ancement in civilisation was
entirely superficial, and who had imbibed no religious principles, was
to be restored to his country, under the foolish notion that he would
convey to the islanders of the Pacific an exalted idea of the "greatness
and majesty of the British nation," as a writer of the day expresses it.

A very brief sketch of this voyage can alone be given. The two ships
sailed from Plymouth on the 12th of July, 1776, and reached the Cape of
Good Hope on the 10th of November. Again sailing on the 3rd of
December, they sighted Marion and the Crozet Islands, and coasted along
Kerguelen's Land, which was found to be an island, desolate and sterile
in the extreme. On the 24th of January they anchored in Adventure Bay,
on the coast of Van Diemen's Land. A few natives appeared, whose only
weapons were pointed sticks, and who were black and perfectly naked.
Sailing on the 30th of January, the ships reached Queen Charlotte's
Sound in New Zealand on the 12th of the next month. The natives were
somewhat shy, fearing that Cook had come to punish them for the murder
of the boat's crew belonging to the _Adventure_. Some of those who had
not taken part in it urged him to do so; but, as he remarks, "the
natives of one part were constantly requesting him to destroy their
neighbours--indeed, the tribes were living in a state of warfare among
each other."

Leaving Queen Charlotte's Sound, Mangeea was reached, a pleasing fertile
island, and beyond it another called Wateea, a spot of great beauty,
diversified by hills and plains. The inhabitants were in general
remarkably handsome, and were of the same race as those of the Society
Islands. Thence a course was steered for Hervey Island, seen on the
previous voyage. Though then supposed not to be inhabited, several
canoes came off, carrying men of a somewhat darker hue and a more fierce
and warlike aspect than the natives of Mangeea, though probably of the
same race.

On the passage to the Friendly Islands, the ships called off Palmerston
Island, where scurvy-grass, palm-cabbages, and fodder for the animals
and birds, and cocoa-nuts for the crew, were obtained.

Passing Savage Island on the 1st of May, they dropped anchor at
Annamooka. Here Cook made the acquaintance of Feenon, who, though then
only a tributary, afterwards became lord of the whole group. By his
means an abundant supply of provisions of all sorts was obtained.
Feenon and another chief, Omai, accompa