other died, Tupia among others, and so many
were weakened with fever that only twenty officers and men were left
on duty at one time.

Glad, indeed, they were to leave at Christmas time, and gladder still
to anchor in the Downs and to reach London after their three years'
absence. The news of his arrival and great discoveries seems to have
been taken very quietly by those at home. "Lieutenant Cook of the Navy,"
says the _Annual Register_ for 1771, "who sailed round the globe, was
introduced to His Majesty at St. James's, and presented to His Majesty
his _Journal_ of his voyage, with some curious maps and charts of
different places that he had drawn during the voyage; he was presented
with a captain's commission."

CHAPTER XLVI

COOK'S THIRD VOYAGE AND DEATH

Although the importance of his discoveries was not realised at this
time, Cook was given command of two new ships, the _Resolution_ and
_Adventure_, provisioned for a year for "a voyage to remote parts,"
a few months later. And the old _Endeavour_ went back to her collier
work in the North Sea.

Perhaps a letter written by Cook to a friend at Whitby on his return
from the second voyage is sufficient to serve our purpose here; for,
though the voyage was important enough, yet little new was discovered.
And after spending many months in high latitudes, Cook decided that
there was no great southern continent to the south of New Holland and
New Zealand.

"DEAR SIR,"--he writes from London in September 1775--"I now sit down
to fulfil the promise I made you to give you some account of my last
voyage. I left the Cape of Good Hope on 22nd November 1772 and proceeded
to the south, till I met with a vast field of ice and much foggy weather
and large islets or floating mountains of ice without number. After
some trouble and not a little danger, I got to the south of the field
of ice; and after beating about for some time for land, in a sea strewed
with ice, I crossed the Antarctic circle and the same evening (17th
January 1773) found it unsafe, or rather impossible, to stand farther
to the south for ice.

"Seeing no signs of meeting with land in these high latitudes, I stood
away to the northward, and, without seeing any signs of land, I thought
proper to steer for New Zealand, where I anchored in Dusky Bay on 26th
March and then sailed for Queen Charlotte's Sound. Again I put to sea
and stood to the south, where I met with nothing but ice and excessive
cold