From leaving New Zealand, to our Arrival at Otaheite, or the Society
Islands.
CHAP. I.
Prosecution of the Voyage.—Behaviour of the Two New Zealanders
on board.—Unfavourable Winds.—An Island called Mangeea
discovered.—The Coast of it examined.—Transactions with the
Natives.—An Account of their Persons, Dress, and Canoe.—
Description of the Island.—A Specimen of the Language.—
Disposition of the Inhabitants 240
CHAP. II.
The Discovery of an Island called Wateeoo.—Its Coasts
examined.—Visits from the Natives on board the Ships.—
Messrs. Gore, Burney, and Anderson, with Omai sent on
Shore.—Mr. Anderson’s Narrative of their Reception.—Omai’s
expedient to prevent their being detained.—His meeting with
some of his Countrymen, and their distressful Voyage.—
Further Account of Wateeoo, and of its Inhabitants 251
CHAP. III.
Wenooa-ette, or Otakootaia, visited.—Account of that Island,
and of its Produce.—Hervey’s Island, or Terougge mou Attooa,
found to be inhabited.—Transactions with the Natives, Their
Persons, Dress, Language, Canoes.—Fruitless Attempt to land
there.—Reasons for bearing away for the Friendly Islands.—
Palmerston’s Island touched at.—Description of the two
Places where the Boats landed.—Refreshments obtained there.—
Conjectures on the formation of such low Islands.—Arrival at
the Friendly Island 274
CHAP. IV.
Intercourse with the Natives of Komango, and other Islands.—
Arrival at Annamooka.—Transactions there.—Feenou, a
principal Chief from Tongataboo, comes on a Visit.—The
Manner of his Reception in the Island, and on board.—
Instances of the pilfering Disposition of the Natives.—Some
Account of Annamooka.—The Passage from it to Hapaee 292
CHAP. V.
Arrival of the Ships at Hapaee, and friendly Reception there.—
Presents and Solemnities on the Occasion.—Single Combats
with Clubs.—Wrestling and Boxing Matches.—Female
Combatants.—Marines exercised.—A Dance performed by Men.—
Fireworks exhibited.—The Night-entertainments of Singing and
Dancing particularly described 307
CHAP. VI.
Description of Lefooga.—Its cultivated State.—Its Extent.—
Transactions there.—A Female Oculist.—Singular Expedients
for shaving off the Hair.—The Ships change their Station.—A
remarkable Mount and Stone.—Description of Hoolaiva.—Account
of Poulaho, King of the Friendly Islands.—Respectful Manner
in which he is treated by his People.—Departure from the
Hapaee Islands.—Some Account of Kotoo.—Return of the Ships
to Annamooka.—Poulaho and Feenou meet.—Arrival at Tongataboo 320
CHAP. VII.
Friendly Reception at Tongataboo.—Manner of distributing a
baked Hog and Kava to Poulaho’s Attendants.—The Observatory,
&c. erected.—The Village where the Chiefs reside, and the
adjoining Country described.—Interviews with Mareewagee, and
Toobou, and the King’s Son—A grand Haiva, or Entertainment
of Songs and Dances, given by Mareewagee.—Exhibition of
Fireworks.—Manner of Wrestling and Boxing.—Distribution of
the Cattle.—Thefts committed by the Natives. Poulaho, and
the other Chiefs, confined on that Account.—Poulaho’s
Present, and Haiva 340
CHAP. VIII.
Some of the Officers plundered by the Natives.—A Fishing
Party.—A Visit to Poulaho.—A Fiatooka described.—
Observations on the Country Entertainment at Poulaho’s
House.—His Mourning Ceremony.—Of the Kava Plant, and the
Manner of preparing the Liquor.—Account of Onevy, a little
Island.—One of the Natives wounded by a Sentinel.—Messrs.
King and Anderson visit the King’s Brother.—Their
Entertainment.—Another Mourning Ceremony.—Manner of passing
the Night.—Remarks on the Country they passed through.—
Preparations made for sailing.—An Eclipse of the Sun,
imperfectly observed.—Mr. Anderson’s Account of the Island,
and its Productions 368
CHAP. IX.
A grand Solemnity called NATCHE, in Honour of the King’s Son,
performed.—The Processions and other Ceremonies, during the
first day, described.—The Manner of passing the Night at the
King’s House.—Continuation of the Solemnity, the next Day.—
Conjectures about the Nature of it.—Departure from
Tongataboo, and Arrival at Eooa.—Account of that Island, and
Transactions there 393
CHAP. X.
Advantages derived from visiting the Friendly Islands.—Best
Articles for Traffic.—Refreshments that may be procured.—The
Number of the Islands, and their Names.—Keppel’s and
Boscawen’s Islands belong to them.—Account of Vavaoo,—of
Hamoa,—of Feejee.—Voyages of the Natives in their Canoes.
Difficulty of procuring exact Information.—Persons of the
Inhabitants of both Sexes.—Their Colour.—Diseases.—Their
general Character.—Manner of wearing their Hair,—of
puncturing their Bodies.—Their Clothing and Ornaments.—
Personal Cleanliness 418
CHAP. XI.
Employments of the Women at the Friendly Islands.—Of the Men.—
Agriculture.—Construction of their Houses.—Their working
Tools.—Cordage, and fishing Implements.—Musical
Instruments.—Weapons.—Food, and Cookery.—Amusements.—
Marriage.—Mourning Ceremonies for the Dead.—Their
Divinities.—Notions about the Soul, and a future State.—
Their Places of Worship.—Government.—Manner of paying
Obeisance to the King.—Account of the Royal Family.—Remarks
on their Language, and a Specimen of it.—Nautical, and other
Observations 443
A
VOYAGE
TO THE
PACIFIC OCEAN,
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, and 1780.
--------------
VOL. I.
WRITTEN BY CAPTAIN COOK.
INTRODUCTION
TO THE
VOYAGE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
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[1]; and
recovered all its former activity, under the cherishing influence, and
munificent encouragement, of his present Majesty.
Soon after his accession to the throne, having happily closed the
destructive operations of war, he turned his thoughts to enterprizes
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 inquiry; 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[2] had begun, Wallis[3] and
Carteret[4] soon improved. Their success gave birth to a far more
extensive plan of discovery, carried into execution, in two subsequent
voyages, conducted by Cook.[5] 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 enterprizes 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 the five first voyages round the world having, in due
time, been communicated[6], under the authority of his Majesty’s naval
minister; those of the sixth, 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 a 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 inquirer; 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
circumnavigators 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.
I.
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.[7] Byron’s
researches have rectified this capital error; and it is now decided,
beyond all contradiction, that _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_.[8]
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.[9]
II.
Though the Strait of Magalhaens had been frequently visited, and sailed
through, by ships of different nations, before our time, a careful
examination of its bays, and harbours, and headlands; 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, through
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 now be
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[10],
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[11], by deviating from this track, and holding a westerly one 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 the 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 round Cape Horn, but for the purposes of clandestine
trade with the Spaniards, or of open 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 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 world,
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 show 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 inquiry, 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 as seemed to be 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 inquiries 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.[12]
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 inquiry; 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_.[13]
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[14], 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_.[15] 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.[16]
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_.[17]
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[18], circumnavigated it completely, and
ascertained its extent and division into two islands.[19] 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[20], 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[21], 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.[22] Captain
Cook therefore in this part of his voyage (though he modestly disclaims
all merit[23]), 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.
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 sub-divided 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[24], “is a much better and shorter passage, whether from the
eastward or westward, than round all the islands and lands of the
northward.”[25]
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 intrusted 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 inquiry 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
whole 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 wreck behind._”[26] 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.[36]
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.”[37]
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 solicitations 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[38], 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.
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 presented to the public in these
volumes; an expedition that would expose him to the toils and perils of
a third circumnavigation, by a track hitherto unattempted. 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 which 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.
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
intrust 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 of 48° 0ʹ south, 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° 0ʹ north; 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 very 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 same 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 before-mentioned 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 1773, to proceed from thence to the
northward, as far as, in your prudence, you may think proper, in further
search of a north-east, or north-west 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 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 headlands; 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. You 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 showing 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 our 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[39], 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.
“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.”[40]
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 coasts
which he might visit, and in making such notations thereon as might be
useful to geography and navigation.”[41]
Pickersgill, we see, was not to attempt the discovery of the passage. He
was directed to explore the coasts of Baffin’s Bay, with a view only to
bring back, the same year, some information, which might be a 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.
“WHEREAS, in pursuance of the King’s pleasure, signified to us by the
Earl of Sandwich, his Majesty’s sloops, the Resolution and Discovery,
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° north, 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 so 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 adviseable 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
Straits; 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.[42]