On his return to New Zealand in November, Cook found that his efforts to introduce new plants and animals had been frustrated by the natives. One of the sows had been incapacitated by a severe cut in one of her hind-legs; the other sow and the boar had been sedulously kept separate. The two goats had been killed by a fellow named Gobiah, and the potatoes had been dug up. Cook here had the satisfaction of beholding a feast of human flesh. A portion of the body of a young man of twenty years was broiled and eaten by one of the natives with evident relish. Several of the ship's crew were rendered sick by the disgusting sight.
The Adventure separated from her consort at this point; nor was she again seen during the remainder of the voyage. Cook left New Zealand early in December for a last attempt in the Southern Ocean. On the 12th he saw the first ice, and on the 23d, in latitude 67°, found his passage obstructed by such quantities that he abandoned all hopes of proceeding any farther in that direction, and resolved to return to the north. As he was in the longitude of 137°, it was clear that there must be a vast space of sea to the north unexplored,—a space of twenty-four degrees, in which a large tract of land might possibly lie.
Late in February, 1774, Cook was taken ill of bilious colic, and for some days his life was despaired of. The crew suffered severely from scurvy. On the 11th of March, they fell in with Roggewein's Easter Island, which they recognised by the gigantic statues which lined the coast. They noticed a singular disproportion in the number of the males and females, having counted in the island some seven hundred men and only thirty women.
Early in April, Cook arrived among the Marquesas Islands, discovered in 1595 by Mendana. On the 22d, he arrived at Point Venus, in Tahiti, where he had observed the transit in 1769, and of which the longitude was known: he was able, therefore, to determine the error of his watch, and to fix anew its rate of going. The natives, and especially Otoo, the king, expressed no little joy at seeing him again. On leaving Tahiti, Cook visited in detail the islands named Espiritu Santo by Quiros and Grandes Cyclades by Bougainville. As he determined their extent and position, he took the liberty of changing their name to that of the New Hebrides.
NEW CALEDONIAN DOUBLE CANOE.
Cook now discovered the large island of New Caledonia, whose inhabitants he mentions as possessing an excellent character. Subsequent navigators, however, ascertained them to be cannibals. They were much lower in the scale of intelligence than the Tahitians. Their canoes were of the most clumsy description, and were generally propelled in pairs by poles. Cook was unable to obtain provisions; and, as his crew were now suffering from famine, he returned to New Zealand, where he arrived on the 18th of October. He left again on the 10th of November, and anchored on the 21st of December in Christmas Sound, in Terra del Fuego. He doubled Cape Horn, discovered numerous islands of little importance, and finally headed the vessel for the Cape of Good Hope. He anchored in Table Bay on the 19th of March, 1775. He here found news of the Adventure, which had already passed the Cape on her way home. On the 30th of July, Cook landed at Plymouth, after an absence of three years and eighteen days. During this space of time he had lost but four men, and only one of these four by sickness. He was promoted to the rank of captain, was elected a member of the Royal Society of London, and received the Godfrey Copley gold medal in testimony of the appreciation in which his efforts to preserve the health of his crew were held by the Government. He was now forty-seven years of age.
