'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. It was my first care to procure whatever of any kind could be met with, by every means in my power; and to oblige our people to make use thereof, both by my example and authority; but the benefits arising from refreshments of any kind soon became so obvious, that I had little occasion to recommend the one to exert the other.'
In a letter which Captain Cook wrote to Sir John Pringle, just before he embarked on his last voyage, dated Plymouth Sound, July 7, 1776, he expressed himself as follows: 'I entirely agree with you, that the dearness of the rob of lemons and of oranges will hinder them from being furnished in large quantities. But I do not think this so necessary; for, though they may assist other things, I have no great opinion of them alone. Nor have I a higher opinion of vinegar. My people had it very sparingly during the late voyage, and, towards the latter part none at all; and yet we experienced no ill effect from the want of it. The custom of washing the inside of the ship with vinegar, I seldom observed; thinking that fire and smoke answered the purpose much better.']
One circumstance alone was wanting to complete the pleasure and celebrity arising from the assignment of Sir Godfrey Copley's medal. Captain Cook was not himself present, to hear the discourse of the president, and to receive the honour conferred upon him. Some months before the anniversary of St. Andrew's day, he had sailed on his last expedition. The medal, therefore, was delivered into the hands of Mrs. Cook, whose satisfaction at being intrusted with so valuable a pledge of her husband's reputation cannot be questioned. Neither can it be doubted, but that the captain, before his departure from England, was fully apprized of the mark of distinction which was intended for him by the Royal Society.
Captain Cook, after the conclusion of his second voyage, was called upon to appear in the world in the character of an author. In the account that was published, by authority, of his former circumnavigation of the globe, as well as of those which had been performed by the Captains Byron, Cateret, and Wallis, it was thought requisite to procure the assistance of a professed literary man, whose business it should be to draw up a narrative from the several journals of these commanders. Accordingly, Dr. Hawkesworth, as is universally known, was employed for the purpose. In the present case, it was not esteemed necessary to have recourse to such an expedient. Captain Cook was justly regarded as sufficiently qualified to relate his own story. His journal only required to be divided into chapters, and perhaps to be amended by a few verbal corrections. It is not speaking extravagantly to say, that in point of composition, his history of his voyage reflects upon him no small degree of credit. His style is natural, clear, and manly; being well adapted to the subject and to his own character: and it is possible that a pen of more studied elegance would not have given any additional advantage to the narration. It was not till some time after Captain Cook's leaving England that the work was published; but, in the meanwhile, the superintendence of it was undertaken by his learned and valuable friend, Dr. Douglas, whose late promotion to the mitre hath afforded pleasure to every literary man, of every denomination. When the Voyage appeared it came recommended by the accuracy and excellence of its charts, and by a great variety of engravings, from the curious and beautiful drawings of Mr. Hodges. This work was followed by the publication of the original astronomical observations, which had been made by Mr. Wales in the Resolution, and by Mr. Bayley in the Adventure. It was at the expense of the commissioners of longitude that these observations were made, and it was by their order that they were printed. The book of Mr. Wales and Mr. Bayley displays, in the strongest light, the scientific use and value of Captain Cook's voyage.
Some of the circumstances which have now been mentioned have designedly been brought forward more early in point of time than should otherwise have been done, in order to prevent any interruption in the course of the subsequent narrative.
Though Captain Cook was expected to, sit down in repose, after his toils and labours, the design of farther discoveries was not laid aside. The illusion, indeed of a Terra Australis incognita, to any purposes of commerce, colonization, and utility, had been dispelled: but there was another grand question which remained to be determined; and that was the practicability of a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean.
It had long been a favourite object with navigators, and particularly with the English, to discover a shorter, a more commodious, and a more profitable course of sailing to Japan and China, and, indeed, to the East Indies in general, than by making the tedious circuit of the Cape of Good Hope. To find a western passage round North America had been attempted by several bold adventurers, from Frobisher's first voyage, in 1576, to those of James and of Fox, in 1631. By these expeditions a large addition was made to the knowledge of the northern extent of America, and Hudson's and Baffin's Bays were discovered. But the wished-for passage, on that side, into the Pacific Ocean, was still unattained. Nor were the various attempts of our countrymen, and of the Dutch, to find such a passage, by sailing round the north of Asia, in an eastern direction, attended with better success. Wood's failure in 1676, appears to have concluded the long list of unfortunate expeditions in that century. The discovery, if not absolutely despaired of, had been unsuccessful in such a number of instances, that it ceased for many years, to be an object of pursuit.
The question was again revived in the present century. Mr. Dobbs, a warm advocate for the probability of a north-west passage through Hudson's Bay, once more recalled the attention of this country to that undertaking. In consequence of the spirit by him excited, Captain Middleton was sent out by government, in 1741, and Captains Smith and More, in 1746. But though an act of Parliament had been passed, which secured a reward of twenty thousand pounds to the discovery of a passage, the accomplishment of this favourite object continued at as great a distance as ever.
To ascertain a matter of such importance and magnitude in navigation, was reserved to be another glory of his present majesty's reign. The idea was peculiarly suited to the enlightened mind of the noble lord at the head of the admiralty, and he adopted it with ardour. Preparatory to the execution of the design, Lord Mulgrave sailed with two ships, to determine how far navigation was practicable towards the north pole. In this expedition, his lordship met with the same insuperable difficulties which had been experienced by former voyagers. Nevertheless, the expectation of opening a communication between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, by a northerly course, was not abandoned; and it was resolved that a voyage should be undertaken for that purpose.
For the conduct of an enterprise, the operations of which were intended to be so new, so extensive, and so various, it was evident that great ability, skill, and experience were indispensably necessary. That Captain Cook was of all men the best qualified for carrying it into execution was a matter that could not be called in question. But, however ardently it might be wished that he would take upon him the command of the service, no one (not even his friend and patron Lord Sandwich himself) presumed to solicit him upon the subject. The benefits he had already conferred on science and navigation, and the labours and dangers he had gone through were so many and great, that it was not deemed reasonable to ask him to engage in fresh perils. At the same time, nothing could be more natural, than to consult him upon every thing relative to the business; and his advice was particularly requested with regard to the properest person for conducting the voyage. To determine this point, the captain, Sir Hugh Palliser, and Mr. Stephens, were invited to Lord Sandwich's to dinner. Here, besides taking into consideration what officer should be recommended to his majesty for accomplishing the purposes in view, many things were said concerning the nature of the design. Its grandeur and dignity, the consequences of it to navigation and science, and the completion it would give to the whole system of discoveries, were enlarged upon in the course of the conversation. Captain Cook was so fired with the contemplation and representation of the object, that he started up, and declared, that he himself would undertake the direction of the enterprise. It is easy to suppose, with what pleasure the noble lord, and the other gentlemen, received a proposal, which was so agreeable to their secret wishes, and which they thought of the highest importance towards attaining the ends of the voyage. No time was lost by the Earl of Sandwich, in laying the matter before the king; and Captain Cook was appointed to the command of the expedition, on the 10th of February, 1776. At the same time, it was agreed that on his return to England, he should be restored to his situation at Greenwich; and, if no vacancy occurred during the interval, the officer who succeeded him was to resign in his favour.