expedition, I leave this account of my last voyage in the hands of some friends, who, in my absence, have kindly accepted the office of correcting the press for me; who are pleased to think that what I have here to relate is better to be given in my own words, than in the words of another person; especially as it is a work designed for information, and not merely for amusement; in which, it is their opinion, that candour and fidelity will counter-balance the want of ornament.
I shall therefore conclude this introductory discourse with desiring the reader to excuse the inaccuracies of style, which doubtless he will frequently meet with in the following narrative; and that, when such occur, he will recollect that it is the production of a man, who has not had the advantage of much school education, but who has been constantly at sea from his youth; and though, with the assistance of a few good friends, he has passed through all the stations belonging to a seaman, from an apprentice boy in the coal trade, to a post-captain in the royal navy, he has had no opportunity of cultivating letters. After this account of myself, the public must not expect from me the elegance of a fine writer, or the plausibility of a professed book-maker; but will, I hope, consider me as a plain man, zealously exerting himself in the service of his country, and determined to give the best account he is able of his proceedings.
JAMES COOK.
Plymouth Sound, July 7, 1776.
* See Waser's description of the Isthmus of Darien.
* In the account given of St. Helena in the narrative of my former voyage, I find two mistakes. Its inhabitants are far from exercising a wanton cruelty over their slaves, and they have had wheel-carriages and porters' knots for many years.
BOOK I
FROM OUR DEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND TO LEAVING THE SOCIETY ISLES THE FIRST TIME.
CHAPTER I.
Passage from Deptford to the Cape of Good Hope, with an Account of several Incidents that happened by the Way, and Transactions there.
1772 April
I sailed from Deptford, April 9th, 1772, but got no farther than Woolwich, where I was detained by easterly winds till the 23d, when the ship fell down to Long Reach, and the next day was joined by the Adventure. Here both ships received on board their powder, guns, gunners' stores, and marines.
1772 May
On the 10th of May we left Long Reach, with orders to touch at Plymouth; but in plying down the river, the Resolution was found to be very crank, which made it necessary to put into Sheerness in order to remove this evil, by making some alteration in her upper works. These the officers of the yard were ordered to take in hand immediately; and Lord Sandwich and Sir Hugh Palliser came down to see them executed in such a manner as might effectually answer the purpose intended.
1772 June
On the 22d of June the ship was again completed for sea, when I sailed from Sheerness; and on the 3d of July joined the Adventure in Plymouth Sound. The evening before, we met, off the Sound, Lord Sandwich, in the Augusta yacht, (who was on his return from visiting the several dock-yards,) with the Glory frigate and Hazard sloop. We saluted his lordship with seventeen guns; and soon after he and Sir Hugh Palliser gave us the last mark of the very great attention they had paid to this equipment, by coming on board, to satisfy themselves that every thing was done to my wish, and that the ship was found to answer to my satisfaction.
At Plymouth I received my instructions, dated the 25th of June, directing me to take under my command the Adventure; to make the best of my way to the island of Madeira, there to take in a supply of wine, and then proceed to the Cape of Good Hope, where I was to refresh the ships' companies, and to take on board such provisions and necessaries as I might stand in need of. After leaving the Cape of Good Hope, I was to proceed to the southward, and endeavour to fall in with Cape Circumcision, which was said by Monsieur Bouvet to lie in the latitude of 54° S. and in about 11° 20' E. longitude from Greenwich. If I discovered this cape, I was to satisfy myself whether it was a part of the continent which had so much engaged the attention of geographers and former navigators, or a part of an island. If it proved to be the former, I was to employ myself diligently in exploring as great an extent of it as I could, and to make such notations thereon, and observations of every kind, as might be useful either to navigation or commerce, or tend to the promotion of natural knowledge. I was also directed to observe the genius, temper, disposition, and number of the inhabitants, if there were any, and endeavour, by all proper means, to cultivate a friendship and alliance with them; making them presents of such things as they might value; inviting them to traffic, and shewing them every kind of civility and regard. I was to continue to employ myself on this service, and making discoveries either to the eastward or westward, as my situation might render most eligible; keeping in as high a latitude as I could, and prosecuting my discoveries as near to the South Pole as possible, so long as the condition of the ships, the health of their crews, and the state of their provisions, would admit of; taking care to reserve as much of the latter as would enable me to reach some known port, where I was to procure a sufficiency to bring me home to England. But if Cape Circumcision should prove to be part of an island only, or if I should not be able to find the said Cape, I was in the first case to make the necessary survey of the island, and then to stand on to the southward, so long as I judged there was a likelihood of falling in with the continent, which I was also to do in the latter case, and then to proceed to the eastward in further search of the said continent, as well as to make discoveries of such islands as might be situated in that unexplored part of the southern hemisphere; keeping in high latitudes, and prosecuting my discoveries, as above mentioned, as near the pole as possible until I had circumnavigated the globe; after which I was to proceed to the Cape of Good Hope, and from thence to Spithead.
In the prosecution of these discoveries, wherever the season of the year rendered it unsafe for me to continue in high latitudes, I was to retire to some known place to the northward, to refresh my people, and refit the ships; and to return again to the southward as soon as the season of the year would admit of it. In all unforeseen cases, I was authorised to proceed according to my own discretion; and in case the Resolution should be lost or disabled, I was to prosecute the voyage on board the Adventure.
I gave a copy of these instructions to Captain Furneaux, with an order directing him to carry them into execution; and, in case he was separated from me, appointed the island of Madeira for the first place of rendezvous; Port Praya in the island of St. Jago for the second; Cape of Good Hope for the third; and New Zealand for the fourth.
During our stay at Plymouth, Messrs Wales and Bayley, the two astronomers, made observations on Drake's Island, in order to ascertain the latitude, longitude, and true time for putting the time-pieces and watches in motion. The latitude was found to be 50° 21' 30" N., and the longitude 4° 20' W. of Greenwich, which, in this voyage, is every where to be understood as the first meridian, and from which the longitude is reckoned east and west to 180° each way.
1772 July
On the 10th of July the watches were set a-going in the presence of the two astronomers, Captain Furneaux, the first lieutenants of the ships, and myself, and put on board. The two on board the Adventure were made by Mr. Arnold, and also one of those on board the Resolution; but the other was made by Mr. Kendal, upon the same principle, in every respect, as Mr. Harrison's time-piece. The commander, first lieutenant, and astronomer,