have been made o f the whole, without invading the right
o f each navigator to appropriate the relation o f what he
had feen : thefe repetitions however taken together will be
found to fill but a few pages of the book.
That no doubt might remain of the fidelity with which I
have related the events recorded in my materials, the manu-
fcript account of each voyage was read to the refpe&ive
Commanders at the Admiralty, by the appointment o f Lord
Sandwich, who was himfelf prefent during much the great-
eft part o f the time. The account o f the voyage o f the Endeavour
was alfo read to Mr. Banks and Dr. Solandcr, in
whofe hands, as well as in thofe o f Captain Cook, the manu-
fcript was left for a confiderable time after the reading.
Commodore Byron alfo, Captain Wallis and Captain Carteret,
had the manufcripts o f their refpedlive voyages to perufe,
after they had been read at the Admiralty in their prefence,
and fuch emendations as they fuggefted were made. In
order thus to authenticate the voyage o f Captain Cook, the
account o f it was firft written* becaufe it was expedted when
his journal was put into my hands, that he would have
failed on the voyage he is now making in lefs than five
months.
.It will probably be thought by many Readers, that I have
related the nautical events too minutely ; but it mull be remembered,
that minutely to relate thefe events was the
great object o f the work. It was in particular thought ne-
ceffary to infert the lituation o f the Ihip at different hours or
the day, with the bearings of different parts o f tire land
while flie was navigating feas, and examining Ihores that
hitherto have been altogether unknown, in order to afeer-
tain her track more minutely than could be done in any
chart, however large the fcale, and to deferibe with critical
2 exadtnefs
i vii
exadlnefs the bays, headlands, and other irregularities of
the coaft; the appearance o f the country, its hills, vallies,
mountains, and woods, with the depth o f water, and every
other particular that might enable future navigators eafily
to find, and fafely to vifit every part of it. I was not indeed
myfelf fufficiently apprifed of the minutenefs that was ne-
ceffary in this part o f the work, fo that I was obliged to make
many additions to it, after I had prepared my manufeript.
It is however hoped, that thofe who read merely for entertainment
will be compenfated by the defeription of countries
which no European had before vifited, and manners
which in many inftances exhibit a new picture o f human
life. In this part, the relation o f little circumftances requires
no apology, for it is from little circumftances that the
relation o f great events derives its power over the mind. An
account that ten thoufand men perifhed in a battle, that
twice the number were fwallowed up by an earthquake, or
that a whole nation was fwept away by a peftilence,'is read
in the naked brevity of an index, without the leaft emotion,
by thofe who feel themfelves ftrongly interefted even for
Pamela, the imaginary heroine o f a novel that is remarkable
for the enumeration o f particulars in themfelves fo trifling,
that we almoft wonder how they could occur to the author’s
mind.
This work is illuftrated and adorned by a great number
o f cuts, from which every clafs o f readers, whether their
objedt is knowlege or pleafure, will find equal advantage,
as they confift not only of maps and charts, drawn with
great fkill and attention, but of views and figures, defigned
and executed by the belt artifts in this country.
The mod effedtual way to prevent obfeurity and confufion
in relating events, is to range them in order of time, which
b 3 however