At Madeira, where they arrived on 29th July, they were kindly received by Mr. Loughnan, a merchant of Funchal, who entertained some of the party at his house throughout the stay, obtained permission for the Forsters to explore the island, and procured for the ships the stores that were required. Here Cook, with his eye on the scurvy, purchased as many onions as he thought would keep good, and ordered them to be served out regularly to the crews as long as they lasted. A further stock of fresh food in the shape of fowls, pigs, goats, and fruits—chiefly oranges and bananas—was laid in at Port Praya, where they had called for water. On the 19th the first death occurred; one of the carpenter's mates, Henry Smook, was at work on one of the scuttles and, falling overboard, was seen under the stern; every effort was made to save him, but it was too late. Cook says he was a good, steady man, whose loss was often felt during the voyage.

On 27th August Cook learnt that the Adventure had also had her losses. Two midshipman, Lambrecht and Kemp, had died of fever, brought on, Captain Furneaux believed, by bathing and drinking too much water under the hot sun of Port Praya. At this time the Resolution had a clean bill of health, but for fear lest the heavy rains, to which they were continually subjected, might cause sickness, the ship was constantly fumigated, washed down, and thoroughly dried by means of stoves, as advised by Captains Pallisser and Campbell, with satisfactory results. On nearing the Cape a sharp but unavailing look-out was kept for a bank which had been reported, and on 30th October they arrived in Table Bay. The run from home was considered to have been good, as they had in great measure escaped the calms they had been told to expect at that season of the year, and the currents, though very strong, had only caused a difference between the longitude obtained by observation and that by dead reckoning of three-quarters of a degree, so Cook concluded that those north of the Equator in the one direction were balanced by those to the south in the contrary one.

On landing they were received by the Governor, Baron Plattenberg, who told Cook he had received orders from Holland that the two sloops were to have every assistance that the place afforded. He also said that two French ships, commanded by M. de Kerguelen, had discovered land in 48 degrees South, near the meridian of Mauritius, but after sailing along the coast for about forty miles, he had been blown off by a heavy gale, in which he had lost both boats and men. Two other French ships had also called in March, which were on their way to explore the South Pacific under M. Marion.

Wales and Bayley got their instruments ashore in order to make observations for the purpose of correcting the watch machines. That made by Kendal was found to be working well, and gave the longitude within one minute of time when compared with that fixed by Messrs. Mason and Dixon in 1761. The first lieutenant of the Adventure, Mr. Shank, who had been ill almost from the day of leaving England, applied for leave to return home, as he felt unfit to proceed, and Mr. Arthur Kemp was made first lieutenant, his place being taken by Mr. James Burney. Mr. Sparrman, a former pupil of Linnaeus, was engaged by Mr. Forster as an assistant, and makes his appearance on the rolls as servant. The crews were well looked after, as much time granted on shore as possible, and fresh meat, fresh vegetables, and fresh baked bread were served out daily in ample quantity, so that when the ships sailed to the southward they were all "in as good a condition as when they left England." Cook found time to write a letter of farewell to Mr. Walker, as it was:

"customary for men to take leave of their friends before they go out of the world; for I can hardly think myself in it, so long as I am deprived of having any connection with the civilised part of it, and this will soon be my case for two years at least."

He at the end speaks of his ships, both "well provided and well mann'd," and of the Resolution he says: "I can assure you I never set foot in a finer ship."

THE FIRST ICE.

On 22nd November they sailed for the south, and soon began to feel the colder climate; the warm jackets and trousers provided by the Admiralty were served out, extra cuffs to protect the hands being sewn on, and warmly-lined canvas capes being made. From the 29th till 6th December they were involved in such a heavy gale that the ships were unable to carry any sail, and a large quantity of the live stock bought at the Cape perished from the effects of wet and cold. A scuttle which had been insecurely fastened was burst open by the sea, and a considerable quantity of water was taken on board, but beyond necessitating some work at the pumps and rendering things unpleasantly damp for a time, no damage was done. It, however, gave Mr. Forster an opportunity for an account of the terrible danger they were in, and, most wonderful to relate, to speak well of the conduct of the crew. The ships were carried so far to the east by the gale, that Cook gave up the idea of searching for Cape Circumcision for the present. On the 10th the first ice was encountered in latitude 50 degrees 40 minutes South, and a little higher they were stopped by a large field, to which they "could see no end, either to the east, west, or south." This field was followed along to the south-east for some days, but no opening was found, so being in constant danger from detached pieces, Cook reluctantly gave orders to change the course to the northward. About the middle of December signs of scurvy began to show, and extra precautions were at once taken; fresh wort was served out regularly to all hands and the worst case received considerable benefit from the treatment, although "Rob of Lemons and Oranges" (a sort of jelly made from the fruits) had had no effect. Furneaux reported at this time that he had cured two very bad cases with the Rob.

SHIPS PARTED.

When they had got thoroughly clear of all signs of ice, Cook once again turned south, and by 26th December had worked down as far as 50 degrees 31 minutes South, 26 degrees 57 minutes East, where, though surrounded by large masses of floating ice, they steered to the west, leaving the main ice field to the north of them. Gradually working down to 60 degrees South in the longitude given for Cape Circumcision, and being some ninety-five leagues further south, with no signs of land, Cook concluded that M. Bouvet must have been deceived by the ice. (Bouvet Island was discovered by the German Deep Sea Discovery ship Valdivia on 25th November 1898. The position was fixed as 54 degrees 26.4 minutes South, 3 degrees 24.2 minutes ??South, and not 54 degrees South, 11 degrees 20 East, as given to Cook, which will account for his want of success in his search for it.) Here Mr. Wales was enabled to get a sight of the moon for the second time since leaving the Cape of Good Hope, and, taking several observations, fixed the position of the ship with tolerable accuracy. Changing the course to East-South-East, very foggy weather was encountered, accompanied by great cold, which coated the rigging with ice, rendering it very pretty to the eye but difficult and unpleasant to work. Cook says that, though this suggested very intense cold to the mind, in reality the thermometer was rather higher than it had been, and the sea was far less encumbered with ice. Taking large blocks of ice on board it was found that, when the sea water was drained off, they provided perfectly fresh water on melting, thus removing a great weight from Cook's shoulders, and he determined on venturing further to the southward. On 17th January 1773 they crossed the Antarctic Circle in longitude 39 degrees 35 minutes East, and at noon their latitude, by observation, was 66 degrees 36 minutes 30 seconds South, the sea being free from ice. However, in the evening they found themselves completely blocked by an enormous field, extending, as far as the eye could reach, from the south-east round to the west; and as the summer was nearly over, Cook decided it was unwise to attempt anything further southwards, and ordered a retreat to the north. Again making for the land claimed to have been discovered by the French, he spent some days searching for it, but nothing was seen except some floating weed and a few birds that are supposed never to get far away from land. On 8th February a brisk gale sprang up, accompanied by very hazy weather, thickening into fog, and the two vessels separated. The Resolution cruised about, firing guns and burning flares, but no response was heard, and when the weather cleared up, the Adventure was not to be seen. Poor Mr. Forster was dreadfully scared when he realised the two ships had parted company; he says that none of the crew "ever looked around the ocean without expressing concern on seeing our ship alone on this vast and unexplored expanse." He seems to have been thoroughly unhappy, for he describes the whole voyage, from the Cape to New Zealand, as a series of hardships such as had never before been experienced by mortal man. Cook conjectured, rightly as it proved, that being a little to the south of Tasman's track, Furneaux would make for the rendezvous he had been given at New Zealand, and therefore felt himself free to push on to the south-east, as he judged that if any large body of land was in the vicinity, it must lie in that direction, for the swell coming from the south-west precluded the possibility of any mass of land being in that quarter.