Captain Clerke had relinquished the command of the Discovery to Lieutenant Gore, and hoisted his flag upon the Resolution. After completing the survey of the Hawaian Islands, he set sail for the north, touched at Kamschatka, where the Russians made him heartily welcome, passed through Behring Strait, and advanced as far as latitude 69° 50' north, where his further progress was barred by icebergs.
On the 22nd of April, 1779, Captain Clerke died of pulmonary phthisis, aged thirty-eight.
Captain Gore then assumed the command in chief, put in again at Kamschatka, again at Canton, and at the Cape of Good Hope, and anchored in the Thames on the 1st of October, 1780, after more than four years' absence.
The death of Captain Cook caused a general mourning throughout England. The Royal Society of London, of which he was a member, struck a medal in his honour, the cost of which was covered by public subscription, to which persons of the highest rank subscribed.
The Admiralty petitioned the king to provide for the family of the deceased captain. The king granted a pension of 200l. to his widow, and 25l. to each of his three sons. The charts and drawings relating to his last voyage were engraved at the expense of the government, and the proceeds of their sale divided among Cook's family, and the heirs of Captain Clerke and Captain King.
Although the family of the great navigator is extinct, a proof of the esteem in which his memory is held was given in the solemn meeting of the French Geographical Society on the 4th of February, 1879.
A large number assembled to celebrate the centenary of Cook's death. Amongst them were many representatives of the Australian colonies, which are now so flourishing, and of the Hawaian Archipelago, where he met his death. A quantity of relics belonging to the great navigator, his charts, Webber's magnificent water-colours, and the instruments and weapons of the Oceanic islanders decorated the walls.
This touching homage, after the lapse of a hundred years, was accorded by a people whose king had bidden them not to thwart Cook's scientific and civilizing mission, and was well calculated to awake an echo in England, and to draw yet closer the bonds of that good fellowship which exists between England and France.
END OF THE FIRST PART.