Robert Kerr

“ But when the recesses of the globe are investigated, not to enlarge private dominion, but to promote general knowledge; when we visit new tribes of our fellow-creatures as friends; and wish only to learn that they exist, in order to bring them within the pale of the offices of humanity, and to relieve the wants of their imperfect state of society, by communicating to them our superior attainments; voyages of discovery planned with such benevolent views by George the Third, and executed by Cook, have not, we trust, totally failed in this respect. ”

“ We need not here observe, that the manners, monuments, customs, practices, and opinions of the present inhabitants of the Pacific Ocean, or of the west side of North America, form the strongest contrast with those of our own time in polished Europe; and that a feeling imagination will probably be more struck with the narration of the ceremonies of a Natche at Tongataboo, than of a Gothic tournament at London; with the contemplation of the colossuses of Easter Island, than of the mysterious remains of Stonehenge. ”

“ How beautifully does Captain Cook's description illustrate those lines of Dr Young-- --Such blessings Nature pours, O'erstock'd mankind enjoy but half her stores; In distant wilds, by human eyes unseen, She rears her flowers, and spreads her velvet green: Pure gurgling rills the lonely desert trace, And waste their music on the savage race. ”

“ Near the creek, which runs to the westward of the tent, the land is quite flat, and partly overflowed by the sea every tide. When that retires, the surface is seen to be composed of coral rock, with holes of yellowish mud scattered up and down; and toward the edges, where it is a little firmer, are innumerable little openings, from which issue as many small crabs, of two or three different sorts, which swarm upon the spot, as flies upon a carcase; but are so nimble, that, on being approached, they disappear in an instant, and baffle even the natives to catch any of them. ”

“ Lands doomed by Nature to perpetual frigidness; never to feel the warmth of the sun's rays; whose horrible and savage aspect I have not words to describe. Such are the lands we have discovered; what then may we expect those to be which lie still farther to the south? For we may reasonably suppose that we have seen the best, as lying most to the north. If any one should have resolution and perseverance to clear up this point by proceeding farther than I have done, I shall not envy him the honour of the discovery ”

“ We had now a long hollow swell from the west, a strong indication that there was no land in that direction; so that I think I may venture to assert that the extensive coast, laid down in Mr Dalrymple's chart of the ocean between Africa and America, and the Gulph of St Sebastian, do not exist.
At seven o'clock in the evening, the fog receding from us a little, gave us a sight of an ice island, several penguins and some snow peterels; we sounded, but found no ground at one hundred and forty fathoms. ”

“ At eight o'clock we were abreast of the most eastern isle, distant from it about two miles, and had the same depth of water as before. I now shortened sail to the three top-sails, to wait for clear weather; for the fog was so thick that we could see no other land than this island. After waiting an hour, and the weather not clearing, we bore up and hauled round the east end of the island, for the sake of smooth water and anchorage, if it should be necessary. In hauling round, we found a strong race of a current, like unto broken water; but we had no less than nineteen fathoms. ”

“ At the distance of about 200 leagues from those islands, an immense, unknown ocean intervening, with such wretched sea-boats as their inhabitants are known to make use of, and fit only for a passage where sight of land is scarcely ever lost, such a meeting, at such a place, so accidentally visited by us, may well be looked upon as one of those unexpected situations with which the writers of feigned adventures love to surprise their readers, and which, when they really happen in common life, deserve to be recorded for their singularity. ”

“ Navigators in general cannot, indeed, expect, nor would they wish to meet with such advantages in this respect, as fell to my lot. The nature of our voyage carried us into very high latitudes. But the hardships and dangers inseparable from that situation, were in some degree compensated by the singular felicity we enjoyed, of extracting inexhaustible supplies of fresh water from an ocean strewed with ice.
We came to few places, where either the art of man, or the bounty of nature, had not provided some sort of refreshment or other, either in the animal or vegetable way. ”

“ At one part of the reef, which looks into, or bounds, the lake that is within, there was a large bed of coral, almost even with the surface, which afforded, perhaps, one of the most enchanting prospects that nature has any where produced. Its base was fixed to the shore, but reached so far in that it could not be seen; so that it seemed to be suspended in the water, which deepened so suddenly, that at the distance of a few yards there might be seven or eight fathoms. ”

“ The very introduction of our useful animals and vegetables, by adding fresh means of subsistence, will have added to their comforts of life, and immediate enjoyments; and if this be the only benefit they are ever to receive, who will pronounce that much has not been gained? But may we not carry our wishes and our hopes still farther? Great Britain itself, when, first visited by the Phoenicians, was inhabited by painted savages, not, perhaps, blessed with higher attainments than are possessed by the present natives of New Zealand; certainly less civilized than those of Tongataboo or Otaheite. ”

“ By this time more than two-thirds of the inhabitants, of the Sound had settled themselves about us. Great numbers of them daily frequented the ships, and the encampment on shore; but the latter became, by far, the most favourite place of resort, while our people there were melting some seal blubber. No Greenlander was ever fonder of train-oil than our friends here seemed to be. They relished the very skimmings of the kettle, and dregs of the casks ”

“ The coral, though it has probably been exposed to the weather for many centuries, has undergone no farther change than becoming black on the surface, which, from its irregularity, is not much unlike large masses of a burnt substance. But, on breaking some pieces off, we found that, at the depth of two or three inches, it was just as fresh as the pieces that had been lately thrown upon the beach by the waves. The reef, or rock, that lines the shore entirely, runs to different breadths into the sea, where it ends all at once, and becomes like a high, steep wall. ”

“ After the great discovery, or at least the full confirmation of the great discovery, of the vicinity of the two continents of Asia and America, we trust that we shall not, for the future, be ridiculed, for believing that the former could easily furnish its inhabitants to the latter. And thus, to all the various good purposes already enumerated, as answered by our late voyages, we may add this last, though not the least important, that they have done service to religion, by robbing infidelity of a favourite objection to the credibility of the Mosaic account of the peopling of the earth. ”

“ It was during this dispute, and in view of its hostile termination, that Mr Pitt gave his sanction to a scheme for revolutionizing the Spanish colonies, an event which, if not now encouraged by any direct assistance, bears too complacent an aspect on our commercial interests not to be regarded with a large portion of good wishes. It is impossible, indeed, excluding altogether every idea of personal advantage, not to hope highly, at least, of any efforts which may be made to wrest the souls and bodies of millions from the clutch of ignorance and tyranny. ”

“ Who could have thought, that the brutal ferocity of feeding upon human flesh, and the horrid superstition of offering human sacrifices, should be found to exist amongst the natives lately discovered in the Pacific Ocean, who, in other respects, appear to be no strangers to the fine feelings of humanity, to have arrived at a certain stage of social life, and to be habituated to subordination and government, which tend so naturally to repress the ebullitions of wild passion, and expand the latent powers of the understanding? ”

“ It is painful to a liberal mind to question the basis of any hope, or to doubt the validity of any expectations, in behalf of our species. One would rather foster a mistaken benevolence, which, scorning selfish interests, embraced the future welfare of distant and unknown people, were it not that the indulgence of them might tend to prevent the very object which they regard from being attained. ”

“ One might be apt to suppose, that people, capable of such excess of cruelty, must be destitute of every human feeling, even amongst their own party; and yet we find them lamenting the loss of their friends, with a violence of expression which argues the most tender remembrance of them. For both men and women, upon the death of those connected with them, whether in battle or otherwise, bewail them with the most doleful cries ”

“ 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 rack behind." ”

“ The New Zealanders seem to be a people perfectly satisfied with the little knowledge they are masters of, without attempting, in the least, to improve it. Nor are they remarkably curious, either in their observations or their enquiries. New objects do not strike them with such a degree of surprise as one would naturally expect; nor do they even fix their attention for a moment. Omai, indeed, who was a great favourite with them, would sometimes attract a circle about him ”

“ I was sorry I could not determine this with greater certainty; but prudence would not permit me to venture near a coast, subject to thick fogs, on which there was no anchorage; where every port was blocked or filled up with ice; and the whole country, from the summits of the mountains, down to the very brink of the cliffs which terminate the coast, covered, many fathoms thick, with everlasting snow. The cliffs alone was all which was to be seen like land. ”

“ Our hardy adventurers in the whale-fishery have already found their way, within these few years, into the South Atlantic; and who knows what fresh sources of commerce may still be opened, if the prospect of gain can be added, to keep alive the spirit of enterprise? If the situation of Great Britain be too remote, other trading nations will assuredly avail themselves of our discoveries. We may soon expect to hear that the Russians, now instructed by us where to find the American continent, have extended their voyages from the Fox Islands to Cook's River, and Prince William's Sound. ”

“ If public services merit public acknowledgments; if the man who adorned and raised the fame of his country is deserving of honours, then Captain Cook deserves to have a monument raised to his memory, by a generous and grateful nation. ”

“ It is now discovered, beyond all doubt, that the same Great Being who created the universe by his fiat, by the same ordained our earth to keep a just poise, without a corresponding southern continent--and it does so! ”

“ Here it may not be amiss to remark, that savages, little as some men think of them, are possessed of all the faculties of human nature; and that conscience, that principle, which, more than reason, characterizes our species, has as true and as efficient an existence in their breasts. ”

“ Great allowances should be made for the foibles of these poor natives of the Pacific Ocean, whose minds were overpowered with the glare of objects, equally new to them, as they were captivating. Stealing, amongst the civilized and enlightened nations of the world, may well be considered as denoting a character deeply stained with moral turpitude, with avarice unrestrained by the known rules of right, and with profligacy producing extreme indigence, and neglecting the means of relieving it. ”

“ They also carve pieces of their green stone, rudely shaped, as human figures, which they ornament with bright eyes of pearl-shell, and hang them about their necks, as memorials of those whom they held most dear; and their affections of this kind are so strong, that they even perform the ceremony of cutting, and lamenting for joy, at the return of any of their friends, who have been absent but for a short time. ”

“ They are excellent places of refreshment for a ship's crew bound on expeditions like ours; for though the flesh of sea-lions and penguins is not the most palateable food, yet it is infinitely more salubrious than salt meat; and by searching the different islands, it is not improbable that a sufficient quantity of celery and scurvy-grass might be found to supply the whole crew, especially as we saw both the species on our excursions. Our seamen lived several days on young shags and penguins, of which they found the former extremely palateable, comparing them to young pullets. ”