CHAP. I.

VARIOUS PREPARATIONS FOR THE VOYAGE.—OMAI’S BEHAVIOUR ON EMBARKING.—OBSERVATIONS FOR DETERMINING THE LONGITUDE OF SHEERNESS, AND THE NORTH FORELAND.—PASSAGE OF THE RESOLUTION FROM DEPTFORD TO PLYMOUTH.—EMPLOYMENTS THERE.—COMPLEMENTS OF THE CREWS OF BOTH SHIPS, AND NAMES OF THE OFFICERS.—OBSERVATIONS TO FIX THE LONGITUDE OF PLYMOUTH.—DEPARTURE OF THE RESOLUTION.

Having, on the ninth day of February, 1776, received a commission to command his Majesty’s sloop the Resolution, I went on board the next day, hoisted the pendant, and began to enter men. At the same time, the Discovery, of three hundred tons’ burthen, was purchased into the service, and the command of her given to Captain Clerke, who had been my second Lieutenant on board the Resolution, in my second voyage round the world, from which we had lately returned.

These two ships were, at this time, in the dock at Deptford, under the hands of the shipwrights; being ordered to be equipped to make farther discoveries in the Pacific Ocean, under my direction.

On the 9th of March, the Resolution was hauled out of dock into the river; where we completed her rigging, and took on board the stores and provisions requisite for a voyage of such duration. Both ships, indeed, were supplied with as much of every necessary article as we could conveniently stow, and with the best of every kind that could be procured. And, besides this, every thing that had been found, by the experience acquired during our former extensive voyages, to be of any utility in preserving the health of seamen, was supplied in abundance.

It was our intention to have sailed to Long Reach on the 6th of May, when a pilot came on board to carry us thither; but it was the 29th before the wind would permit us to move; and the 30th before we arrived at that station, where our artillery, powder, shot, and other ordnance stores were received.

While we lay in Long Reach, thus employed, the Earl of Sandwich, Sir Hugh Palliser, and others of the Board of Admiralty, as the least mark of the very great attention they had all along shown to this equipment, paid us a visit on the 8th of June, to examine whether every thing had been completed conformably to their intentions and orders, and to the satisfaction of all who were to embark in the voyage.

They, and several other noblemen and gentlemen, their friends, honoured me with their company at dinner on that day; and, on their coming on board, and also on their going ashore, we saluted them with seventeen guns, and three cheers.

With the benevolent view of conveying some permanent benefit to the inhabitants of Otaheite, and of the other islands in the Pacific Ocean, whom we might happen to visit, his Majesty having commanded some useful animals to be carried out, we took on board, on the 10th, a bull, two cows with their calves, and some sheep, with hay and corn for their subsistence; intending to add to these, other useful animals, when I should arrive at the Cape of Good Hope.

I was also, from the same laudable motives, furnished with a sufficient quantity of such of our European garden seeds, as could not fail to be a valuable present to our newly-discovered islands, by adding fresh supplies of food to their own vegetable productions.

Many other articles, calculated to improve the condition of our friends in the other hemisphere in various ways, were, at the same time, delivered to us by order of the Board of Admiralty. And both ships were provided with a proper assortment of iron tools and trinkets, as the means of enabling us to traffic and to cultivate a friendly intercourse with the inhabitants of such new countries as we might be fortunate enough to meet with.

The same humane attention was extended to our own wants. Some additional clothing, adapted to a cold climate, was ordered for our crews: and nothing was denied to us, that could be supposed in the least conducive to health, or even to convenience.

Nor did the extraordinary care of those at the head of the naval department stop here. They were equally solicitous to afford us every assistance towards rendering our voyage of public utility. Accordingly, we received on board, next day, several astronomical and nautical instruments, which the Board of Longitude intrusted to me, and to Mr. King, my second lieutenant; we having engaged to that board to make all the necessary observations during the voyage, for the improvement of astronomy and navigation; and, by our joint labours, to supply the place of a professed observator. Such a person had been originally intended to be sent out in my ship.

The Board, likewise, put into our possession the same watch, or time-keeper, which I had carried out in my last voyage, and had performed its part so well. It was a copy of Mr. Harrison’s, constructed by Mr. Kendall. This day, at noon, it was found to be too slow for mean time at Greenwich, by 3ʹ, 31ʺ, 890; and by its rate of going, it lost on mean time, 1ʺ, 209 per day.

Another time-keeper, and the same number and sort of instruments for making observations, were put on board the Discovery, under the care of Mr. William Bailey; who, having already given satisfactory proofs of his skill and diligence as an observator, while employed in Captain Furneaux’s ship, during the late voyage, was engaged a second time, in that capacity, to embark with Captain Clerke.

Mr. Anderson, my surgeon, who, to skill in his immediate profession, added great proficiency in natural history, was as willing as he was qualified to describe every thing in that branch of science which should occur worthy of notice. As he had already visited the South Sea Islands in the same ship, and been of singular service, by enabling me to enrich my relation of that voyage with various useful remarks on men and things [75] , I reasonably expected to derive considerable assistance from him in recording our new proceedings.

I had several young men amongst my sea-officers who, under my direction, could be usefully employed in constructing charts, in taking views of the coasts and headlands near which we should pass, and in drawing plans of the bays and harbours in which we should anchor. A constant attention to this I knew to be highly requisite, if we would render our discoveries profitable to future navigators.

And, that we might go out with every help that could serve to make the result of our voyage entertaining to the generality of readers, as well as instructive to the sailor and scholar, Mr. Webber was pitched upon, and engaged to embark with me, for the express purpose of supplying the unavoidable imperfections of written accounts, by enabling us to preserve, and to bring home, such drawings of the most memorable scenes of our transactions, as could only be executed by a professed and skilful artist.

Every preparation being now completed, I received an order to proceed to Plymouth, and to take the Discovery under my command. I accordingly gave Captain Clerke two orders; one to put himself under my command, and the other to carry his ship round to Plymouth.

On the 15th, the Resolution sailed from Long Reach, with the Discovery in company, and the same evening they anchored at the Nore. Next day the Discovery proceeded, in obedience to my order; but the Resolution was ordered to remain at the Nore till I should join her, being at this time in London.

As we were to touch at Otaheite and the Society Islands, in our way to the intended scene of our fresh operations, it had been determined not to omit this opportunity (the only one ever likely to happen) of carrying Omai back to his native country. Accordingly, every thing being ready for our departure, he and I set out together from London on the 24th, at six o’clock in the morning. We reached Chatham between ten and eleven o’clock; and after dining with Commissioner Proby, he very obligingly ordered his yacht to carry us to Sheerness, where my boat was waiting to take us on board.

Omai left London with a mixture of regret and satisfaction. When we talked about England, and about those who, during his stay, had honoured him with their protection or friendship, I could observe that his spirits were sensibly affected, and that it was with difficulty he could refrain from tears. But, the instant the conversation turned to his own islands, his eyes began to sparkle with joy. He was deeply impressed with a sense of the good treatment he had met with in England, and entertained the highest ideas of the country and of the people. But the pleasing prospect he now had before him of returning home, loaded with what he well knew would be esteemed invaluable treasures there, and the flattering hope which the possession of these gave him, of attaining to a distinguished superiority amongst his countrymen, were considerations which operated by degrees to suppress every uneasy sensation; and he seemed to be quite happy when he got on board the ship.

He was furnished, by his Majesty, with an ample provision of every article which, during our intercourse with his country, we had observed to be in any estimation there, either as useful or as ornamental. He had, besides, received many presents of the same nature from Lord Sandwich, Mr. Banks [76] , and several other gentlemen and ladies of his acquaintance. In short, every method had been employed, both during his abode in England, and at his departure, to make him the instrument of conveying to the inhabitants of the islands of the Pacific Ocean, the most exalted opinion of the greatness and generosity of the British nation.

While the Resolution lay at the Nore, Mr. King made several observations for finding the longitude by the watch. The mean of them all gave O° 44ʹ Oʺ, for the longitude of the ship. This, reduced to Sheerness, by the bearing and estimated distance, will make that place to be O° 37ʹ Oʺ east of Greenwich; which is more by seven miles than Mr. Lyons made it, by the watch which Lord Mulgrave had with him, on his voyage towards the North Pole. Whoever knows any thing of the distance between Sheerness and Greenwich, will be a judge which of these two observations is nearest the truth.

The variation of the needle here, by a mean of different sets, taken with different compasses, was 20° 37ʹ west.

On the 25th, about noon, we weighed anchor, and made sail for the Downs, through the Queen’s Channel, with a gentle breeze at north-west by west. At nine in the evening we anchored, with the North Foreland bearing south by east, and Margate Point south-west by south.

Next morning, at two o’clock, we weighed and stood round the Foreland; and when it bore north, allowing for the variation of the compass, the watch gave 1° 24ʹ east longitude, which, reduced to the Foreland, will be 1° 21ʹ east. Lunar observations made the preceding evening, fixed it at 1° 20ʹ east. At eight o’clock the same morning, we anchored in the Downs. Two boats had been built for us at Deal, and I immediately sent on shore for them. I was told that many people had assembled there to see Omai; but to their great disappointment he did not land.

Having received the boats on board, and a light breeze at south south-east springing up, we got under sail the next day at two o’clock in the afternoon. But the breeze soon died away, and we were obliged to anchor again till ten o’clock at night. We then weighed, with the wind at east, and proceeded down the channel.

On the 30th, at three o’clock in the afternoon, we anchored in Plymouth Sound, where the Discovery had arrived only three days before. I saluted Admiral Amherst, whose flag was flying on board the Ocean, with thirteen guns, and he returned the compliment, with eleven.

It was the first object of our care, on arriving at Plymouth, to replace the water and provisions that we had expended, and to receive on board a supply of Port wine. This was the employment which occupied us on the 1st and 2d of July.

During our stay here, the crews were served with fresh beef every day: and I should not do justice to Mr. Ommanney, the agent-victualler, if I did not take this opportunity to mention, that he showed a very obliging readiness to furnish me with the best of every thing that lay within his department. I had been under the like obligations to him on my setting out upon my last voyage. Commissioner Ourry, with equal zeal for the service, gave us every assistance that we wanted from the naval yard.

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.