It could not but occur to us as a singular and affecting circumstance, that at the very instant of our departure upon a voyage, the object of which was to benefit Europe by making fresh discoveries in North America, there should be the unhappy necessity of employing others of his Majesty’s ships, and of conveying numerous bodies of land forces, to secure the obedience of those parts of that continent which had been discovered and settled by our countrymen in the last century. On the 6th, his Majesty’s ships Diamond, Ambuscade, and Unicorn, with a fleet of transports, consisting of sixty-two sail, bound to America, with the last division of the Hessian troops, and some horse, were forced into the Sound by a strong north-west wind.
On the 8th, I received, by express, my instructions[[77]] for the voyage, and an order to proceed to the Cape of Good Hope with the Resolution. I was also directed to leave an order for Captain Clerke to follow us, as soon as he should join his ship; he being, at this time, detained in London.
Our first discoverers of the New World, and navigators of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, were justly thought to have exerted such uncommon abilities, and to have accomplished such perilous enterprises, that their names have been handed down to posterity as so many Argonauts. Nay, even the hulks of the ships that carried them, though not converted into constellations in the heavens, used to be honoured and visited as sacred relics upon earth. We, in the present age of improved navigation, who have been instructed by their labours, and have followed them as our guides, have no such claim to fame. Some merit, however, being still, in the public opinion, considered as due to those who sail to unexplored quarters of the globe, in conformity to this favourable judgment, I prefixed to the account of my last voyage the names of the officers of both my ships, and a table of the number of their respective crews. The like information will be expected from me at present.
The Resolution was fitted out with the same complement of officers and men she had before; and the Discovery’s establishment varied from that of the Adventure, in the single instance of her having no marine officer on board. This arrangement was to be finally completed at Plymouth; and, on the 9th, we received the party of marines allotted for our voyage. Colonel Bell, who commanded the division at this port, gave me such men for the detachment as I had reason to be satisfied with. And the supernumerary seamen, occasioned by this reinforcement, being turned over into the Ocean man-of-war, our several complements remained fixed, as represented in the following table:
| RESOLUTION. | DISCOVERY. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Officers and Men. | No. | Officers’ Names. | No. | Officers’ Names. |
| Captain | 1 | James Cook | 1 | Charles Clerke |
| Lieutenants | 3 | John Gore | 2 | James Burney |
| James King | John Rickman | |||
| John Williamson | ||||
| Master | 1 | William Bligh | 1 | Thomas Edgar |
| Boatswain | 1 | William Ewin | 1 | Eneas Atkins |
| Carpenter | 1 | James Clevely | 1 | Peter Reynolds |
| Gunner | 1 | Robert Anderson | 1 | William Peckover |
| Surgeon | 1 | William Anderson | 1 | John Law |
| Master’s Mates | 3 | 2 | ||
| Midshipmen | 6 | 4 | ||
| Surgeon’s Mates | 2 | 2 | ||
| Captain’s Clerk | 1 | 1 | ||
| Master at Arms | 1 | 1 | ||
| Corporal | 1 | |||
| Armourer | 1 | 1 | ||
| Ditto Mate | 1 | 1 | ||
| Sail Maker | 1 | 1 | ||
| Ditto Mate | 1 | 1 | ||
| Boatswain’s Mates | 3 | 2 | ||
| Carpenter’s Ditto | 3 | 2 | ||
| Gunner’s Ditto | 2 | 1 | ||
| Carpenter’s Crew | 4 | 4 | ||
| Cook | 1 | 1 | ||
| Ditto Mate | 1 | |||
| Quarter Masters | 6 | 4 | ||
| Able Seamen | 45 | 33 | ||
| Marines. | ||||
| Lieutenant | 1 | Molesworth Philips | ||
| Serjeant | 1 | 1 | ||
| Corporals | 2 | 1 | ||
| Drummer | 1 | 1 | ||
| Privates | 15 | 8 | ||
| Total | 112 | 80 | ||
On the 10th, the commissioner and pay-clerks came on board, and paid the officers and crew up to the 30th of last month. The petty officers and seamen had, besides, two months’ wages in advance. Such indulgence to the latter, is no more than what is customary in the navy. But the payment of what was due to the superior officers was humanely ordered by the Admiralty, in consideration of our peculiar situation, that we might be better able to defray the very great expense of furnishing ourselves with a stock of necessaries for a voyage which, probably, would be of unusual duration, and to regions where no supply could be expected.
Nothing now obstructing my departure but a contrary wind, which blew strong at south-west, in the morning of the 11th I delivered into the hands of Mr. Burney, first lieutenant of the Discovery, Captain Clerke’s sailing orders; a copy of which I also left with the officer[[78]] commanding his Majesty’s ships at Plymouth, to be delivered to the Captain immediately on his arrival. In the afternoon, the wind moderating, we weighed with the ebb, and got farther out, beyond all the shipping in the Sound; where, after making an unsuccessful attempt to get to sea, we were detained most of the following day, which was employed in receiving on board a supply of water; and, by the same vessel that brought it, all the empty casks were returned.
As I did not imagine my stay at Plymouth would have been so long as it proved, we did not get our instruments on shore to make the necessary observations for ascertaining the longitude by the watch. For the same reason, Mr. Baily did not set about this, till he found that the Discovery would probably be detained some days after us. He then placed his quadrant upon Drake’s Island; and had time, before the Resolution sailed, to make observations sufficient for the purpose we had in view. Our watch made the island to lie 4° 14ʹ, and his, 4° 131⁄2ʹ west of Greenwich. Its latitude, as found by Messrs. Wales and Baily, on the last voyage, is 50° 21ʹ 30ʺ north.
We weighed again at eight in the evening, and stood out of the Sound, with a gentle breeze at north-west by west.