send out astronomers to the South Pacific Ocean to observe the transit
of Venus across the sun’s disc. Cook’s able discharge of his duties at
Newfoundland, and the skill with which he observed an eclipse of the sun
there, pointed him out to Mr. Stephens, Secretary to the Admiralty, as a
proper person to conduct the expedition: and at that gentleman’s
recommendation, backed by Sir Hugh Palliser, he was selected for this
purpose, and raised to the rank of Lieutenant. He sailed from Plymouth,
August 23, 1768, in the Endeavour, of three hundred and seventy tons,
accompanied by Mr. Green as astronomer, and by Mr. Banks. Passing round
Cape Horn, they anchored, April 11, 1769, at Otaheite, or Tahiti, as it
is named by the latest visitors, which had been discovered by Captain
Wallis, and was now selected as a proper place to observe the transit.
As it was necessary to remain some time on the island, and highly
expedient to be on good terms with the natives, Lieutenant Cook used
much precaution to place the traffic between them and the strangers on
an equitable footing; and to prevent the wanton injuries which the sense
of superior power, and an unjust contempt, too often induce Europeans to
inflict upon the rude inhabitants of newly-discovered regions. And we
may here mention, as one of the good points of Cook’s character, that he
always showed a scrupulous regard to the rights of property, taking no
articles from the natives except on fair terms of gift or barter; and
that he had a tender regard for human life, not only avoiding to use our
deadly weapons, as discoverers have too often done, in revenge for petty
depredations, harmless insults, and contemptible attacks, but even
restraining a natural curiosity, where the indulgence of it seemed
likely to shock prejudices, or to lead to collision and bloodshed. The
inhabitants of Otaheite are a gentle race, and no serious
misunderstandings occurred between them and their visitors. The transit
was satisfactorily observed June 3; and, July 13, the Endeavour resumed
her voyage, pursuant to Cook’s instructions, which were to prosecute his
discoveries in the Southern Ocean, after the astronomical purposes of
the expedition had been fulfilled. He cruised a month among the then
unknown group of the Society Islands, and afterwards proceeded in search
of the Terra Australis, the great southern continent, so long supposed
by geographers to exist, as a necessary counterpoise to the extensive
continents of the northern hemisphere. Land was seen October 6,
displaying lofty ranges of mountains; and it was generally supposed that
the long wished for discovery was made. It proved, however, to be New
Zealand, unvisited by Europeans since Tasman first approached its
shores, in 1642. Cook spent six months in circumnavigating this country,
and ascertained that it consisted of two large islands. March 31, 1770,
he commenced his voyage home. He directed his course along the eastern
coast of New Holland, then quite unknown; laid down a chart of it
through nearly its whole extent; and took every opportunity to increase
our stock of knowledge in natural history, as well as geographical
science. For more than 1300 miles he had safely navigated this most
dangerous shore, where the sharp coral reefs rise like a wall to the
surface of the water, when, on the night of June 10, the ship suddenly
struck. She was found to be aground on a coral reef, which rose around
her to within a few feet of the surface. Though lightened immediately by
every possible means, two tides elapsed before she could be got off; and
then with so much injury to her bottom, that she could only be kept
afloat by working three pumps night and day. When the men were all but
worn out by this labour, a midshipman suggested the expedient of
_fothering_ the ship, or passing a sail charged with oakum, and other
loose materials, under her keel: which succeeded so well, that the leak
was then kept under by a single pump; and the navigators proceeded in
comparative security till the 14th, when a harbour was discovered,
afterwards named Endeavour River, suitable for making the necessary
repairs. It was then found that a large fragment of coral rock had stuck
in the ship’s bottom, so as in great measure to close the leak, which
must otherwise have admitted a body of water sufficient to set the pumps
at defiance. To this providential occurrence they owed their safety;
for, had the ship foundered, the boats could not have contained the
whole crew. Among many dangers, Cook pursued his course through that
intricate tract of reefs and islands, which he named the Labyrinth, to
the northern point of New Holland: and having now explored the whole
eastern coast, from lat. 38° to 10° 30´, he took possession of it by the
name of New South Wales. He then made sail for New Guinea, having proved
that New Guinea and New Holland are separate islands, and from thence
proceeded to Batavia, which he reached October 9. Here they obtained
refreshments and repaired the ship, which was found to be in a most
perilous state: but these advantages were dearly bought by a sojourn in
that pestilential place. Seven persons died at Batavia, and twenty-three
more during the voyage to the Cape. June 12, 1771, the Endeavour dropped
anchor in the Downs, and terminated her long and adventurous voyage.
The manner in which Lieutenant Cook had performed his task gave perfect
satisfaction, and he was promoted to the rank of Commander. The public
curiosity was strongly roused to know the particulars of his adventures;
and it was gratified by an account of the several expeditions to the
Southern Ocean, commanded by Byron, Wallis, and Cook, composed by Dr.
Hawkesworth from the original materials, and illustrated by charts and
plates, engraved at the expense of Government. Cook communicated to the
Royal Society an ‘Account of the flowing of the Tides in the South Sea,’
published in their Transactions, vol. lxii. His voyage had proved two
things: first, that neither New Zealand or New Holland were parts of the
great southern continent, supposing it to exist; secondly, that no such
continent could exist to the northward of 40° S. lat. He had not,
however, ascertained its non-existence in higher latitudes, nor did it
enter into his commission to do so. Now, however, it was resolved to
send out a second expedition, to ascertain this point, under the command
of him who had so ably conducted the former one. Two ships were fitted
out with every thing conducive to the health and comfort of the
voyagers: the Resolution, of four hundred and sixty tons, and a smaller
vessel, the Adventure, Captain Furneaux; which, however, was separated
from her consort early in the second year of the voyage. They sailed
from Plymouth, July 13, 1772. Captain Cook’s instructions were, to
circumnavigate the globe in high southern latitudes, prosecuting his
discoveries as near to the South Pole as possible, using every exertion
to fall in with the supposed continent, or any islands which might exist
in those unknown seas; and endeavouring, by all proper means, to
cultivate a friendship and alliance with the inhabitants. The expedition
left the Cape of Good Hope Nov. 22, and cruised, for near four months,
between the Cape and New Zealand, from E. long. 20° to 170°, their
extreme point to the southward being lat. 67° 15´. Having satisfied
himself that no land of great extent could exist between these
longitudes, to the northward of 60° S. lat., Cook made sail for New
Zealand, to refresh his crew, and reached it March 26, 1773. The winter
months, corresponding to our midsummer, he spent at the Society Islands;
and returning to New Zealand, he again sailed, November 26, in quest of
a southern continent, inclining his course to the east. He first fell in
with ice in lat. 62° 10´, W. long. 172°, and continued to steer S.E. to
lat. 67° 31´, W. long. 142° 54´, when, finding it impossible at that
time to get farther south, he returned northwards, as far as lat. 50°,
that he might be certain that no extensive country had been left in that
direction. January 6, 1774, he again shaped his course southward, and on
the 30th reached his extreme point of southing, lat. 71° 10´, W. long.
106° 54´. Here he was stopped by ice, which it was the general opinion
might extend to the Pole, or join some land to which it had been fixed
from the earliest time. Returning northwards, during the winter months
he traversed nearly the whole extent of the Pacific Ocean between the
tropics, visiting Easter Island, the Marquesas, the Society and Friendly
Islands, the New Hebrides, and another island, the largest yet
discovered in the Pacific, except those of New Zealand, which he called
New Caledonia. He then returned to New Zealand, and having passed three
weeks in friendly intercourse with the natives, took his departure,
November 10. Having cruised in various latitudes between 43° and 56°, a
portion of the ocean which he had not yet explored, and being in W.
long. 138° 56´, he determined to steer direct for the western entrance
of the Straits of Magellan, and thence, along Tierra del Fuego, to the
Straits of Le Maire. December 29 he passed Cape Horn, and re-entered the
Atlantic Ocean, and standing southward, discovered Sandwich Land, a
desolate coast, the extreme point of which he named the Southern Thule,
lat. 59° 13´, as the most southern land that had then been discovered.
Later navigators have found land nearer to the Pole. “I concluded,”
Captain Cook observes, “that Sandwich Land was either a group of
islands, or else a point of the continent, for I firmly believe that
there is a tract of land near the Pole, which is the source of most of
the ice which is spread over this vast southern ocean. I also think it
probable that it extends farthest to the north, opposite the Southern
Atlantic and Indian Oceans, because ice was always found by us farther
to the north in these oceans than any where else.” Having now
encompassed the globe in a high latitude, and thinking it impossible to
prosecute further researches in those tempestuous seas with a worn-out
ship, and nearly exhausted provisions, Cook made sail for the Cape; and
arrived there March 22, 1774, having sailed 20,000 leagues since he had
left it, without so much injury to the ship as springing a mast or yard.
July 30 he anchored at Spithead.
He was received in England with high applause, posted, and made a
Captain of Greenwich Hospital. On this occasion he published his own
Journal, illustrated by maps and engravings; and the composition,
unpretending, but clear and manly, does honour to one whose education
had been so rude. Being elected Fellow of the Royal Society, he
contributed two papers to their Transactions, published in vol. lxvi.,
one relating to the tides in the South Seas, the other containing an
account of the methods which he had taken to preserve the health of his
ship’s crew. The ravages of scurvy are now so much checked, that few
know from experience how dreadfully earlier navigators suffered from
that disease. It is one of Cook’s peculiar merits, that he attended to
the health of his seamen with such eminent success, that during this
long and painful voyage, not one man died of scurvy. Four only died, out
of a hundred and twelve persons on board the Resolution, and of these
but one was carried off by disease. That this was, in a great degree,
the merit of the Captain, is proved by the Adventure having suffered
much more, though fitted out exactly in the same way. Sailors usually
dislike changes in their mode of life; and it required judgment and
perseverance to induce them to adopt a healthy regimen. Cook, however,
succeeded in reconciling them to his innovations; of the utility of
which they were perfectly convinced, long before the end of the voyage.
The means which he used will be found fully detailed in his paper, which
was honoured by the Society with the gold medal: those on which he
chiefly relied were a large supply of antiscorbutic stores, as malt,
sour krout, and portable broth; the enforcement of a vegetable diet,
whenever vegetables could be procured; and great care not to expose the
crew unnecessarily to the weather, and to keep their persons, their
clothes, and their berths, clean, dry, and well aired. Cook was justly
proud of his success in this respect, and he closed the account of his
second voyage with words which show the humanity and modesty of his
temper. “Whatever may be the public judgment about other matters, it is
with real satisfaction, and without claiming any other merit but that of
attention to my duty, that I can conclude this account with an
observation, which facts enable me to make, that our having discovered
the possibility of preserving health among a numerous ship’s company for
such a length of time, in such varieties of climate, and amid such
continued hardships and fatigues, will make this voyage remarkable, in
the opinion of every benevolent person, when the disputes about the
southern continent shall have ceased to engage the attention and to
divide the judgment of philosophers.”
Another geographical question, of still greater interest, engaged the
attention of the nation at this time; the practicability of a north-east
passage to China and the Indies. During Cook’s absence, one expedition
had been sent out, under Captain Phipps; it was now determined to send
out a second, reversing the usual order, and trying to find a passage
from the Pacific into the Atlantic Ocean. Cook volunteered to quit his
well-earned repose, and take the direction of this enterprise; and the
offer was gladly accepted. He was directed to proceed, by the Cape of
Good Hope, to New Zealand, thence through the chain of islands scattered
along the tropics, which he had already visited. This done, he was to
proceed northward, with all dispatch, to the latitude of 65°, and to
direct his attention to the discovery of a passage into the Atlantic;
and by the extension of an existing Act of Parliament, the ship’s
company, if successful, were entitled to a reward of £20,000. With a
most praiseworthy benevolence, the ships were charged with cattle,
sheep, and other useful animals, to be left, and naturalized, if
possible, in New Zealand, Otaheite, and other islands. The Resolution
and Discovery were fitted out for the voyage, with every attention to
the health and comfort of their crews. They sailed from Plymouth July
12, 1776, and touching at New Zealand, reached the Friendly Islands so
late in the spring of 1777, that Captain Cook thought it impossible to
visit the Polar Seas to any purpose that year. He therefore spent the
whole summer in this part of the ocean, where fresh provisions were
abundant; and his men were relieved from the hardships and sicknesses
commonly incident to a long voyage, while, at the same time, the ship’s
stores were economized. He remained therefore near three months among
the Friendly Islands, using all means of adding to the geographical
knowledge of this intricate archipelago, and acquiring information
relative to the natural history of the country, and the manners of the
inhabitants, with whom an uninterrupted friendship was maintained. July
17, Cook pursued his course to the Society Islands. Both here and at the
Friendly Islands, especially at Otaheite, he left a number of European
animals; and the prudence, as well as benevolence, of this conduct, is
evinced by the valuable supplies which whalers and other navigators of
the southern seas have since drawn from them. Early in December he took
a final leave of these regions; and, January 18, 1778, came in sight of
an unknown group, to which he gave the name of Sandwich Islands. March
7, the west coast of North America was seen; and after spending a month
in executing necessary repairs in Nootka Sound, the voyagers advanced to
the Aleutian Islands, and up Behring’s Strait. Here Cook ascertained the
continents of Asia and America to be only thirteen leagues apart; and
laid down the position of the most westerly point of America, just
without the Arctic Circle, which he named Cape Prince of Wales. August
18 he reached lat. 70° 44´, W. long. about 162°, his extreme point, and
continued to traverse those frozen regions till August 29, when, the ice
being daily increasing, it was time to seek a more genial climate. But
before proceeding to the south, he employed some time in examining the
coasts of Asia and America, and found reason to admire the correctness
of Behring, the discoverer of the strait which bears that name. He
passed the winter at the Sandwich Islands, intending to return northward
early enough to reach Kamtschatka by the middle of May in the ensuing
year.
During this second visit was discovered the island of Owhyhee, the
largest and most important of the group, at which the strangers were
received with unusual generosity and confidence. Near ten weeks were
spent in sailing round it, without any serious disagreement arising with
the natives; and Cook ceased to regret that he had as yet failed in
meeting with a northern passage home. It is remarkable that his Journal
concludes with the following words: “To this disappointment we owed our
having it in our power to revisit the Sandwich Islands, and to enrich
our voyage with a discovery, which though the last, seemed in many
respects to be the most important that had hitherto been made by
Europeans, throughout the extent of the Pacific Ocean.”
This island, which he had rejoiced so much to see, was the spot where
our great navigator’s life was prematurely closed. We have the testimony
of an eye-witness to his own belief, that no premeditated and
treacherous assault had been planned; but that the fatal affray was one
of those accidents which human foresight cannot always prevent. The
natives of these, as of all the South Sea Islands, were much addicted to
stealing the new and tempting articles presented to their view; a fault
for which Captain Cook, with the benevolence usually displayed in his
dealings with them, has offered a charitable and sensible apology. But
on the night of February 13, one of the ship’s boats was stolen. To
recover this was a matter of importance; and Cook went on shore, guarded
only by a small number of marines, hoping by amicable means to gain
possession of the person of the king of the district, which he had
always found the most effectual method of regaining stolen articles. The
king consented to go on board the Resolution; but a crowd collected, and
indications of alarm and hostility gradually increased, until blows were
made at Captain Cook, and he was obliged to fire in self-defence. A
shower of stones was then discharged at the marines, who returned it
with a volley, and this drew on the fire of the boats’ crews. Cook
turned round to stop the firing, and order the boats to come close in to
shore; but a rush had been made on the marines as soon as their muskets
were discharged, and they were driven into the water, where four were
killed, the rest escaping to the boats. Cook was the last person left on
shore; and he was making for the pinnace, when an Indian came behind him
and struck him with a club. He sunk on one knee, and as he rose was
stabbed by another Indian in the neck. He fell into shallow water within
five or six yards of one of the boats; but there all was confusion, and
no united effort was made to save him. He struggled vigorously, but was
overcome by numbers; and at last was struck down, not to rise again. His
body, with the other slain, was abandoned to the natives, and though
every exertion was subsequently made, nothing more than the bones, and
not all of them, were recovered. These were committed to the deep with
military honours; honoured more highly by the unfeigned sorrow of those
who sailed under his command.
Captain Clerke, of the Discovery, succeeded to the command of the
expedition, and returned in the ensuing summer to the Polar Seas; but he
was unable to advance so far as in the former year. The chief object of
the voyage therefore failed. The ships returned along the coast of
Kamtschatka to Japan and China, and reached England in October, 1780.
Captain Clerke died of consumption in his second visit to the Polar
Seas, and Lieutenant King succeeded to the Discovery, whose name is
honourably associated with that of his great commander, in consequence
of his having continued the account of the voyage, from the period at
which Cook’s Journal ends. He has borne testimony to Cook’s virtues in
the following terms:—
“The constitution of his body was robust, inured to labour, and capable
of undergoing the severest hardships. His stomach bore without
difficulty the coarsest and most ungrateful food. Great was the
indifference with which he submitted to every kind of self-denial. The
qualities of his mind were of the same hardy, vigorous kind with those
of his body. His understanding was strong and perspicacious. His
judgment, in whatever related to the services he was engaged in, quick
and sure. His designs were bold and manly; and both in the conception,
and in the mode of execution, bore evident marks of a great original
genius. His courage was cool and determined, and accompanied with an
admirable presence of mind in the moment of danger. His temper might,
perhaps, have been justly blamed as subject to hastiness and passion,
had not these been disarmed by a disposition the most benevolent and
humane. Such were the outlines of Captain Cook’s character; but its most
distinguishing feature was that unremitting perseverance in the pursuit
of his object, which was not only superior to the opposition of dangers,
and the pressure of hardships, but even exempt from the want of ordinary
relaxation. During the long and tedious voyages in which he was engaged,
his eagerness and activity were never in the least abated. No incidental
temptation could detain him for a moment: even those intervals of
recreation which sometimes unavoidably occurred, and were looked for by
us with a longing, that persons who have experienced the fatigues of
service will readily excuse, were submitted to by him with a certain
impatience, whenever they could not be employed in making a farther
provision for the more effectual prosecution of his designs.”
The life of Captain Cook is, in effect, the history of his voyages, and
will best be found in the accounts of those works. But the memoir by Dr.
Kippis, the whole of which is printed in the Biographia Britannica, is
more adapted for general use. Samwell’s Narrative of the Death of
Captain Cook contains the fullest account of that lamentable event.
[Illustration:
_Engraved by W. T. Fry._
TURGOT.
_From an original Picture in the
Gallery of the Louvre._
Under the Superintendance of the Society for the diffusion of Useful
Knowledge
_London, Published by Charles Knight, Pall Mall East._
]
[Illustration]
TURGOT.
Anne Robert James Turgot was born at Paris May 10, 1727. He was
descended from one of the oldest and most noble families of Normandy.
Turgot’s childhood was passed under the superintendence of an
injudicious mother, whose affection for her son seems to have been much
lessened in consequence of his shy and awkward manners before strangers.
His father, on the contrary, was a man of sense and humanity. He was
Provost of the Corporation of Merchants, an office which he long filled
with deserved popularity. He lived till 1750, and by his example as well
as by his precepts exerted no small influence over the character of his
son. If Turgot’s reserved and silent manners are to be attributed to the
one parent, the uprightness, benevolence, and boldness of his conduct
may perhaps in an equal degree be ascribed to the other. At an early age
he was sent to the school of Louis le Grand, where he had little
opportunity of making progress; for the master though a kind-hearted
man, was not in other respects peculiarly qualified for his station. He
afterwards went to the school of Plessis. Here he was more fortunate in
meeting with two professors of superior abilities, Guérin and Sigorgne;
the latter honourably distinguished as being the first member of the
universities of France, who introduced the Newtonian philosophy into the
schools. Under their tuition, assisted by his own unremitting assiduity,
Turgot advanced rapidly, and the pupil soon acquired the respect and
friendship of his teachers.