Andrew Kippis

“ III. Every person employed on shore on any duty whatsoever, is strictly to attend to the same; and if by any neglect he loseth any of his arms, or working tools, or suffers them to be stolen, the full value thereof will be charged against his pay, according to the custom of the Navy in such cases, and he shall receive such farther punishment as the nature of the offence may deserve. IV. The same penalty will be inflicted on every person who is found to embezzle, trade, or offer to trade, with any part of the ship's stores, of what nature soever. ”

“ On the 11th of April, the Endeavour arrived in sight of Otaheite , and on the 13th she came 1769 to an anchor in Port Royal Bay, which is called Matavai by the natives. As the stay of the English in the island was not likely to be very short, and much depended on the manner in which traffic should be carried on with the inhabitants, Lieutenant Cook , with great good sense and humanity, drew up a set of regulations for the behaviour of his people, and gave it in command that they should punctually be observed [26] . ”

“ An iron coal - rake , indeed, was restored ; upon which great felicitation was made for the release of the canoes; but he still insisted on his original condition. When the next day came, he was much surprized to find that nothing farther had been returned; and, as the people were in the utmost distress for the fish, which would in a short time be spoilt, he was reduced to the disagreeable alternative, either of releasing the canoes, contrary to what he had solemnly and publicly declared, or of detaining them, to the great damage of those who were innocent. ”

“ During the run between Madeira and Rio de Janeiro, Lieutenant Cook and the gentlemen in the Endeavour had an opportunity of determining a philosophical question. On the evening of the 29th of October, they observed that luminous appearance of the sea which hath so often been mentioned by navigators, and which has been ascribed to such a variety of causes. ”

“ In this expedition, they were all of them exposed to the utmost extremity of danger and of cold ; Dr. Solander was seized with a torpor which had nearly proved fatal to his life; and two black servants actually died. When the gentlemen had , at length, on the second day of their adventure, gotten back to the ship, they congratulated each other on their safety, with a joy that can only be felt by those who have experienced equal perils; and Mr. Cook was relieved from a very painful anxiety. ”

“ Cook was apprehensive that they intended to stay behind; but, being unwilling to endanger the harmony and good-will which at present subsisted between our people and the . natives, he determined to wait a day for the chance of the men's return. As, to the great concern of the Lieutenant, the marines were not come back on the morning of the tenth, enquiry was made after them of the Indians, who acknowledged that each of them had taken a wife, and had resolved to become inhabitants of the country. ”

“ Continuation of the History of Captain Cook's Life, to
the End of his first Voyage round the World.
THERE is scarcely any thing from which the natural curiosity of man receives a higher gratification , than from the accounts of distant countries and nations. Nor is it curiosity only that is gratified by such accounts; for the sphere of human knowledge is hereby enlarged, and various objects are brought into view, an acquaintance with which greatly contributes to the improvement of life and the benefit of the world. ”

“ At a time when a considerable robbery had been committed, an accident furnished him with what he hoped would be a happy expedient for preventing future attempts of the time kind. Above twenty of the failing canoes of the inhabitants came in with a supply of fish. Upon these Lieutenant Cook immediately seized, and, having brought them into the river behind the fort, gave notice, that unless the things which had been stolen were returned, the canoes should be burnt. ”

“ The pleasure which Lieutenant Cook and his friends derived from having thus successfully accomplished the first grand object of the voyage, was not a little abated by the conduct of some , of the ship's company, who, while the attention of the officers was engrossed by the transit of Venus , broke into one of the store-rooms , and stole a quantity of spike nails, amounting to no less than an hundred weight. ”

“ For this purpose, as in an excursion to the westward, he had not found any more convenient harbour than that in which the Endeavour lay, he determined to go on shore and fix upon some spot, commanded by the guns of the ship where he night throw up a small fort for defence , and get every thing ready for making the astronomical observation. Accordingly , he took a party of men, and landed, being accompanied by Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander and Mr. Green. They soon fixed upon a place very proper for their design and which was at a considerable distance from any habitation of the natives. ”

“ Great navigations were only occasionally undertaken , and more from the immediate views of avarice or war, than from any noble and generous principles. But of late years they have been revived, with the enlarged and benevolent design of promoting the happiness of the human species. ”

“ Cook having appointed thirteen marines and a petty officer to guard the tent, he and the gentlemen with him set out upon a little excursion into the woods of the country. They had not, however, gone far, before they were brought back by a very disagreeable event. One of the Indians, who remained about the tent after the Lieutenant and his friends had left it, watched an opportunity of taking the centry at unawares, and snatched away his musquet. Upon this, the petty officer who commanded the party, and who was a Midshipman, ordered the marines to fire. ”

“ The Lieutenant, on the succeeding day, gave a striking proof of his regard to justice, and of his care to preserve the inhabitants from injury and violence , by the punishment he inflicted on the butcher of the Endeavour, who was accused of having threatened , or attempted, the life of a woman that was the wife of Tubourai Tomaide, a chief remarkable for his attachment to our navigators. ”

“ With regard to information of this kind, the moderns have eminently the advantage over the ancients. The ancients could neither pursue their enquiries with the same accuracy, nor carry them on to the fame extent. Travelling by land was much more inconvenient and dangerous than it hath been in later times; and, as navigation was principally confined to coasting, it muss necessarily have been circumscribed within very narrow limits. ”

“ They are almost naked; and so devoid are they of every convenience which is furnished by the rudest art, that they have not so much as an implement to dress their food. Nevertheless, they seemed to have no wish for acquiring more than they possessed ”

“ The spirit of discovery, which was so vigorous during the latter end of the fifteenth and through the whole of the sixteenth century , began, soon after the commencement of the seventeenth century, to decline. ”

“ Cook, wishing him a good voyage. The Lieutenant's messenger soon returned, with the information that the order had been written several days, and that its not having been sent had arisen from some unaccountable negligence. 7 Dec. It was not till the 7th of December that the Endeavour got under sail [18] .
In the account which Lieutenant Cook has given of Rio de Janeiro, and the country around it, one circumstance is recorded, which cannot be otherwise than very painful to humanity. It is the horrid expence of life at which the gold mines are wrought. ”

“ Hence it was highly probable that our navigators had been near no land of any considerable extent , currents being always found when land is not remote [24] .
In the prosecution of Lieutenant Cook's voyage from Cape Horn to Otaheite several islands were discovered, to which the names were given of Lagoon Island, Thrumb-cap , Bow Island, The Groups, Bird Island, and Chain Island. It appeared that most of these islands were inhabited ”

“ This being a matter of eminent consequence in astronomy, and which excited the attention of foreign nations as well as of otir own, the affair was taken up by the Royal Society, with the zeal which has always been displayed by that learned body for the advancement of every branch of philosophical science. ”

“ This action a number of the natives violently opposed; and a messenger came down to the tents, to acquaint the gentlemen that no such thing would be suffered. Mr. Banks directly repaired to the place , and soon put an amicable end to the contest, by sending the boat's crew to the river, where a sufficient quantity of stones might be gathered without a possibility of giving offence. These Indians appeared to be much more alarmed at any injury which they apprehended to be done to the dead than to the living. ”