WHITBY SHIPS AGAIN.

The two ships that were to be employed were probably selected in the Thames by Cook himself, and, like the good ship Endeavour, were built by Fishburn of Whitby, and purchased from Captain W. Hammond of Hull. The reasoning which guided Cook in his selection is thus laid down by him in his introduction to the account of the Second Voyage:

"The success of such undertakings as making discoveries in distant parts of the world, will principally depend on the preparations being well adapted to what ought to be the first consideration, namely, the preservation of the adventurers and ships; and this will chiefly depend on the kind, the size, and the properties of the ships chosen for the service. These primary considerations will not admit of any other, that may interfere with the necessary properties of the ships. Therefore, in chusing the ships, should any of the most advantageous properties be wanting, and the necessary room in them be, in any degree, diminished for less important purposes, such a step would be laying a foundation for rendering the undertaking abortive in the first instance. The ship must not be of great draught, but of sufficient capacity to carry a proper quantity of provisions and stores for the crew, and of such construction that she will bear to take the ground, and of such a size that she can be conveniently laid on shore if necessary for repairing any damages or defects, and these qualities are to be found in North Country built ships, such as are built for the coal trade, and in none other."

The larger of the two chosen was 462 tons, purchased for 4,151 pounds, and received into the Royal Navy under the name of the Drake. She was fitted as a sloop at Deptford, at a cost of 6,568 pounds (this sum, probably, covering both the original alterations which proved unsatisfactory and those made immediately before sailing), and at the time of her purchase was about fourteen months old. The second ship was of 336 tons, also fitted at Deptford as a sloop, was eighteen months old at time of purchase, cost 2,103 pounds, and was received under the name of Raleigh.

The complement of the Raleigh was eighty, but two additional carpenters' mates were added to each ship later on. Cook was also instructed not to bear, as was then usual, any servants on the books, but to enter A.B.s instead, and each officer who was entitled to a servant was "to be paid an allowance by Bill equal to the wages of the number of servants respectively allowed them."

On 25th December the names of the two ships were changed, the Drake becoming the Resolution, and the Raleigh the Adventure. The lieutenants appointed to the Resolution were Robert Pallisser Cooper, Charles Clerke, and Richard Pickersgill, and Mr. Tobias Furneaux, Commander, and Joseph Shank first lieutenant, of the Adventure. Of these officers Cook writes:

"I had all the reason in the World to be perfectly satisfied with the choice of the officers. The Second and Third Lieutenants, the Lieutenant of Marines, two of the Warrant officers, and several of the Petty officers had been with me during the former voyage. The others were men of known abilities, and all of them on every occasion showed their zeal for the service in which they were employed during the whole voyage."