plorer was now forty-eight, he was as eager for
active adventure as a youth of twenty. He had settled the question
of a southern continent. Now when the question of the North-West
Passage came up again, he offered his services to Lord Sandwich, first
Lord of the Admiralty, and was at once accepted. It was more than two
hundred years since Frobisher had attempted to solve the mystery,
which even Cook--the first navigator of his day--with improved ships
and better-fed men, did not succeed in solving. He now received his
secret instructions, and, choosing the old _Resolution_ again, he set
sail in company with Captain Clerke on board the _Discovery_ in the
year 1776 for that voyage from which there was to be no return. He
was to touch at New Albion (discovered by Drake) and explore any rivers
or inlets that might lead to Hudson's or Baffin's Bay.

After once more visiting Tasmania and New Zealand, he made a prolonged
stay among the Pacific Islands, turning north in December 1777. Soon
after they had crossed the line, and a few days before Christmas, a
low island was seen on which Cook at once landed, hoping to get a fresh
supply of turtle. In this he was not disappointed. Some three hundred,
"all of the green kind and perhaps as good as any in the world," were
obtained; the island was named Christmas Island, and the _Resolution_
and _Discovery_ sailed upon their way. A few days later they came upon
a group of islands hitherto unknown. These they named after the Earl
of Sandwich, the group forming the kingdom of Hawaii--the chief island.
Natives came off in canoes bringing pigs and potatoes, and ready to
exchange fish for nails. Some were tempted on board, "the wildness
of their looks expressing their astonishment." Anchorage being found,
Cook landed, and as he set foot on shore a large crowd of natives pressed
forward and, throwing themselves on their faces, remained thus till
Cook signed to them to rise.

[Illustration: CAPIAIN JAMES COOK. From the painting by Dance in the
gallery of Greenwich Hospital.]

With a goodly supply of fresh provisions, Cook sailed away from the
Sandwich Islands, and after some five weeks' sail to the north the
"longed-for coast of New Albion was seen." The natives of the country
were clad in fur, which they offered for sale. They exacted payment
for everything, even for the wood and water that the strangers took
from their shores. The weather was cold and stormy, and the progress
of the litt