing new could be gained by adhering to the usual passage on the
north side of the Line, traversed this ocean from Cape Horn to the East
Indies, crossing the south tropic, a space which had been so seldom, and
so ineffectually, visited; though popular belief, fortified by
philosophical speculation, expected there to reap the richest harvest of
discovery.

Tasman, in 1642, in his extensive circuit from Batavia, through the
South Indian Ocean, entered the South Pacific, at its greatest distance
from the American side, where it never had been examined before. And his
range, continued from a high southern latitude, northward to New Guinea,
and the islands to the east of it near the equator, produced
intermediate discoveries, that have rendered his voyage memorable in the
annals of navigation.

But still, upon the whole, what was effected in these three expeditions,
served only to shew how large a field was reserved for future and more
persevering examination. Their results had, indeed, enabled geographers
to diversify the vacant uniformity of former charts of this ocean by the
insertion of some new islands. But the number, and the extent of these
insertions, were so inconsiderable, that they may be said to appear

   Rari, nantes in gurgite vasto.

And, if the discoveries were few, those few were made very imperfectly.
Some coasts were approached, but not landed upon; and passed without
waiting to examine their extent and connection with those that might
exist at no great distance. If others were landed upon, the visits were,
in general, so transient, that it was scarcely possible to build upon a
foundation so weakly laid, any information that could even gratify idle
curiosity, much less satisfy philosophical enquiry, or contribute
greatly to the safety, or to the success, of future navigation.

Let us, however, do justice to these beginnings of discovery. To the
Dutch, we must, at least, ascribe the merit of being our harbingers,
though we afterward went beyond them in the road they had first ventured
to tread. And with what success his majesty's ships have, in their
repeated voyages, penetrated into the obscurest recesses of the South
Pacific Ocean, will appear from the following enumeration of their
various and very extensive operations, which have drawn up the veil
that had hitherto been thrown over the geography of so great a
proportion of the globe.

1. The several lands, of which any account had been given, as seen by
any of the preceding navigators, Spanish or Dutch, have been carefully
looked for, and most of them (at least such of them as seemed of any
consequence) found out and visited; and not visited in a cursory manner,
but every means used to correct former mistakes, and to supply former
deficiencies, by making accurate enquiries ashore, and taking skilful
surveys of their coasts, by sailing round them, who has not heard, or
read, of the boasted _Tierra Australia del Espiritu Santo_ of Quiros?
But its bold pretensions to be a part of a southern continent, could not
stand Captain Cook's examination, who sailed round it, and assigned it
its true position and moderate bounds, in the Archipelago of the New
Hebrides.[25]

[Footnote 25: Bougainville, in 1768, did no more than discover that the
land here was not connected, but composed of islands. Captain Cook, in
1774, explored the whole group.--D.]

2. Besides perfecting many of the discoveries of their predecessors, our
late navigators have enriched geographical knowledge with a long
catalogue of their own. The Pacific Ocean, within the south tropic,
repeatedly traversed, in every direction, was found to swarm with a
seemingly endless profusion of habitable spots of land. Islands
scattered through the amazing space of near fourscore degrees of
longitude, separated at various distances, or grouped in numerous
clusters, have, at their approach, as it were, started into existence;
and such ample accounts have been brought home concerning them and their
inhabitants, as may serve every useful purpose of enquiry; and, to use
Captain Cook's words, who bore so considerable a share in those
discoveries, _have left little more to be done in that part_.

3. Byron, Wallis, and Carteret had each of them contributed toward
increasing our knowledge of the islands that exist in the Pacific Ocean,
within the limits of the southern tropic; but how far that ocean reached
to the west, what lands bounded it on that side, and the connection of
those lands with the discoveries of former navigators, was still the
reproach of geographers, and remained absolutely unknown, till Captain
Cook, during his first voyage in 1770, brought back the most
satisfactory decision of this important question. With a wonderful
perseverance, and consummate skill, amidst an uncommon combination of
perplexities and dangers, he traced this coast near two thousand miles,
from the 38° of south latitude, cross the tropic, to its northern
extremity, within 10° 1/2 of the equinoctial, where it was found to join
the lands already explored by the Dutch, in several voyages from their
Asiatic settlements, and to which they have given the name of New
Holland. Those discoveries made in the last century, before Tasman's
voyage, had traced the north and the west coasts of this land; and
Captain Cook, by his extensive operations on its east side, left little
to be done toward completing the full circuit of it. Between Cape Hicks,
in latitude 38°, where his examination of this coast began, and that
part of Van Diemen's Land, from whence Tasman took his departure, was
not above fifty-five leagues. It was highly probable, therefore, that
they were connected; though Captain Cook cautiously says, that _he could
not determine whether_ his New South Wales, that is, the east coast of
New Holland, _joins to Van Diemen's Land, or no_. But what was thus left
undetermined by the operations of his first voyage, was, in the course
of his second, soon cleared up; Captain Furneaux, in the Adventure,
during his separation from the Resolution (a fortunate separation as it
thus turned out) in 1773, having explored Van Diemen's Land, from its
southern point, along the east coast, far beyond Tasman's station, and
on to the latitude 38°, where Captain Cook's examination of it in 1770
had commenced.

It is no longer, therefore, a doubt, that we have now a full knowledge
of the whole circumference of this vast body of land, this fifth part of
the world (if I may so speak), which our late voyages have discovered to
be of so amazing a magnitude, that, to use Captain Cook's words, _it is
of a larger extent than any other country in the known world, that does
not bear the name of a continent.[26]

[Footnote 26: What the learned editor asserts here, as to the full
knowledge acquired by the voyages to which he alludes, must be
restricted, as Captain Flinders very properly remarks, to the general
extent of the vast region explored. It will not apply to the particular
formation of its coasts, for this plain reason, that the chart
accompanying the work, of which he was writing the introduction,
represents much of the south coast as totally unknown. It is necessary
to mention also, that what he says immediately before, in allusion to
the discoveries made by Captain Furaeaux, must submit to correction.
That officer committed some errors, owing, it would appear, to the
imperfection of preceding accounts; and he left undetermined the
interesting question as to the existence of a connection betwixt Van
Diemen's Land and New South Wales. The opinion which he gave as to this
point, on very insufficient _data_ certainly, viz. that there is "no
strait between them, but a very deep bay," has been most satisfactorily
disproved, by the discovery of the extensive passage which bears the
name of Flinders's friend, Mr Bass, the enterprising gentleman that
accomplished it.--E.]

4. Tasman having entered the Pacific Ocean, after leaving Van Diemen's
Land, had fallen in with a coast to which he gave the name of New
Zealand. The extent of this coast, and its position in any direction but
a part of its west side, which he sailed along in his course northward,
being left absolutely unknown, it had been a favourite opinion amongst
geographers, since his time, that New Zealand was a part of a southern
continent, running north and south, from the 33° to the 64° of south
latitude, and its northern, coast stretching cross the South Pacific to
an immense distance, where its eastern boundary had been seen by Juan
Fernandez, half a century before. Captain Cook's voyage in the Endeavour
has totally destroyed this supposition. Though Tasman must still have
the credit of having first seen New Zealand, to Captain Cook solely
belongs that of having really explored it. He spent near six months upon
its coasts in 1769 and 1770, circumnavigated it completely, and
ascertained its extent and division into two islands. Repeated visits
since that have perfected this important discovery, which, though now
known to be no part of a southern continent, will probably, in all
future charts of the world, be distinguished as the largest islands that
exist in that part of the southern hemisphere.

5. Whether New Holland did or did not join to New Guinea, was a question
involved in much doubt and uncertainty, before Captain Cook's sailing
between them, through Endeavour Strait, decided it. We will not hesitate
to call this an important acquisition to geography. For though the great
sagacity and extensive reading of Mr Dalrymple had discovered some
traces of such a passage having been found before, yet these traces were
so obscure, and so little known in the present age, that they had not
generally regulated the construction of our charts; the President de
Brosses, who wrote in 1756, and was well versed in geographical
researches, had not been able to satisfy himself about them; and Mons.
de Bougainville, in 1768, who had ventured to fall in with the south
coast of New Guinea, near ninety leagues to the westward of its
south-east point, chose rather to work those ninety leagues directly to
windward, at a time when his people were in such distress for provisions
as to eat the seal-skins from off the yards and rigging, than to run
the risk of finding a passage, of the existence of which he entertained
the strongest doubts, by persevering in his westerly course. Captain
Cook, therefore, in this part of his voyage (though he modestly
disclaims all merit), has established, beyond future controversy, a fact
of essential service to navigation, by opening, if not a new, at least
an unfrequented and forgotten communication between the South Pacific
and Indian Oceans.[27]

[Footnote 27: We are indebted to Mr Dalrymple for the recovery of an
interesting document respecting a passage betwixt New Holland and New
Guinea, discovered by Torres, a Spanish navigator, in 1606. It was found
among the archives of Manilla, when that city was taken by the British,
in 1762, being a copy of a letter which Torres addressed to the king of
Spain, giving an account of his discoveries. The Spaniards, as usual,
had kept the matter a profound secret, so that the existence of the
strait was generally unknown, till the labours of Captain Cook, in 1770,
entitled him to the merit here assigned. Captain Flinders, it must be
remembered, is of opinion, that some suspicion of such a strait was
entertained in 1644, when Tasman sailed on his second voyage, but that
the Dutch, who were then engaged in making discoveries in these regions,
were ignorant of its having been passed. Several navigators have sailed
through Torres's Strait, as it has been justly enough named, since the
time of Cook, and have improved our acquaintance with its geography. Of
these may be mentioned Lieutenant (afterwards Rear-Admiral) Bligh, in
1789; Captain (afterwards Admiral) Edwards, in 1791; Bligh, a second
time, accompanied by Lieutenant Portlock, in 1792; Messrs Bampton and
Alt, in 1793; and Captain Flinders, in 1802-3. The labours of the
last-mentioned gentleman in this quarter surpass, in utility and
interest, those of his predecessors, and, if he had accomplished nothing
else, would entitle his name to be ranked amongst the benefactors of
geography. What mind is so insensible as not to regret, that after years
of hardship and captivity, the very day which presented the public with
the memorial of his services and sufferings, deprived him of the
possibility of reaping their reward?--E.]

6. One more discovery, for which we are indebted to Captain Carteret, as
similar in some degree to that last mentioned, may properly succeed it,
in this enumeration. Dampier, in sailing round what was supposed to be
part of the coast of New Guinea, discovered it to belong to a separate
island, to which he gave the name of New Britain. But that the land
which he named New Britain should be subdivided again into two separate
large islands, with many smaller intervening, is a point of geographical
information, which, if ever traced by any of the earliest navigators of
the South Pacific, had not been handed down to the present age: And its
having been ascertained by Captain Carteret, deserves to be mentioned as
a discovery, in the strictest sense of the word; a discovery of the
utmost importance to navigation. St George's Channel, through which his
ship found a way, between New Britain and New Ireland, from the Pacific
into the Indian Ocean, to use the Captain's own words, "is a much better
and shorter passage, whether from the eastward or westward, than round
all the islands and lands to the northward."[28]

[Footnote 28: The position of the Solomon Islands, Mendana's celebrated
discovery, will no longer remain a matter in debate amongst geographers,
Mr Dalrymple having, on the most satisfactory evidence, proved, that
they are the cluster of islands which comprises what has since been
called New Britain, New Ireland, &c. The great light thrown on that
cluster by Captain Carteret's discovery, is a strong confirmation of
this.--See Mr Dalrymple's Collection of Voyages, vol. i. p. 162-3.--D.]

V. The voyages of Byron, Wallis, and Carteret, were principally confined
to a favourite object of discovery in the South Atlantic; and though
accessions to geography were procured by them in the South Pacific, they
could do but little toward giving the world a complete view of the
contents of that immense expanse of ocean, through which they only held
a direct track, on their way homeward by the East Indies. Cook, indeed,
who was appointed to the conduct of the succeeding voyage, had a more
accurate examination of the South Pacific entrusted to him. But as the
improvement of astronomy went hand in hand, in his instructions, with
that of geography, the Captain's solicitude to arrive at Otaheite time
enough to observe the _transit_ of Venus, put it out of his power to
deviate from his direct track, in search of unknown lands that might lie
to the south-east of that island. By this unavoidable attention to his
duty, a very considerable part of the South Pacific, and that part where
the richest mine of discovery was supposed to exist, remained unvisited
and unexplored, during that voyage in the Endeavour. To remedy this, and
to clear up a point, which, though many of the learned were confident
of, upon principles of speculative reasoning, and many of the unlearned
admitted, upon what they thought to be credible testimony, was still
held to be very problematical; if not absolutely groundless, by others
who were less sanguine or more incredulous; his majesty, always ready to
forward every enquiry that can add to the stock of interesting knowledge
in every branch, ordered another expedition to be undertaken. The signal
services performed by Captain Cook, during his first voyage, of which we
have given the outlines, marked him as the fittest person to finish an
examination which he had already so skilfully executed in part.
Accordingly, he was sent out in 1772, with two ships, the Resolution and
Adventure, upon the most enlarged plan of discovery known in the annals
of navigation. For he was instructed not only to circumnavigate the
globe, but to circumnavigate it in high southern latitudes, making such
traverses, from time to time, into every corner of the Pacific Ocean not
before examined, as might finally and effectually resolve the
much-agitated question about the existence of a southern continent, in
any part of the southern hemisphere accessible by navigation.

The ample accessions to geography, by the discovery of many islands
within the tropic in the Pacific Ocean, in the course of this voyage,
which was carried on with singular perseverance, between three and four
years, have been already stated to the reader. But the general search
now made, throughout the whole southern hemisphere, as being the
principal object in view, hath been reserved for this separate article.
Here, indeed, we are not to take notice of lands that have been
discovered, but of seas sailed through, where lands had been supposed to
exist. In tracing the route of the Resolution and Adventure, throughout
the South Atlantic, the South Indian, and the South Pacific Oceans that
environ the globe, and combining it with the route of the Endeavour, we
receive what may be called ocular demonstration, that Captain Cook, in
his persevering researches, sailed over many an extensive continent,
which, though supposed to have been seen by former navigators, at the
approach of his ships, sunk into the bosom of the ocean, and, "like the
baseless fabric of a vision, left not a rack behind."[29] It has been
urged, that the existence of a southern continent is necessary to
preserve an _equilibrium_ between the two hemispheres. But however
plausible this theory may seem at first sight, experience has abundantly
detected its fallacy. In consequence of Captain Cook's voyage, now under
consideration, we have a thorough knowledge of the state of the southern
hemisphere, and can pronounce with certainty, that the _equilibrium_ of
the globe is effectually preserved, though the proportion of sea
actually sailed through, leaves no sufficient space for the
corresponding mass of land; which, on speculative arguments, had been
maintained to be necessary.[30]

[Footnote 29: A very long note in the original is occupied by Mr Wales's
reply to the observations of Monsieur le Monier, in the memoirs of the
French Academy of Sciences for 1776, respecting what Captain Cook
alleged in the account of his second voyage, of the non-existence of
Cape Circumcision, said to have been discovered by Bouvet in 1738. As
the subject, though exceedingly well treated by Mr Wales, is in itself
of scarce any importance, and has long lost interest among scientific
enquirers, who rest perfectly content with Captain Cook's examination,
there appeared no inducement whatever to retain the note. The reader, it
is confidently presumed, will be satisfied with what was said of it in
the account of the former voyage.--E.]

[Footnote 30: The judgment of the ingenious author of _Recherches sur
Américains_, on this question, seems to be very deserving of a place
here: "Qu'on calcule, comme on voudra, on sera toujours contraint
d'avouer, qu'il y a une plus grande portion de continent située dans la
latitude septentrionale, que dans la latitude australe.

"C'est fort mal à-propos, qu'on a soutenu que cette répartition inégale
ne sauroit exister, sous prétexte que le globe perdroit son équilibre,
faute d'un contrepoids suffisant au pole méridionale. Il est vrai qu'un
pied cube d'eau salée ne pese pas autant qu'un pied cube de terre; mais
on auroit dû réfléchir, qu'il peut y avoir sous l'ocean des lits & des
couches de matières, dont la pésanteur spécifique varie à l'infini, &
que le peu de profondeur d'une mer, versée sur une grande surface,
contrebalance les endroits où il y a moins de mer, mais où elle est plus
profonde."--_Recherches Philosophiques_, tom. ii, p. 375.--D.

We offered some observations on this topic in the preceding volume, and
need scarcely resume it, as it cannot be imagined that any of our
readers still entertain the belief of the necessity for such an
equilibrium. The object in again alluding to it, is to call attention to
some observations of another kind, which Mr Jones has hazarded in one of
his Physiological Disquisitions. According to him, no such thing as a
southern counterpoise ought to have been expected, for it seems to be
the constitution of our globe, that land and water are contrasted to
each other on its opposite sides. "If," says he, "you bring the meridian
of the Cape of Good Hope under the brazen circle, or universal meridian
of a terrestrial globe, observing that this meridian passes through the
heart of the continents of Europe and Africa, you will find that the
opposite part of the meridian passes through the middle of the great,
south sea. When the middle of the northern continent of America, about
the meridian of Mexico, is examined in the same way, the opposite part
passes very exactly through the middle of the Indian ocean. The southern
continent of America is opposed by that eastern sea which contains the
East India islands. The southern continent of New Holland is opposite to
the Atlantic ocean. This alternation, if I may so call it, between the
land and sea, is too regular to have been casual; and if the face of the
earth was so laid out by design, it was for some good reason. But what
that reason may be, it will be difficult to shew. Perhaps this
disposition may be of service to keep up a proper balance; or, it may
assist toward the diurnal rotation of the earth, the free motions of the
tides, &c.; or the water on one side may give a freer passage to the
rays of the sun, and being convex and transparent, may concentrate, or
at least condense, the solar rays internally, for some benefit to the
land that lies on the other side."--This sort of reasoning, from our
ignorance, is no doubt liable to objection, and Mr Jones had good sense
and candour enough to admit, that the questions were too abstruse for
him to determine. The proper part, indeed, for man to act; is to
investigate what Nature has done, not to dogmatize as to the reasons for
her conduct--to ascertain facts, not to substitute conjectures in place
of them. But it is allowable for us, when we have done our best in
collecting and examining phenomena, to arrange them together according
to any plausible theory which our judgments can suggest. Still, however,
we ought to remember, that the most obviously imperative dictates of our
reasoning faculties are only inferences from present appearances, and
determine nothing as to the necessity of existing things.--E.]

If former navigators have added more land to the known globe than
Captain Cook, to him, at least, was reserved the honour of being
foremost in disclosing to us the extent of sea that covers its surface.
His own summary view of the transactions of this voyage, will be a
proper conclusion to these remarks: "I had now made the circuit of the
southern ocean in a high latitude, and traversed it in such a manner as
to leave not the least room for there being a continent, unless near the
Pole, and out of the reach of navigation. By twice visiting the Tropical
Sea, I had not only settled the situation of some old discoveries, but
made there many new ones, and left, I conceive, very little to be done,
even in that part. Thus I flatter myself, that the intention of the
voyage has, in every respect, been fully answered; the southern
hemisphere sufficiently explored; and a final end put to the searching
after a southern continent, which has, at times, engrossed the attention
of some of the maritime powers for near two centuries past, and been a
favourite theory amongst the geographers of all ages."[31]

[Footnote 31: Cook's second Voyage.]

Thus far, therefore, the voyages to disclose new tracks of navigation,
and to reform old defects in geography, appear to have been prosecuted
with a satisfactory share of success. A perusal of the foregoing summary
of what had been done, will enable every one to judge what was still
wanting to complete the great plan of discovery. The southern hemisphere
had, indeed, been repeatedly visited, and its utmost accessible
extremities been surveyed. But much uncertainty, and, of course, great
variety of opinion, subsisted, as to the navigable extremities of our
own hemisphere; particularly as to the existence, or, at least, as to
the practicability of a northern passage between the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans, either by sailing eastward, round Asia, or westward,
round North America.

It was obvious, that if such a passage could be effected, voyages to
Japan and China, and, indeed, to the East Indies in general, would be
much shortened; and consequently become more profitable, than by making
the tedious circuit of the Cape of Good Hope. Accordingly, it became a
favourite object of the English to effectuate this, above two centuries
ago; and (to say nothing of Cabot's original attempt, in 1497, which
ended in the discovery of Newfoundland and the Labradore coast) from
Frobisher's first voyage to find a western passage, in 1576, to those of
James and of Fox, in 1631, repeated trials had been made by our
enterprising adventurers. But though farther knowledge of the northern
extent of America was obtained in the course of these voyages, by the
discovery of Hudson's and Baffin's Bays, the wished-for passage, on that
side, into the Pacific Ocean, was still unattained. Our countrymen, and
the Dutch, were equally unsuccessful, in various attempts, to find this
passage in an eastern direction. Wood's failure, in 1676, seems to have
closed the long list of unfortunate northern expeditions in that
century; and the discovery, if not absolutely despaired of, by having
been so often missed, ceased, for many years, to be sought for.

Mr Dobbs, a warm advocate for the probability of a north-west passage
through Hudson's Bay, in our own time, once more recalled the attention
of this country to that undertaking; and, by his active zeal, and
persevering solicitation, renewed the spirit of discovery. But it was
renewed in vain. For Captain Middleton, sent out by government in 1741,
and Captains Smith and Moore, by a private society, in 1746, though
encouraged by an act of parliament passed in the preceding year, that
annexed a reward of twenty thousand pounds to the discovery of a
passage, returned from Hudson's Bay with reports of their proceedings,
that left the accomplishment of this favourite object at as great a
distance as ever.

When researches of this kind, no longer left to the solicitation of an
individual, or to the subscriptions of private adventurers, became
cherished by the royal attention, in the present reign, and warmly
promoted by the minister at the head of the naval department, it was
impossible, while so much was done toward exploring the remotest corners
of the southern hemisphere, that the northern passage should not be
attempted. Accordingly, while Captain Cook was prosecuting his voyage
toward the South Pole in 1773, Lord Mulgrave sailed with two ships, _to
determine how far navigation was practicable toward the North Pole_. And
though his lordship met with the same insuperable bar to his progress
which former navigators had experienced, the hopes of opening a
communication between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans by a northerly
course, were not abandoned; and a voyage for that purpose was ordered to
be undertaken.[32]

[Footnote 32: Dr Douglas refers to the introduction to Lord Mulgrave's
Journal for a history of former attempts to sail toward the North Pole;
and to Barrington's Miscellanies for several instances of ships reaching
very high north latitudes.--E.]

The operations proposed to be pursued were so new, so extensive, and so
various, that the skill and experience of Captain Cook, it was thought,
would be requisite to conduct them. Without being liable to any charge
of want of zeal for the public service, he might have passed the rest of
his days in the command to which he had been appointed in Greenwich
Hospital, there to enjoy the fame he had dearly earned in two
circumnavigations of the world. But he cheerfully relinquished this
honourable station at home; and, happy that the Earl of Sandwich had not
cast his eye upon any other commander, engaged in the conduct of the
expedition, the history of which is now given, an expedition that would
expose him to the toils and perils of a third circumnavigation, by a
track hitherto unattempted.[33] Every former navigator round the globe
had made his passage home to Europe by the Cape of Good Hope; the
arduous task was now assigned to Captain Cook of attempting it, by
reaching the high northern latitudes between Asia and America. So that
the usual plan of discovery was reversed; and, instead of a passage from
the Atlantic to the Pacific, one from the latter into the former was to
be tried. For it was wisely foreseen, that whatever openings or inlets
there might be on the east side of America, which lie in a direction
that could give any hopes of a passage, the ultimate success of it would
still depend upon there being an open sea between the west side of that
continent and the extremities of Asia. Captain Cook, therefore, was
ordered to proceed into the Pacific Ocean, through the chain of his new
islands in the southern tropic; and, having crossed the equator into its
northern parts, then to hold such a course as might probably fix many
interesting points in geography, and produce intermediate discoveries,
in his progress northward to the principal scene of his operations.

[Footnote 33: It is due to history, and to the character of Cook, to
mention a circumstance respecting his appointment to this expedition,
which strikingly proves the high opinion entertained of his abilities
for it, and, at the same time, his zeal for the promotion of useful
discoveries, and the prosperity of his country. This is done from the
information of Lord Sandwich, as communicated in the memoir of Cook
inserted in the Biog. Brit. When the enterprise was determined on, it
became of extreme consequence to select a proper person to undertake the
execution of it. Captain Cook most naturally obtained this respect; and
at once, without the possibility of rivalship, would have been appointed
to the command, did not a conviction and feeling of sympathy for his
former sufferings and important services, restrain his warmest friends
from the slightest expression of what they unanimously desired.
Concealing, therefore, their opinion, and avoiding every thing of the
nature of solicitation, they, nevertheless, thought it advisable to
consult his well-informed judgment relative to the nature of the
undertaking, and the person most likely to perform it. For this purpose,
Captain Cook, Sir Hugh Palliser, and Mr Stephens, were invited to dine
with Lord Sandwich, when the whole affair was discussed. The
representation of its magnitude, and beneficial consequences, roused the
enthusiasm of the navigator; and starting up, he declared that he
himself would undertake its accomplishment. This magnanimous resolution
was joyfully received, and could not fail to produce the most sanguine
hopes of at least an honourable, if not a successful, issue. His
appointment was immediately made out; and it was agreed, that on
returning to England, he should have his situation at Greenwich
restored.--E.]

But the plan of the voyage, and the various objects it embraced, will
best appear from the instructions under which Captain Cook sailed; and
the insertion of them here, will convey such authentic information as
may enable the reader to judge with precision how far they have been
carried into execution.

By the Commissioners for executing the Office of Lord High Admiral of
Great Britain and Ireland, &c.

_Secret Instructions for Captain James Cook, Commander of his Majesty's
Sloop the Resolution_.

Whereas the Earl of Sandwich has signified to us his majesty's pleasure,
that an attempt should be made to find out a northern passage by sea
from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean; and whereas we have, in
pursuance thereof, caused his majesty's sloops Resolution and Discovery
to be fitted, in all respects, proper to proceed upon a voyage for the
purpose above-mentioned, and, from the experience we have had of your
abilities and good conduct in your late voyages, have thought fit to
entrust you with the conduct of the present intended voyage, and with
that view appointed you to command the first-mentioned sloop, and
directed Captain Clerke, who commands the other, to follow your orders
for his further proceedings. You are hereby required and directed to
proceed with the said two sloops directly to the Cape of Good Hope,
unless you shall judge it necessary to stop at Madeira, the Cape de Verd
or Canary Islands, to take in wine for the use of their companies; in
which case you are at liberty to do so, taking care to remain there no
longer than may be necessary for that purpose.

On your arrival at the Cape of Good Hope, you are to refresh the sloops'
companies, and to cause the sloops to be supplied with as much
provisions and water as they can conveniently stow.

You are, if possible, to leave the Cape of Good Hope by the end of
October, or the beginning of November next, and proceed to the
southward, in search of some islands said to have been lately seen by
the French, in the latitude 48° 0' S., and about the meridian of
Mauritius. In case you find those islands, you are to examine them
thoroughly for a good harbour; and, upon discovering one, make the
necessary observations to facilitate the finding it again, as a good
port, in that situation, may hereafter prove very useful, although it
should afford little or nothing more than shelter, wood, and water. You
are not, however, to spend too much time in looking out for those
islands, or in the examination of them, if found, but proceed to
Otaheite, or the Society Isles, (touching at New Zealand in your way
thither, if you should judge it necessary and convenient,) and taking
care to arrive there time enough to admit of your giving the sloops'
companies the refreshment they may stand in need of, before you
prosecute the farther object of these instructions.

Upon your arrival at Otaheite, or the Society Isles, you are to land
Omiah at such of them as he may choose, and to leave him there.

You are to distribute among the chiefs of those islands such part of the
presents with which you have been supplied, as you shall judge proper,
reserving the remainder to distribute among the natives of the countries
you may discover in the northern hemisphere. And having refreshed the
people belonging to the sloops under your command, and taken on board
such wood and water as they may respectively stand in need of, you are
to leave those islands in the beginning of February, or sooner if you
shall judge it necessary, and then proceed in as direct a course as you
can to the coast of New Albion, endeavouring to fall in with it in the
latitude of 45° 0' N.; and taking care, in your way thither, not to lose
any time in search of new lands, or to stop at any you may fall in with,
unless you find it necessary to recruit your wood and water.

You are also, in your way thither, strictly enjoined not to touch upon
any part of the Spanish dominions on the western continent of America,
unless driven thither by some unavoidable accident; in which case you
are to stay no longer there than shall be absolutely necessary, and to
be very careful not to give any umbrage or offence to any of the
inhabitants or subjects of his catholic majesty. And if, in your farther
progress to the northward, as hereafter directed, you find any subjects
of any European prince or state upon any part of the coast you may think
proper to visit, you are not to disturb them, or give them any just
cause of offence, but, on the contrary, to treat them with civility and
friendship.

Upon your arrival on the coast of New Albion, you are to put into the
first convenient port to recruit your wood and water, and procure
refreshments, and then to proceed northward along the coast as far as
the latitude of 65°, or farther, if you are not obstructed by lands or
ice, taking care not to lose any time in exploring rivers or inlets, or
upon any other account, until you get into the before-mentioned latitude
of 65°, where we could wish you to arrive in the month of June next.
When you get that length, you are carefully to search for, and to
explore, such rivers or inlets as may appear to be of a considerable
extent, and pointing towards Hudson's or Baffin's Bays; and if, from
your own observations, or from any information you may receive from the
natives, (who, there is reason to believe, are the same race of people,
and speak the same language, of which you are furnished with a
vocabulary, as the Esquimaux,) there shall appear to be a certainty, or
even a probability, of a water passage into the afore-mentioned bays, or
either of them, you are, in such case, to use your utmost endeavours to
pass through with one or both of the sloops, unless you shall be of
opinion that the passage may be effected with more certainty, or with
greater probability, by smaller vessels; in which case you are to set up
the frames of one or both the small vessels with which you are
provided, and, when they are put together, and are properly fitted,
stored, and victualled, you are to dispatch one or both of them, under
the care of proper officers, with a sufficient number of petty officers,
men, and boats, in order to attempt the said passage, with such
instructions for their rejoining you, if they should fail, or for their
farther proceedings, if they should succeed in the attempt, as you shall
judge most proper. But, nevertheless, if you shall find it more eligible
to pursue any other measures than those above pointed out, in order to
make a discovery of the beforementioned passage, (if any such there be,)
you are at liberty, and we leave it to your discretion, to pursue such
measures accordingly.

In case you shall be satisfied that there is no passage through to the
above-mentioned bays, sufficient for the purposes of navigation, you
are, at the proper season of the year, to repair to the port of St Peter
and St Paul in Kamtschatka, or wherever else you shall judge more
proper, in order to refresh your people and pass the winter; and, in the
spring of the ensuing year 1778 to proceed from thence to the northward,
as far as, in your prudence, you may think proper, in further search of
a N.E. or N.W. passage from the Pacific Ocean into the Atlantic Ocean,
or the North Sea; and if, from your own observation, or any information
you may receive, there shall appear to be a probability of such a
passage, you are to proceed as above directed: and having discovered
such passage, or failed in the attempt, make the best of your way back
to England, by such route as you may think best for the improvement of
geography and navigation, repairing to Spithead with both sloops, where
they are to remain till further order.

At whatever places you may touch in the course of your voyage, where
accurate observations of the nature hereafter mentioned have not already
been made, you are, as far as your time will allow, very carefully to
observe the true situation of such places, both in latitude and
longitude; the variation of the needle; bearings of head-lands; height,
direction, and course of the tides and currents; depths and soundings of
the sea; shoals, rocks, &c.; and also to survey, make charts, and take
views of such bays, harbours, and different parts of the coast, and to
make such notations thereon as may be useful either to navigation or
commerce. You are also carefully to observe the nature of the soil, and
the produce thereof; the animals and fowls that inhabit or frequent it;
the fishes that are to be found in the rivers or upon the coast, and in
what plenty; and, in case there are any peculiar to such places, to
describe them as minutely, and to make as accurate drawings of them, as
you can; and, if you find any metals, minerals, or valuable stones, or
any extraneous fossils, you are to bring home specimens of each, as also
of the seeds of such trees, shrubs, plants, fruits, and grains, peculiar
to those places, as you may be able to collect, and to transmit them to
our secretary, that proper examination and experiments may be made of
them. Yon are likewise to observe the genius, temper, disposition, and
number of the natives and inhabitants, where you find any; and to
endeavour, by all proper means, to cultivate a friendship with them,
making them presents of such trinkets as you may have on board, and they
may like best, inviting them to traffic, and shewing them every kind of
civility and regard; but taking care, nevertheless, not to suffer
yourself to be surprised by them, but to be always on your guard against
any accidents.

You are also, with the consent of the natives, to take possession, in
the name of the King of Great Britain, of convenient situations in such
countries as you may discover, that have not already been discovered or
visited by any other European power, and to distribute among the
inhabitants such things as will remain as traces and testimonies of your
having been there; but if you find the countries so discovered are
uninhabited, you are to take possession of them for his majesty, by
setting up proper marks and inscriptions, as first discoverers and
possessors.

But forasmuch as, in undertakings of this nature, several emergencies
may arise not to be foreseen, and therefore not particularly to be
provided for by instructions before-hand, you are, in all such cases, to
proceed as you shall judge most advantageous to the service on which you
are employed.

You are, by all opportunities, to send to our secretary, for our
information, accounts of your proceedings, and copies of the surveys and
drawings you shall have made; and upon your arrival in England, you are
immediately to repair to this office, in order to lay before us a full
account of your proceedings in the whole course of your voyage, taking
care, before you leave the sloop, to demand from the officers and petty
officers the log-books and journals they may have kept, and to seal
them up for inspection; and enjoining them, and the whole crew, not to
divulge where they have been, until they shall have permission so to do:
And you are to direct Captain Clerke to do the same, with respect to the
officers, petty officers, and crew of the Discovery.

If any accident should happen to the Resolution in the course of the
voyage, so as to disable her from proceeding any farther, you are, in
such case, to remove yourself and her crew into the Discovery, and to
prosecute your voyage in her; her commander being hereby strictly
required to receive you on board, and to obey your orders, the same, in
every respect, as when you were actually on board the Resolution. And,
in case of your inability, by sickness or otherwise, to carry these
instructions into execution, you are to be careful to leave them with
the next officer in command, who is hereby required to execute them in
the best manner he can.

Given under our hands the 6th day of July, 1776,

   SANDWICH,
   C. SPENCER,
   H. PALLISER.

By command of their lordships,

PH. STEPHENS.

Besides ordering Captain Cook to sail on this important voyage,
government, in earnest about the object of it, adopted a measure, which,
while it could not but have a powerful operation on the crews of the
Resolution and Discovery, by adding the motives of interest to the
obligations of duty, at the same time encouraged all his majesty's
subjects to engage in attempts toward the proposed discovery. By the act
of parliament, passed in 1745,[34] a reward of twenty thousand pounds
had been held out. But it had been held out only to the ships belonging
to any of his majesty's subjects, exclusive of his majesty's own ships.
The act had a still more capital defect. It held out this reward only to
such ships as should discover a passage through Hudson's Bay; and, as we
shall soon take occasion to explain, it was, by this time, pretty
certain that no such passage existed within those limits. Effectual care
was taken to remedy both these defects by passing a new law; which,
after reciting the provisions of the former, proceeds as follows:--"And
whereas many advantages, both to commerce and science, may be also
expected from the discovery of any northern passage for vessels by sea,
between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, be it enacted, That if any ship
belonging to any of his majesty's subjects, or to his majesty, shall
find out, and sail through, any passage by sea between the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans, in any direction, or parallel of the northern
hemisphere, to the northward of the 52° of northern latitude, the owners
of such ships, if belonging to any of his majesty's subjects, or the
commander, officers, and seamen of such ship belonging to his majesty,
shall receive, as a reward for such discovery, the sum of twenty
thousand pounds.

[Footnote 34: See the Statutes at Large, 18 George II. chap. 17.]

"And whereas ships employed, both in the Spitzbergen Seas, and in
Davis's Straits, have frequent opportunities of approaching the North
Pole, though they have not time, during the course of one summer, to
penetrate into the Pacific Ocean; and whereas such approaches may
greatly tend to the discovery of a communication between the Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans, as well as be attended with many advantages to
commerce and science, &c. be it enacted, That if any ship shall approach
to within 1° of the North Pole, the owner, &c. or commander, &c. so
approaching, shall receive, as a reward for such first approach, the sum
of five thousand pounds."[35]

[Footnote 35: See the Statutes at Large, 1776, 16 George III. chap. 6.]

That nothing might be omitted that could facilitate the success of
Captain Cook's expedition, some time before he sailed, in the beginning
of the summer of 1776, Lieutenant Pickersgill, appointed commander of
his majesty's armed brig the Lion, was ordered "to proceed to Davis's
Straits, for the protection of the British whale fishers;" and that
first object being secured, "he was then required and directed to
proceed up Baffin's Bay, and explore the coasts thereof, as far as in
his judgment the same could be done without apparent risk, taking care
to leave the above-mentioned bay so timely as to secure his return to
England in the fall of the year;" and it was farther enjoined to him,
"to make nautical remarks of every kind, and to employ Mr Lane (master
of the vessel under his command) in surveying, making charts, and taking
views of the several bays, harbours, and different parts of the coast
which he might visit, and in making such notations thereon as might be
useful to geography and navigation."[36]

[Footnote 36: From his MS. Instructions, dated May 14, 1776.]

Pickersgill, we see, was not to attempt the discovery of the passage. He
was directed to explore the coasts of Baffin's Bay, only to enable him
to bring back, the same year, some information, which might be an useful
direction toward planning an intended voyage into that bay the ensuing
summer, to try for the discovery of a passage on that side, with a view
to co-operate with Captain Cook; who, it was supposed, (from the tenor
of his instructions,) would be trying for this passage, about the same
time, from the opposite side of America.

Pickersgill, obeying his instructions, at least in this instance, did
return that year, but there were sufficient reasons for not sending him
out again, and the command of the next expedition into Baffin's Bay was
conferred on Lieutenant Young; whose instructions, having an immediate
connection with our voyage, are here inserted.

_Extract of Instructions to Lieutenant Young, commanding the Lion Armed
Vessel, dated 13th March, 1777_.

Resolution.} Whereas, in pursuance of the king's pleasure,
Discovery  } signified to us by the Earl of Sandwich, his
majesty's sloops named in the margin have been sent out under the
command of Captain Cook, in order, during this and the ensuing year, to
attempt a discovery of a northern passage, by sea, from the Pacific to
the Atlantic ocean; and, for that purpose, to run up as high as the
latitude of 65° N., where it is hoped he will be able to arrive in the
month of June next; and there, and as much further to the northward as
in his prudence he shall think proper, very carefully to search for and
explore such rivers, or inlets, as may appear to be of a considerable
extent, and pointing to Hudson's or Baffin's Bays, or the north sea;
and, upon finding any passage through, sufficient for the purposes of
navigation, to attempt such passage with one or both of the sloops; or,
if they are judged to be too large, with smaller vessels, the frames of
which have been sent out with him for that purpose: And whereas, in
pursuance of his majesty's further pleasure, signified as aforesaid, the
armed vessel under your command hath been fitted in order to proceed to
Baffin's Bay, with a view to explore the western parts thereof, and to
endeavour to find a passage on that side, from the Atlantic to the
Pacific ocean, and we have thought fit to intrust you with the conduct
of that voyage; you are therefore hereby required and directed to put to
sea in the said armed vessel, without a moment's loss of time, and make
the best of your way into Baffin's Bay, and to use your best endeavours
to explore the western shores thereof, as far as in your judgment the
same can be done, without apparent risk, and to examine such
considerable rivers or inlets as you may discover; and in case you find
any, through which there may be a probability of passing into the
Pacific ocean, you are to attempt such passage; and if you succeed in
the attempt, and shall be able to repass it again, so as to return to
England this year, you are to make the best of your way to Spithead, or
the Nore, and remain there until you receive further order; sending us
an account of your arrival and proceedings. But if you shall succeed in
the attempt, and shall find the season too far advanced for you to
return the same way, you are then to look out for the most convenient
place to winter in, and to endeavour to return by the said passage as
early in the next year as the season will admit, and then to make the
best of your way to England, as above directed.

In case, however, you should not find, or should be satisfied there is
not any probability of finding any such passage, or, finding it, you
should not be able to get through in the vessel you command, you are
then to return to England, as before-mentioned, unless you shall find
any branch of the sea leading to the westward which you shall judge
likely to afford a communication between the Atlantic and Pacific
oceans, and which you shall not be able to explore in the course of this
year, it being, in that case, left to your discretion to stay the winter
in the most commodious situation you can find, in order to pursue the
discovery next year, if you shall find it advisable so to do; and,
having discovered such passage, or not succeeded in the attempt, you are
to make the best of your way to England, as above directed.

It was natural to hope, that something would have been done in one or
other, or in both these voyages of the Lion, that might have opened our
views with regard to the practicability of a passage from this side of
America. But, unfortunately, the execution did not answer the
expectations conceived. Pickersgill, who had acquired professional
experience when acting under Captain Cook, justly merited the censure he
received, for improper behaviour when intrusted with command in Davis's
Strait; and the talents of Young, as it afterward appeared, were more
adapted to contribute to the glory of a victory, as commander of a line
of battle-ship, than to add to geographical discoveries, by encountering
mountains of ice, and exploring unknown coasts.[37]

[Footnote 37: In the Philosophical Transactions, vol. lxviii. p, 1057,
we have the track of Pickersgill's voyage, which, probably, may be of
use to our Greenland ships, as it contains many observations for fixing
the longitude and latitude of the coasts in Davis's Strait. But it
appears that he never entered Baffin's Bay, the highest northern
latitude to which he advanced being 68° 14'. As to Young's proceedings,
having failed absolutely in making any discovery, it is of less
consequence, that no communication of his journal could be
procured.--D.]

Both Pickersgill and Young having been ordered to proceed into Baffin's
Bay; and Captain Cook being directed not to begin his search till he
should arrive in the latitude of 65°, it may not be improper to say
something here of the reasons which weighed with those who planned the
voyages, and framed the instructions, to carry their views so far
northward, as the proper situation, where the passage, if it existed at
all, was likely to be attempted with success. It may be asked, why was
Hudson's Bay neglected on our side of America; and why was not Captain
Cook ordered to begin his search on its opposite side, in much lower
latitudes? particularly, why not explore the strait leading into the
western sea of John de Fuca, between the latitudes of 47° and 48°; the
Archipelago of St Lazarus of Admiral de Fonte, between 50° and 55°; and
the rivers and lakes through which he found a passage north-eastward,
till he met with a ship from Boston?

As to the pretended discoveries of de Fuca, the Greek pilot, or of de
Fonte, the Spanish admiral, though they have sometimes found their way
into fictitious maps, or have been warmly contended for by the espousers
of fanciful systems, to have directed Captain Cook to spend any time in
tracing them, would have been as wise a measure as if he had been
directed to trace the situation of Lilliput or Brobdignag. The latter
are, indeed, confessedly, mere objects of imagination; and the former,
destitute of any sufficient external evidence, bear so many striking
marks of internal absurdity, as warrant our pronouncing them to be the
fabric of imposture. Captain Cook's instructions were founded on an
accurate knowledge of what had been already done, and of what still
remained to do; and this knowledge pointed out the inutility of
beginning his search for a passage till his arrival in the latitude of
65°. Of this every fair and capable enquirer will be abundantly
convinced, by an attention to the following particulars:

Middleton, who commanded the expedition in 1741 and 1742, into Hudson's
Bay, had proceeded farther north than any of his predecessors in that
navigation. But though, from his former acquaintance with that bay, to
which he had frequently sailed in the service of the company, he had
entertained hopes of finding out a passage through it into the Pacific
Ocean, the observations which he was now enabled to make, induced him to
change his opinion; and, on his return to England, he made an
unfavourable report. Mr Dobbs, the patron of the enterprise, did not
acquiesce in this; and, fortified in his original idea of the
practicability of the passage, by the testimony of some of Middleton's
officers, he appealed to the public, accusing him of having
misrepresented facts, and of having, from interested motives, in concert
with the Hudson's Bay Company, decided against the practicability of the
passage, though the discoveries of his own voyage had put it within his
reach.

He had, between the latitude of 65° and 66°, found a very considerable
inlet running westward, into which he entered with his ships; and,
"after repeated trials of the tides, and endeavours to discover the
nature and course of the opening, for three weeks successively, he found
the flood constantly to come from the eastward, and that it was a large
river he had got into," to which he gave the name of Wager River."[38]

[Footnote 38: See the Abstract of his Journal, published by Mr Dobbs.]

The accuracy, or rather the fidelity, of this report, was denied by Mr
Dobbs, who contended that this opening _is a strait, and not a
fresh-water river_; and that Middleton, if he had examined it properly,
would have found a passage through it to the western American Ocean. The
failure of this voyage, therefore, only served to furnish our zealous
advocate for the discovery, with new arguments for attempting it once
more; and he had the good fortune, after getting the reward of twenty
thousand pounds established by act of parliament, to prevail upon a
society of gentlemen and merchants to fit out the Dobbs and California;
which ships, it was hoped, would be able to find their way into the
Pacific Ocean, by the very opening which Middleton's Voyage had pointed
out, and which he was believed to have misrepresented.

This renovation of hope only produced fresh disappointment For it is
well known, that the voyage of the Dobbs and California, instead of
confuting, strongly confirmed all that Middleton had asserted. The
supposed strait was found to be nothing more than a fresh-water river,
and its utmost western navigable boundaries were now ascertained, by
accurate examination. But though Wager's Strait had thus disappointed
our hopes, as had also done Rankin's Inlet, which was now found to be a
close bay; and though other arguments, founded on the supposed course of
the tides in Hudson's Bay, appeared to be groundless, such is our
attachment to an opinion once adopted, that, even after the unsuccessful
issue of the voyage of the Dobbs and California, a passage through some
other place in that bay was, by many, considered as attainable; and,
particularly, Chesterfield's (formerly: called Bowden's) Inlet, lying
between latitude 65° and 64°, succeeded Wager's Strait, in the sanguine
expectations of those who remained unconvinced by former
disappointments. Mr Ellis, who was on board the Dobbs, and who wrote the
history of the voyage, holds up this, as one of the places where the
passage may be sought for, upon very rational grounds, and with very
good effects.[39] He also mentions Repulse Bay, nearly in latitude 67°;
but as to this he speaks less confidently; only saying, that by an
attempt there, we might probably approach nearer to the discovery.[40]
He had good reason for thus guarding his expression; for the committee,
who directed this voyage, admitting the impracticability of effecting a
passage at Repulse Bay, had refused allowing the ships to go into it,
being satisfied as to that place.[41]

[Footnote 39: Ellis's Voyage, p. 328.]

[Footnote 40: Ibid, p. 330.]

[Footnote 41: Account of the voyage, by the clerk of the California,
vol. ii. p. 273. Mr Dobbs himself says, "That he thought the passage
would be impracticable, or, at least, very difficult, in case there was
one farther north than 67°."--_Account of Hudson's Bay_, p. 99.--D.]

Setting Repulse Bay, therefore, aside, within which we have no reason
for believing that any inlet exists, there did not remain any part of
Hudson's Bay to be searched, but Chesterfield's Inlet, and a small tract
of coast between the latitude 62°, and what is called the South Point of
Main, which had been left unexplored by the Dobbs and California.

But this last gleam of hope has now disappeared. The aversion of the
Hudson's Bay Company to contribute any thing to the discovery of a
north-west passage had been loudly reported by Mr Dobbs; and the public
seemed to believe that the charge was well founded. But still, in
justice to them, it must be allowed, that in 1720, they had sent Messrs
Knight and Barlow, in a sloop on this very discovery; but these
unfortunate people were never more heard of. Mr Scroggs, who sailed in
search of them, in 1722, only brought back proofs of their shipwreck,
but no fresh intelligence about a passage, which he was also to look
for. They also sent a sloop, and a shallop, to try for this discovery,
in 1787; but to no purpose. If obstructions were thrown in the way of
Captain Middleton, and of the commanders of the Dobbs and California,
the governor and committee of the Hudson's Bay Company, since that time,
we must acknowledge, have made amends for the narrow prejudices, of
their predecessors; and we have it in our power to appeal to facts,
which abundantly testify, that every thing has been done by them, that
could be required by the public, toward perfecting the search for a
north-west passage.

In the year 1761, Captain Christopher sailed from Fort Churchill, in the
sloop Churchill; and his voyage was not quite fruitless; for he sailed
up Chesterfield's Inlet, through which a passage had, by Mr Ellis's
account of it, been so generally expected. But when the water turned
brackish, which marked that he was not in a strait, but in a river, he
returned.

To leave no room for a variety of opinion, however, he was ordered to
repeat the voyage the ensuing summer, in the same sloop, and Mr Norton,
in a cutter, was appointed to attend him. By the favour of the governor
and committee of the company, the journals of Captain Christopher, and
of Mr Norton, and Captain Christopher's chart of the inlet, have been
readily communicated. From these authentic documents, it appears that
the search and examination of Chesterfield's Inlet was now completed. It
was found to end in a fresh-water lake, at the distance of about one
hundred and seventy miles from the sea. This lake was found also to be
about twenty-one leagues long, and from five to ten broad, and to be
completely closed up on every side, except to the west, where there was
a little rivulet; to survey the state of which, Mr Norton and the crew
of the cutter having landed, and marched up the country, saw that it
soon terminated in three falls, one above another, and not water for a
small boat over them; and ridges, mostly dry from side to side, for
five, or six miles higher.

Thus ends Chesterfield's Inlet, and all Mr Ellis's expectations of a
passage through it to the western ocean. The other parts of the coast,
from latitude 62°, to the South Point of Main, within which limits hopes
were also entertained of finding a passage, have, of late years, been
thoroughly explored. It is here that Pistol Bay is situated; which the
author who has writ last in this country, on the probability of a
north-west passage,[42] speaks of as the only remaining part of Hudson's
Bay where this western communication may exist. But this has been also
examined; and, on the authority of Captain Christopher, we can assure
the reader, that there is no inlet of any consequence in all that part
of the coast. Nay, he has, in an open boat, sailed round the bottom of
what is called Pistol Bay, and, in stead of a passage to a western sea,
found it does not run above three or four miles inland.

[Footnote 42: Printed for Jeffreys, in 1768. His words are, "There
remains then to be searched for the discovery of a passage, the opening
called Pistol Bay, in Hudson's Bay," p. 122--D]

Besides these voyages by sea, which satisfy us that we must not look for
a passage to the south of 67° of latitude, we are indebted to the
Hudson's Bay Company for a journey by land, which has thrown much
additional light on this matter, by affording what may be called
demonstration, how much farther north, at least in some part of their
voyage, ships must hold their course, before they can pass from one side
of America to the other. The northern Indians, who come down to the
company's forts for trade, had brought to the knowledge of our people,
the existence of a river, which, from copper abounding near it, had got
the name of the Copper-mine River. We read much about this river in Mr
Dobbs's publications, and he considers the Indian accounts of it as
favourable to his system. The company being desirous of examining the
matter with precision, instructed their governor of Prince of Wales's
Fort, to send a proper person to travel by land, under the escort of
some trusty northern Indians, with orders to proceed to this famous
river, to take an accurate survey of its course, and to trace it to the
sea, into which it empties itself. Mr Hearne, a young gentleman in their
service, who, having been an officer in the navy, was well qualified to
make observations for fixing the longitude and latitude, and make
drawings of the country he should pass through, and of the river which
he was to examine, was appointed for this service.

Accordingly, he set out from Fort Prince of Wales, on Churchill River,
in latitude 58° 50', on the 7th of December, 1770; and the whole of his
proceedings, from time to time, are faithfully preserved in his journal.
The publication of this is an acceptable present to the world, as it
draws a plain artless picture of the savage modes of life, the scanty
means of subsistence, and indeed of the singular wretchedness, in every
respect, of the various tribes, who, without fixed habitations, pass
their miserable lives, roving throughout the dreary deserts, and over
the frozen lakes of the immense tract of continent through which Mr
Hearne passed, and which he may be said to have added to the geography
of the globe. His general course was to the northwest. In the month of
June 1771, being then at a place called _Conge catha wha Chaga_, he had,
to use his own words, two good observations, both by meridian and double
altitudes, the mean of which determines this place to be in latitude 66°
46' N., and, by account, in longitude 24° 2' W. of Churchill River. On
the 13th of July (having left _Conge catha wha Chaga_ on the 3d, and
travelling still to the west of north) he reached the Copper-mine River;
and was not a little surprised to find it differ so much from the
descriptions given of it by the natives at the fort; for, instead of
being likely to be navigable for a ship, it is, at this part, scarcely
navigable for an Indian canoe; three falls being in sight, at one view,
and being choaked up with shoals and stony ridges.

Here Mr Hearne began his survey of the river. This he continued till he
arrived at its mouth, near which his northern Indians massacred
twenty-one Esquimaux, whom they surprised in their tents. We shall give
Mr Hearne's account of his arrival at the sea, in his own words: "After
the Indians had plundered the tents of the Esquimaux of all the copper,
&c. they were then again ready to assist me in making an end to the
survey; the sea then in sight from the N.W. by W. to the N.E., distant
about eight miles. It was then about five in the morning of the 17th,
when I again proceeded to survey the river to the mouth, still found, in
every respect, no ways likely, or a possibility of being made navigable,
being full of shoals and falls; and, at the entrance, the river emptying
itself over a dry flat of the shore. For the tide was then out, and
seemed, by the edges of the ice, to flow about twelve or fourteen feet,
which will only reach a little within the river's mouth. That being the
case, the water in the river had not the least brackish taste. But I am
sure of its being the sea, or some part thereof, by the quantity of
whale-bone and seal-skins the Esquimaux had at their tents; as also the
number of seals which I saw upon the ice. The sea, at the river's mouth,
was full of islands and shoals, as far as I could see, by the assistance
of a pocket-telescope; and the ice was not yet broken up, only thawed
away about three quarters of a mile from the snore, and a little way
round the islands and shoals.

"By the time I had completed this survey, it was about one in the
morning of the 18th; but in these high latitudes, and this time of the
year, the sun is always a good height above the horizon. It then came on
a thick drizzling rain, with a thick fog; and, as finding the river and
sea, in every respect, not likely to be of any utility, I did not think
it worth while to wait for fair weather, to determine the latitude
exactly by an observation. But, by the extraordinary care I took in
observing the courses and distances, walked from _Conge catha wha
Chaga_, where I had two good observations, the latitude may be depended
on, within twenty miles at farthest."

From the map which Mr Hearne constructed of the country through which he
passed, in this singular journey, it appears that the mouth of the
Copper-mine River lies in the latitude 72°, and above 25° west longitude
from the fort, from whence he took his departure.[43]

[Footnote 43: Mr Hearne's journey, back from the Copper-mine River, to
Fort Prince of Wales, lasted till June 30, 1772. From his first setting
out till his return, he had employed near a year and seven months. The
unparalleled hardships he suffered, and the essential service he
performed, met with a suitable reward from his masters, and he was made
governor of Fort Prince of Wales, where he was taken prisoner by the
French in 1782; but soon afterwards returned to his station."--D.

This opportunity is taken to mention, that Mr Arrowsmith lays down
Copper-mine River in longitude 113°, and not in 120°, according to Mr
Hearne. In the opinion of Mr H. this river flows into an inland sea. Be
this as it may, the result of his discoveries is unfavourable to the
supposition of there being a north-west passage, Mr Hearne's journal was
not published till 1795, considerably after the date of Dr Douglas's
writing. Some alterations have consequently been made on the text and
notes of that gentleman.--E.]

The consequences resulting from this extensive discovery, are obvious.
We now see that the continent of North America stretches from Hudson's
Bay so far to the north-west, that Mr Hearne had travelled near thirteen
hundred miles before he arrived at the sea. His most western distance
from the coast of Hudson's Bay was near six hundred miles; and that his
Indian guides were well apprised of a vast tract of continent stretching
farther on in that direction, is certain from many circumstances
mentioned in his journal.

What is now mentioned with regard to the discoveries made by the
Hudson's Bay Company, was well known to the noble lord who presided at
the Board of Admiralty when this voyage was undertaken; and the intimate
connection of those discoveries with the plan of the voyage, of course,
regulated the instructions given to Captain Cook.

And now, may we not take it upon us to appeal to every candid and
capable enquirer, whether that part of the instructions which directed
the captain not to lose time, in exploring rivers or inlets, or upon any
other account, till he got into the latitude of 65°, was not framed
judiciously; as there were such indubitable proofs that no passage
existed so far to the south as any part of Hudson's Bay, and that, if a
passage could be effected at all, part of it, at least, must be
traversed by the ships as far to the northward as the latitude 72°,
where Mr Hearne arrived at the sea?

We may add, as a farther consideration in support of this article of the
instructions, that Beering's Asiatic discoveries, in 1728, having traced