to the rank of lieutenant in
the Royal Navy. He had long been a gentleman in heart and conduct; he
was now raised to the social position of one by the King's commission.

From this point in his career Cook's history as a great navigator and
discoverer began. We shall now follow him more closely in his brilliant
course over the world of waters. He was about forty years of age at
this time; modest and unassuming in manners and appearance; upwards of
six feet high, and good-looking, with quick piercing eyes and brown
hair, which latter he wore, according to the fashion of the time, tied
behind in a pig-tail. It was not until the end of his first voyage that
he was promoted to the rank of captain.

CHAPTER TWO.

SHOWS WHAT MEN WILL DO AND DARE IN THE CAUSE OF SCIENCE.

Men who study the stars tell us strange and wonderful things--things
that the unlearned find it hard to understand, and harder still to
believe, yet things that we are now as sure of as we are of the fact
that two and two make four!

There was a time when men said that the sun moved round the earth; and
very natural it was in men to say so, for, to the eye of sense, it looks
as if this were really the case. But those who study the stars have
found out that the earth moves round the sun--a discovery which has been
of the greatest importance to mankind--though the importance thereof
cannot be fully understood except by scientific men.

Among other difficult things, these astronomers have attempted to
measure the distance of the sun, moon, and stars from our earth.
Moreover, they have tried to ascertain the exact size of these celestial
lights, and they have, to a considerable extent, been successful in
their efforts. By their complicated calculations, the men who study the
stars can tell the exact day, hour, and minute when certain events will
happen, such as an eclipse of the sun or of the moon.

Now, about the year 1768 the attention of the scientific world was
eagerly turned to an event which was to take place in the following
year. This was the passage of the planet Venus across the face of the
sun. Astronomers term this the _Transit of Venus_. It happens very
seldom: it occurred in 1769, but not again till 1874, and 1882. By
observing this passage--this transit--of Venus across the sun from
different parts of our earth, it was hoped that such information could
be obtained as would enable us to measure not only the distance of the
sun