appointed to the command of the Endeavour, in which he sailed to Otaheite, accompanied by Mr. (afterwards Sir Joseph) Banks, and Dr. Solander, with a view of making astronomical observations on a transit of Venus over the sun's disk, expected to take place in 1769.

Having accomplished this object, Lieutenant Cook traced the eastern coast of New Holland, which he named New South Wales, and ascertained its separation from New Guinea by passing through the intersecting channel, which he named Endeavour Straits, and made various other valuable discoveries. Throughout the whole of the voyage, he displayed the greatest firmness in the many dangers he had to encounter; and, in his intercourse with the natives of the different places at which the vessel touched, he evinced equal prudence and humanity. He not only severely punished every act of wanton aggression on the part of his crew, but forbade them, when assailed in their turn, by the natives, to defend themselves with the spirit of retaliation. On one occasion, however, he appears to have repelled an attack of the New Zealanders with an intemperance which he afterwards regretted, and which he attempts to palliate by saying that the nature of his service required him to obtain a knowledge of their country, which he could only do by forcing it in a hostile manner, or gaining admission through the confidence and good-will of the people. This, although no justification of the sanguinary part he confesses to have acted, may be accepted as an excuse from one, who, in addition to his own subordinate notions and professional ambition, had under his command a set of men, who, according to Hawkesworth, all along showed as much inclination to destroy the Indians as a sportsman does to kill the game he pursues. After encountering many difficulties in the voyage home, and having lost by disease upwards of thirty of the crew, the Endeavour arrived in England on the 11th of June, 1771; and on the 29th of August in the same year, Mr. Cook was made a captain in the navy. An account of this voyage, drawn up by Mr. Hawkesworth, was given to the public, who read it, says Gorton, "with an avidity, proportioned to the novelty

of the adventures which it recorded." In the following year, the subject of our memoir was appointed to command another expedition, which had been resolved on, for the purpose of ascertaining the existence or non-existence of a circumpolar southern continent. He accordingly set sail in the Resolution, accompanied by the Adventure; and, after having proceeded as far south as the latitude of seventy-one degrees, where a barrier of ice opposed farther progress, he discovered beyond the possibility of doubt, that no southern continent existed. Among the valuable fruits of this expedition may be mentioned, the discovery of the extent of the Archipelago of the New Hebrides; and of New Caledonia, which, next to New Zealand, is the largest island in the Pacific Ocean. During his voyage, Captain Cook also discovered a method of successfully treating the scurvy, and other diseases general among seamen, which he found so effectual that only one man was lost by sickness in the three years of the vessel's absence from England. He was promoted to the rank of post-captain, on the 9th of August, 1775; and was, three days afterwards, appointed a captain in Greenwich Hospital, a situation intended to afford him a pleasing reward for his illustrious services. The narrative of his second voyage was composed by himself; but was prepared for the press under the superintendence of Dr. Douglas, afterwards Bishop of Salisbury. In March, 1776, our voyager was elected a member of the Royal Society; and, in the same year, having contributed the best experimental paper to their transactions, the subject of which was, the means he had taken to preserve the health of the crew of the Resolution, he was rewarded with the Copleian gold medal.

Before, however, he could receive this honour, he had already set out on his third and last expedition, the object of which was, to determine whether a maritime communication existed between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in the arctic regions of the globe. The Resolution was accompanied by the Discovery; and, though the main object of the expedition was not accomplished, several new islands were discovered in the South Pacific, as well as a group of islands in the North Pacific,

and a considerable portion of the western coast of North America. The principal interest of the voyage, however, arises from the calamitous circumstances which occurred at Owhyhee, an island whose inhabitants seemed more numerous and powerful than those of any of the others that Captain Cook had previously discovered. During seven weeks employed in exploring the coasts of this island, he continued to be on the most friendly terms with the natives, whose inoffensive behaviour removed every doubt of their sincerity. Owing, however, to some petty thefts committed by the inhabitants, and resented by Captain Cook, a feeling of hostility sprang up, which led to open rupture. At length, the large cutter of the Discovery having been stolen, our voyager, attended by a lieutenant of marines, a serjeant, a corporal, and seven private men, went, on the 14th of February, 1779, on shore, intending to seize the person of the king, to be kept as a hostage, till the boat should be restored. It appears, that the king showed no unwillingness to go on board; but his subjects, who had previously armed themselves, would not, on his arrival at the beach, allow him to leave them. Captain Cook, seeing the danger of his situation, was about to give his orders to reimbark, when a stone was thrown at him, and he resented the insult by a discharge of small shot from his pistol; an attack was now made on the marines, some of whom were killed, and Cook having made a signal to the boats of the Discovery, which was either not sufficiently understood, or not promptly enough obeyed, remained undefended against the resentment of the natives. The foremost of his pursuers seemed at first undetermined to strike him; but, at length,

giving him a blow on the back of the head, he fell to the ground, and was ultimately despatched by a stroke from a club. His body, or rather a portion of it, dreadfully mutilated, was recovered by dint of threats, after frequent negotiations; and was committed to the deep with the usual military honours.

The death of this great seaman was lamented as a national misfortune, and both at home and abroad, posthumous honours were paid to his memory. A

medal in commemoration of him was struck by order of the Royal Society; his eulogy was pronounced in the Florentine Academy, and was made a prize subject by one of the French scientific societies. He is mentioned in the verses of several British poets, and his widow and three surviving sons were pensioned by government.

Captain Cook possessed genius in an eminent degree, great application, and a large extent of scientific knowledge. Though his opportunities were few, he had attained to a great proficiency in general learning, and was even a clear, if not an elegant writer, as may be seen from his own account of his second voyage. He showed great perseverance in difficulty, and fortitude in danger; and had such a reliance on his own judgment and precaution, as enabled him to sleep calmly in the most perilous situations. In private life he bore an estimable character, and was an excellent husband and father, and a sincere and steady friend. His manners and conversation were simple and unassuming, and without the smallest particle of vanity. In person he was above six feet high; having a small head, nose well shaped, eyes quick and piercing, and a countenance which altogether had an air of austerity.

young man as ever I had under my care; and, for his years, I never saw his fellow." From Harrow, he went, for a few months, to a private academy, where he renewed his classical studies, and acquired a knowledge of French, drawing, arithmetic and geometry. In the November of 1747, he entered the University of Edinburgh, with the intention of studying the law; which, at his father's desire, he had determined on adopting as his profession. Disinclination, however, and ill-health, induced him, in the spring of 1748, to relinquish for ever the sedentary labours of a law student; and being threatened with consumption, he retired to Scotland, where he remained until 1753. In the July of that year, he went to London, with the intention of embarking for the East Indies, where he parposed settling as a free trader, under the patronage of the Company, to whom he had already prepared a petition. attachment, however, frustrated this design; and, in February, 1754, he married a Miss Allan, daughter of a deceased wine-merchant; and, for a short time, held a share in the business. This he relinquished on the death of his wife, which happened in Paris, eight months after her marriage; and such was the bigotry of the catholics towards protestants, that he was compeiled to inter her at midnight, and to steal a grave in the burying ground assigned to the English embassy.

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After this event, he again turned his attention to literature, and acquired a knowledge of the Spanish and Portuguese tongues, as well as the art of drawing; all of which studies he pursued with a view to their utility in the future travels that he secretly contemplated. At the commencement of the vintage season, in July, 1757, he embarked for the continent; and, after landing at Corunna, traversed Spain and Portugal, where he sojourned till the end of the year, devoting much attention to the social and political state of those countries. At the beginning of 1758, he passed over the Pyrenes to France; thence down the Rhine into Germany and the Netherlands, whence he was recalled to England, in July, by a letter announcing the death of his father. Whilst at Brussels, having taken the part of a young stranger, insulted in his

presence, he was challenged to fight a duel, in which he severely wounded his antagonist, and was obliged to fly the city. The death of his father entitled him to an inheritance which afforded him ample means of efficiently and uninterruptedly pursuing the studies, which were necessary to the success of his designs; and, by the year 1761, he had collected most of the Dutch and Italian books on the subject of oriental literature. He had also made great progress in the Arabic and Ethiopic languages, to the study of which was owing his determination to explore the sources of the Nile.

About this time, a rupture being anticipated between England and Spain, he visited Mr. Wood, the under-secretary of state, whom he requested to lay before the minister, Mr. Pitt, a plan he had concerted, when abroad, of an expedition against the latter country, by attacking Gallicia, in Ferrol. After much negotiation, his suggestion was adopted by the ministry, but it was subsequently abandoned, owing to the Portuguese ambassador having represented the great danger that would result to his country from such an expedition. Chagrined at the failure of his military project, he meditated returning to Scotland, where the recent discovery of some valuable mines on his estate would have enabled him to live with comfort and independence, when he received a message from Lord Haiifax, requesting to see him before he left London. His lordship ridiculed the idea of Bruce's retirement; and, after hinting to him the encouragement which the king would bestow on enterprise and discovery, suggested Africa to him, as a fit region for the exercise of both; and, as a further inducement to his visiting that country, offered him the situation of consul-general at Algiers, with leave to appoint a vice-consul in his absence. He promised him, in addition, the rewards stipulated in the affair of Ferrol, and advancement to a higher diplomatic station, if he made wide incursions into the former country.

He at length acceded to the proposal of Lord Halifax, and, in June, 1762, having previously been introduced to the king, set out for Africa. he reached that country on the 20th of March, 1763; when such was his knowledge of

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the Arabic, that he was able to fulfil his consular duties without the aid of an interpreter. On his way thither, he passed through the principal cities of Italy, where he made several sketches of its temples and ruins; and, it appears from his manuscripts, that he also intended writing a dissertation on the ancient and modern state of Rome. Shortly after his arrival at Algiers, a dispute occurred between him and the dey, concerning Mediterranean passes, for carrying which in a form differing from that originally prescribed, several British vessels were seized and destroyed; of which, having first remonstrated with the dey, he immediately wrote to inform government. ministry, however, who had been secretly prejudiced against him, by a party hostile to him at Algiers, treated his communication very lightly; and, in May, 1765, being recalled to England, he was compelled, either to abandon the principal design of his residence in Barbary, or to make his intended excursions as a private individual. After some consideration, he adopted the latter alternative; and, on the 25th of August, sailed for Tunis, stopping, on his way thither, at Utica and Carthage, the ruins of which cities he stayed some time to examine, making drawings of the most important parts, in which he was assisted by a young Bolognese artist, whom he had brought with him from Italy. In one of his incursions into the interior of the country, he discovered Cirta, the capital of Syphax, whence he returned to Tunis, and started thence for Tripoli, by way of Gabs and Gerba. On entering the desert which borders the latter town, he was attacked by the Arabs, and compelled to return to Tunis, where he remained till August, 1766, when he crossed the desert in safety, and arrived at Tripoli. He next proceeded, across the Gulf of Sydra, to Bengazi and Ptolometa, and shortly afterwards, set sail for Crete, when a shipwreck drove him again upon the African shore, with the loss of every thing but his drawings and books, which he had fortunately despatched from Tripoli to Smyrna. From Bengazi, the place of his shipwreck, and where he was very cruelly treated, he escaped, by a French vessel, to Canea, where he was detained by an

intermittent fever, till the end of April, 1767, when he proceeded, by way of Rhodes, to Sidon.

On the 16th of September he commenced his journey to Balbec, which he reached on the 19th of the same month; and, having returned to Tripoli, set out, in a few weeks, for Palmyra. After making several drawings, which, as well as those of Balbec, he afterwards presented to the king, he travelled along the coast to Latakia, Antioch, and Aleppo, where he was attacked by a fever, from which he, with great difficulty recovered. About this time, meditating the discovery of the source of the Nile, he left Aleppo for Alexandria, where he arrived on the 20th of June, 1768. From hence he proceeded by land to Rosetta, where he embarked on the Nile for Cairo. After impressing the bey of the city with an idea of his skill in medicine and prophecy, he sailed to Syene, visiting, in his way thither, the ruins of Thebes; and, on the 16th of February, 1769, set out from Kenne, through the Thebaid desert, to Cosseir, on the Red Sea; and from thence proceeded to Tor and Jidda, where he landed on the 5th of May. After making several excursions in Arabia Felix, he quitted Loheia, on the 3rd of September, for Masuah; where, on his arrival, he was detained for some weeks, by the treachery and avarice of the governor of that place, who attempted to murder him, in consequence of his refusal to make him

an

enormous present. In February, 1770, he entered Gondar, the capital of Abyssinia, the ras of which city appointed him gentleman-usher of the king's bed-chamber, commander of the household cavalry, and governor of a province.

On the 27th of October, after having taken an active part in the councils of the sovereign, and effected several cures of persons about the court attacked with the small-pox, he left the capital, and set out in search of the source of the Nile, which he discovered at Saccala, on the 14th of the following November. The joy he felt on the occasion is thus described by himself: "It is easier to guess, than to describe the situation of my mind at that moment; standing in that spot which had baffled the genius, history, and inquiry of both ancients and moderns, for the

course of nearly three thousand years. Kings had attempted this discovery at the head of armies, and each expedidition was distinguished from the last only by the difference of the numbers which had perished, and agreed alone in the disappointment which had uniformly, and without exception, followed them all. Fame, riches, and honour, had been held out, for a series of ages, to every individual of the myriads those princes commanded, without having produced one man capable of gratifying the curiosity of his sovereign, or wiping off the stain upon the enterprise and abilities of mankind, or adding this desideratum for the encouragement of geography. Though a mere private Briton, I triumphed here in my own mind over kings and their armies; and every comparison was leading nearer and nearer to the presumption, when the place itself where I stood, the object of my vain-glory, suggested what depressed my short-lived triumphs. I was but a few minutes arrived at the source of the Nile, through numberless dangers and sufferings, the least of which would have overwhelmed me, but for the continual goodness and protection of Providence; I was, however, then but half through my journey, and all those dangers which I had already passed, awaited me again on my return. I found a despondency gaining ground fast upon me, and blasting the crown of laurels I had too rashly woven for myself."

After returning to Gondar, our traveller found much difficulty in obtaining permission to proceed on his way homewards; it being a rule with the inhabitants never to allow a stranger to quit Abyssinia. A civil war breaking out in the country about the period of his intended departure, he was compelled to remain in it till the December of the following year, and took part in one of their battles, in which his valiant conduct was such that the king presented him with a rich suit of apparel, and a gold chain of immense value. At length, at the end of 1771, he set out from Gondar, and, in the February of the following year, arrived at Senaar, where he remained two months, suffering under the most inhospitable treatment, and deceived in his supplies of money, which compelled him to sell the gold chain he had been presented with. He

then proceeded by Chiendi, and Gooz, through the Nubian desert, and on the 29th of November, reached Assouan, on the Nile, after a most dreadful and dangerous journey, in the course of which he lost all his camels and baggage, and twice laid himself down in the expectation of death. Having procured, however, fresh camels, he returned to the desert and recovered most part of his baggage, with which, on the 10th of January, he arrived at Cairo; where, ingratiating himself with the bey, he obtained permission for English commanders to bring their vessels and merchandize to Suez, as well as to Jidda, an advantage no other European nation had before been able to acquire. In the beginning of March he arrived at Alexandria, whence he sailed to Marseilles; where he landed about the end of the month, suffering under great agony from a disease called the Guinea worm, which totally disabled him from walking, and had nearly proved fatal to him during his voyage. Notwithstanding, however, the perils he underwent, and the barbarities he witnessed in the course of his travels, and particularly at Abyssinia, yet even that country he left with some regret, and would often recal, with a feeling almost of tender ness, the kindnesses he had received there, especially from the ras's wife, Ozoro Esther, between himself and whom, a very affectionate intimacy had existed.

After residing a few weeks in the south of France, he set out for Paris, in company with Buffon, to whom he communicated much valuable information which that celebrated naturalist has acknowledged in his advertisement to the third volume of the History of Birds. His health being still unconfirmed, he left the French capital in July, and made a second tour into Italy, where he resided till the spring of 1774, when he again returned to France, and thence proceeded to England, which he reached in June following, after an absence of twelve years. Previously to leaving Scotland, he had contracted an engagement with a lady, whom, during his travels, he never forgot; and he was so incensed, on his arrival at Rome, on hearing that she had married an Italian marquess, that he insisted on fighting with her husband, who, however, de