Captain James Cook, the greatest of our more modern discoverers, had in his early years undergone much hard service in the coal trade on the east coast of England. After entering the English naval service in 1755, he had greatly distinguished himself by the soundings he made of the St. Lawrence, so as to allow the English fleet to co-operate with General Wolfe against Quebec; and subsequently by his surveys of the coast of Newfoundland, during the government of Sir Hugh Palliser. In 1768 he was appointed to the command of the _Endeavour_, the main object in view being an observation of the transit of Venus over the sun’s disk, at the best place that could be selected for this purpose south of the line; and, on the advice of Captain Wallis, who had just returned from his voyage to the Pacific, the island of Otaheite was chosen, and Cook started for that place August 26th, 1768, accompanied by Mr. (afterwards Sir Joseph) Banks, and Dr. Solander, then the keeper of the Natural History in the British Museum. Having rounded the Horn Islands in thirty-four days, Cook held resolutely on his course, and in due time, reaching Otaheite, had the satisfaction of making with the utmost success the astronomical observations which were the main object of his expedition. During the three months’ stay of the expedition at Otaheite he surveyed the group of islands of which it is the most important, and gave to them the collective title of the “Society Islands.” Proceeding onwards to the west, he at length reached the north end of that _Terra Australis Incognita_, now known as New Zealand, which had been first touched at by Tasman in 1642. Here Cook met with a class of natives in every way superior to those whom he had seen anywhere else; with some knowledge of cultivation, and habits of cleanliness uncommon even among far more civilised people. Their language, too, as was shown by their freely conversing with a native Otaheitan who accompanied him, proved the common ancestry of the natives of the Pacific islands. Tasman did not land on New Zealand, but coasted the eastern side from 34° to 43° S. Lat. Cook showed further that there were really two principal islands, separated by a narrow channel, since justly named after him Cook’s Straits. Having circumnavigated New Zealand, he went on to Australia, striking its coasts very nearly at the same place where Tasman had been before him. But during a run of two thousand miles to the north, the natives were noticed to be very much below even those of the Society Islands, nor was their language intelligible. After a voyage of great danger between the coral-reefs to the north-east of the island, Cook reached the straits separating New Holland from New Guinea; and, formally taking possession of the enormous tract of land he had discovered, gave to it the name it still bears, of New South Wales. Thence he returned to England, by way of Batavia and the Cape of Good Hope, where he arrived, after an absence