On May 1 the Endeavour called off Saint Helena, then known only as the summit of a submarine mountain, the water round it being of unfathomable depth; although the island was of especial importance to Indiamen, as it was the only British possession at which they could call on their voyage. Here the Endeavour found the Portland man-of-war, commanded by Captain Elliot, and twelve sail of Indiamen. In company with this fleet, she stood out of the roads on May 4. But finding that his ship sailed more heavily than the rest of the fleet, Captain Cook deposited his logs, or ship’s papers, and some of the journals of his officers, with Captain Elliot; and on the 23rd not one of the ships was in sight.
By this time the rigging and sails of the Endeavour had become so bad that every day something was giving way. But, notwithstanding this, she continued her course in safety, and on June 10 land, which proved to be the Lizard Point, was seen by Nicholas Young, the same boy who first sighted New Zealand. On the 12th the ship came to an anchor in the Downs, and Captain Cook went on shore at Deal.
The importance of the voyage just described can be better appreciated by the present generation than it could have been by those who were alive at the time of its conclusion. Captain Cook’s own modest summary of it is interesting. He says:—
“I sailed from Deptford July 30, 1768; from Plymouth August 26; touched at Madeira, Rio de Janeiro, and Straits of Le Maire; and entered the South Pacific Ocean, by Cape Horn, in January, the following year.
“I endeavoured to make a direct course to Otaheite, and, in part, succeeded; but I made no discovery till I got within the tropic, when I fell in with Lagoon Island, Two Groups, Bird Island, Chain Island, and on April 13 arrived at Otaheite, where I remained three months, during which time the observations on the transit of Venus were made.
“I then left it; discovered and visited the Society Isles, and Oheteroa; thence proceeded to the south till I arrived in the latitude of 40 degrees 22 minutes, longitude 147 degrees 29 minutes West; and on October 6 fell in with the east side of New Zealand. I continued exploring the coast of this country till March 1, 1770, when I quitted it and proceeded to New Holland, and having surveyed the eastern coast of that vast country, which part had not before been visited, I passed between its northern extremity and New Guinea; landed on the latter, touched at the island of Savu, thence to Batavia, the Cape of Good Hope, Saint Helena, and arrived in England on July 12, 1771.”
On their arrival in London, Cook and his companions were received by the scientific, as well as by the great and fashionable world, with the attention and respect they so well-deserved; for no previous expedition undertaken by England had been more generally successful. Cook was promoted to the rank of Commander, his commission being dated August 29, 1771. He was also introduced to the King at Saint James’s Palace, and had the honour of presenting the journal of his voyage, illustrated by maps and charts; while their Majesties the King and Queen, and numerous people of high rank and attainments, took delight in listening to the accounts given by the explorers of their adventures, and in examining the specimens of manufactures and of natural history which they had brought home.
It was not, however, present éclat, nor the apparent magnitude of the discoveries made, but their consequences, which rendered this voyage of real importance. The ultimate result was the founding of two nations of the Anglo-Saxon race; and whatever cause there may be to question, if not to condemn, the manner in which possession has been obtained of distant countries, and in which, also, their colonisation has been effected, in almost every instance, and by almost all nations having the power which civilisation gives, it must still be borne in mind that God has overruled, and is overruling, these transactions for His own glory and for the spiritual benefit of the world. He makes not only “the wrath,” but the ambition, and pride, and cupidity of man “to praise Him;” and then the remainder “He restrains.” And all circumstances are made, in His infinite wisdom and power, to advance the spread of “the glorious Gospel of the blessed God,” and to usher in the kingdom of Him whose right it is to reign, even of Christ Jesus, the Prince of peace, the Lord of lords, and the King of kings.
With regard to the discoveries made in the voyage just recorded, it is almost superfluous to say that the countries then visited for the first time by our countrymen have, after the lapse of a century, become familiar as household words to the whole world. Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand have become component parts of the British empire, and have already been made the home of hundreds of thousands of the crowded population of the British Isles, as well as of emigrants from other European countries; and these lands will, probably, before another century has passed away, become centres, not only of civilisation, but of evangelical truth and saving faith. And herein the Christian reader will and must rejoice.