profecuting difcoveries in that part of the globe. From this period, as his fervices are too well known to require a recital here, fo his reputation has proportionably advanced to a height too great to be affected by my panegyrick. Indeed, he appears to have been moft eminently and peculiarly qualified for this fpecies of enterprize. The earliest habits of his life, the courfe of his fervices, and the conftant application of his mind, all confpired to fit him for it, and give him a degree of profeffional knowledge, which can fall to the lot of very few. The conflitution of his body was robuft, inured to labour, and capable of undergoing the fevereft hardfhips. His ftomach bore, with out difficulty, the coarsest and most ungrateful food. Indeed, tempeIndeed, temperance in him was fcarcely a virtue; fo great was the indifference with which he fubmitted to every kind of felf-denial. The quali ties of his mind were of the fame hardy, vigorous kind with thofe of his body. His understanding was Atrong and perfpicuous. His judgment, in whatever related to the fervices he was engaged in, quick and fure. His defigns were bold and manly; and both in the conception, and in the mode of execu tion, bore evident marks of a great original genius. His courage was cool and determined, and accompanied with an admirable prefence of mind in the moment of danger. His manners were plain and unaffected. His temper might perhaps have been justly blamed, as fubject to haltinefs and paffion, had not thefe been difarmed by a difpofition the most benevolent and humane, Such were the outlines of Captain Cook's character; but its moft diftinguishing feature was, that unremitting perfeverence in the purfuit of his object, which was not only fuperior to the oppofition of dangers, and the preffure of hardfhips, but even exempt from the want of ordinary relaxation. During the long and tedious voyages in which he was engaged, his eagerness and activity were never in the leaft abated. No incidental temptation could detain him for a moment; even thofe intervals of recreation, which fometimes unavoidably oc. curred, and were looked for by us with a longing, that perfons, who have experienced the fatigues of fervice, will readily excufe, were fubmitted to by him with a certain impatience, whenever they could not be employed in making further provifion for the more effectual profecution of his defigns. It is not neceffary, here, to enumerate the inftances in which thefe qualities were displayed, during the great and important enterprizes in which he was engaged. I fhall content myfelf with ftating the refult of thofe fervices, under the two principal heads to which they may he referred, thofe of geography ard navigation, placing each in a separate and diftinct point of view. Perhaps no fcience ever received greater additions from the labours of a fingle man, than geography has done from thofe of Captain Cook. In his firft voyage to the South Seas, he discovered the ftraits which feparared the two islands, and are called after his name; and made a complete furvey of both. He afterwards explored the Eastern coast of New Holland, hitherto unknown; an extent of twenty-seven degrees of of latitude, or upwards of two thoufand miles. In his fecond expedition, he refolved the great problem of a Southern continent; having traverfed that hemifphere between the latitudes of 40 and 70°, in fuch a manner, as not to leave a poffibility of its existence, unless near the pole, and out of the reach of navigation. During this voyage, he difcovered New Caledonia, the largest island in the Southern Pacific, except New Zealand; the island of Georgia; and an unknown coaft, which he named Sandwich Land, the thule of the Southern hemifphere; and having twice vifited the tropical feas, he fettled the fituations of the old, and made feveral new difcoveries. But the voyage we are now relating, is diftinguished, above all the reft, by the extent and importance of its difcoveries. Befides feveral smaller islands in the Southern Pacific, he discovered, to the North of the equinoctial line, the group called the Sandwich Islands; which, from their fituation and productions, bid fairer for becoming an object of confequence, in the fyftem of European navigation, than any other discovery in the South Sea. He afterwards explored what had hitherto remained unknown of the Western coast of America, from the latitude of 43° to 70° North, containing an extent of three thoufand five hundred miles; afcertained the proximity of the two great continents of Afia and America; paffed the traits between them, and fur. veyed the coaft on each fide, to fuch a height of northern latitude, as to demonftrate the impracticability of a paffage, in that hemifphere, from the Atlantic into the Pacific ocean, either by an Eastern or a Weftern courfe. In fhort, if we except the fea of Amur, and the Japanese Ar. chipelago, which ftill remain inperfectly known to Europeans, he has completed the hydrography of the habitable globe. As a navigator, his fervices were not perhaps lefs fplendid; certainly not lefs important and meritorious. The method which he discovered, and to fuccefsfully purfued, of pre. ferving the health of feamen, forms a new æra in navigation, and will tranfmit his name to future ages, amongst the friends and benefactors of mankind. Those who are converfant in naval hiftory, need not be told, at how dear a rate the advantages which have been fought through the medium of long voyages at fea, have always been purchased. That dreadful diforder which is peculiar to this fervice, and whofe ravages have marked the tracks of difcoveries with circumftances almost too shocking to relate, muft, without exerci. fing an unwarrantable tyranny over the lives of our feamen, have proved an infuperable obftacle to the profe. cution of fuch enterprizes. It was referved for Captain Cook, to fhew the world, by repeated trials, that voyages might be protracted to the unufual length of three or even four years, in unknown regions, and under every change and rigour of climate, not only without affecting the health, but even without diminish. ing the probability of life in the fmallest degree. The method he purfued has been fully explained by himself, in a paper which was read before the Royal Society, in the year 1776*: and whatever improve * Sir Godfrey Copley's gold medal was adjudged to him, on that occasion. ment, ment, the experience of the prefent voyages has fuggefted, are mention ed in their proper places. With respect to his profeffional abilities, I fhall leave them to the judgment of those who are best acquainted with the nature of the fervices in which he was engaged. They will readily acknowledge, that to have conducted three expeditions of fo much danger and dif. ficulty, of fo unusual a length, and in fuch a variety of fituation, with uniform and invariable success, must have required not only a thorough and accurate knowledge of his bufiness, but a powerful and compre. henfive genius, fruitful in refources, and equally ready in the application of whatever the higher and inferior calls of the fervice required. Having given the most faithful account 1 have been able to collect, both from my own obfervation, and the relation of others, of the death of my ever honoured friend, and also of his character and fervices; I fhall now leave his memory to the gratitude and admiration of pofterity; accepting, with a melancholy fatisfaction, the honour, which the lofs of him hath procured me, of feeing my name joined with his; and of teftifying that affection and refpect for his memory, which, whilft he lived, it was no less my inclination, than my conftant ftudy, to fhew him." and are capable of bearing great fatigue; though, upon the whole, the men are fomewhat inferior, in point of ftrength and activity, to the Friendly iflanders, and the women lefs delicately limbed than thofe of Otaheite. Their complexion is rather darker than that of the Otaheiteans, and they are not altogether fo handfome a people. However, many of both fexes had fine open countenances; and the women, in particular, had good eyes and teeth, and a sweetness and fenfibility of look, which rendered them very engaging. Their hair is of a brownish black, and neither uniformly ftraight, like that of the Indians of America, nor uniformly curling, as amongst the African negrees, but varying, in this refpect, like the hair of Europeans. One ftriking peculiarity, in the feature of every part of this great nation, I do not remember to have feen any where mentioned; which is, that, even in the handsomeft faces, there is always a fulness of the noftril, without any flatnefs or fpreading of the nofe, that diftinguishes them from Europeans. It is not improbable that this may be the effect of their ufual mode of falutation, which is performed by preffing the ends of their noses together. Notwithstanding the irreparable lofs we fuffered from the fudden refentment and violence of these people, yet, in juftice to their general conduct, it must be acknowledged, that they are of the most mild and affectionate difpofition; equally remote from the extreme levity and ficklenefs of the Otaheiteans, and the diftant gravity and reserve of the inhabitants of the Friendly Iflands. They appear to live in the utmost harmony and * Viz. in the death of Captain Cook. friendship friendship with one another. The women, who had children, were remarkable for their tender and conftant attention to them; and the men would often lend their affift. ance in thofe domeftic offices, with a willingness that does credit to their feelings. It muft, however, be obferved, that they fall very fhort of the other iflanders, in that beft teft of civilization, the refpect paid to the women. Here they are not only deprived of the privilege of eating with the men, but the best forts of food are tabooed, or forbidden them. They are not allowed to eat pork, turtle, feveral kinds of fish, and some fpecies of the plantains; and we are told that a poor girl got a terrible beating, for having eaten on board our ship, one of thefe interdicted articles. In their domeftic life, they appear to live almost en tirely by themfelves, and though 'we did not observe any inftances of perfonal ill-treatment, yet it was evident that they had little regard or attention paid them. The great hofpitality and kindnefs, with which we were received by them, have been already frequently remarked; and indeed they make the principal part of our tranfactions with them. Whenever we came on fhore, there was a conflant fruggle who fhould be most forward in making us little prefents, bringing refreshments, or fhewing fome other mark of their refpect. The old people never failed of re, ceiving us with tears of joy; feemed highly gratified with being allowed to touch us, and were conftantly making comparifons between them felves and us, with the strongest marks of humility. The young women were not lets kind and engaging, and, till they found, not withstanding our utmost endeavour to prevent it, that they had reafon to repent of our acquaintance, a tached themfelves to us without the leaft reserve. In juftice, however, to the fex, it must be obferved, that thefe ladies were probably all of the lower clafs of the people; for I am strongly inclined to believe, that, excepting the few, whofe names are mentioned in the courfe of our narrative, we did not fee any woman of rank during our ftay among them. Their natural capacity feems, in no refpe&t, below the common ftandard of mankind. Their improve ments in agriculture, and the perfection of their manufactures, are certainly adequate to the circum ftances of their fituation, and the natural advantages they enjoy. The eager curiofity, with which they attended the armourer's forge, and the many expedients they had in vented, even before we left the iflands, for working the iron they had procured from us, into fuch forms as were best adapted to their purposes, were ftrong proofs of do cility and ingenuity." cuftomed to die with a black colour*. tion, without forgetting that the was not born to that dignity. The following anecdotes will prove that the bore her elevation meekly; and was never, as Gordon afferts, forgetful of her former condition. When Wurmb, who had been tutor to Gluck's children at the time that Catharine was a domeftick in that clergyman's family, prefented himself before her after her mar riage with Peter had been publickly folemnized, the recollected and addreffed him with great complacency, "What, thou good man, art thou "Atill alive! I will provide for "thee." And the accordingly fet. tled upon him a penfion. She alfo was no lefs attentive to the family of her benefactor Gluck, who died a prifoner at Mofcow: the penfioned his widow; made his fon a page; portioned the two eldest daughters; and advanced the youngest to be one of her maids of honour. If we may believe Webers, the frequently enquired after her first husband, and when the lived with prince Menzikof, ufed fecretly to fend him finall fums of money, until, in 1705, he was killed in a skirmish with the Bufching fays, "Ihr fchwarzes haar war nicht natuerlich sondern gefaerbt," &c. Hift. Mag. vol. iii. p. 190. "Her black hair was not natural, but coloured. On her first rife the coarfe "nefs of her hands proved, that he had been used to hard labour, but they "gradually grew whiter and whiter." Thefe circumstances we may readily believe, becaule the lady from whom Bufching received the information could eatly know whether Catharine's hair was black, or her hands coarse, although fhe might be deceived in what relates to her family. + Baffevits fays, "Elle n'apprit jamais à écrire. La princeffe Elizabeth figna tout pour elle, quand elle fût fur le trône, même fon teftament." p. 295. The Auftrian minifter fays, count Olterman used to sign her name to all the dispatches. Buf. xi. p. 481. "Son époule était avec lui étalant, conformément à la volonté du mo"narque, la pompe impériale, qui le genait, et la foutenant avec un air furprenant de grandeur et d'ailance. Le czar ne pouvait fè laffer d'admirer les "talens qu'elle puffedait, felon fon expreffion, de fe créer imperatrice, fans "oublier qu'elle ne le naquit point." Baffevitz in Buf. p. 338. Life of Peter, vol. iii. p. 258. enemy. |