him from taking any further notice o f Captain Cook’s conduit
or opinions : this Gentleman is certainly unfortunate
in his partialities| with refpect to himfelf, he refents as illiberal,
not only an infinuation that he is miftaken, but the mere
naming him without commendation : with refpeftto Captain
Cook, who is univerfally allowed, except perhaps by Mr.
Dalrymple, to be as good an officer and as able a navigator as
the world has ever feen, he thinks himfelf at liberty to in-
finuate that, if I have not foifted in a paffage to difgrace
ïiim, his conduct and opinions fcarcely deferve notice : Captain
Cook, as his àccufer well knows, is abfènt, and cannot
anfwer for himfelf ; I mull therefore inform him, firft, that
the declaration in queftion was not foifted in by me, every
word o f it in the fame order being in Captain Cookes journal;
and fecondly, that Captain Cook’s firft and principal
bbjedl being to obferve the Tranfit o f Venus at Otaheite, he
was juftified in not fpendiiig time upon another object before
he got thither, as a very fmâll dégrée of fagacity would
have difcovered, without foreign aflaftance.
th is Gentleman chargés me with ihconfiftehcy in faying,
firft, that the nautical events were minutely related, to afcer-
"tai'n the fliip’s track more minutely than could be done on any
chart however lafge ihe Kale s arid afterwards, that i f any
’difference ffiould be difcoverëd between the narrative and
'the charts, the charts ffiould be confided in; but fufëly the
narrative might in general afcertain the track more minutely
than the chart,'and ÿét poffibly admit a particular mif-
take which' the chart might cdrredh
;Ile mentions the fd liow ih g'ïifagreèmérits between the
charts and narfatives’:
Voî.“l."p.:577. line i. « Ebro’s Point,” there is no fuch
1 Point in the Chart, it féêiüs to'he wîiat is called Howard's
8 Point
Point in the Chart. P. 582. line 4 from bottom, “ Kep-
“ pells Ifland'' there is no fuch ifland in the Chart; it is
there called Swallow's Ifland. P. 587. 1. *i-. “ Winchelfla's
« Ifland" is named in thé Chart Lord Anfons Ifland, and is
laid down S. inftead of S. by E. from Sir Charles Hardy's
Ifland-, this appears to be the ifland Bougainville calls
Bouka. P. 595- laft line, “ Duke of Tork’s Ifland" is called
I. Man in Chart. P. 596. M 1«. “ Ifle of Man," which is
the little ifland off C. Stephens, has no name in the
Chart.”
For thefe differences whether trifling or important I am
not anfwerable; the charts as I am informed were laid down
by the feveral Commanders, or with their concurrence, from
duplicates of the very papers from which I was at the fame
time drawing up the narrative. I can anfwer for the fidelity
of the narrative, and to fee that the charts were faithful
was not my province j feveral of them I never faw, nor indeed
fcould fee, till the book was nearly printed off, becauie
they were not fooner finiffied; for that, in particular, in which
the difagreements with the narrative that he has noted occur,
the publication of the work was delayed -feveral weeks.
It is remarkable, that in the firft line Of the paragraph
which points out miftakes in the references of the text to
the chart, Mr. Dalrymple has Ihewn his own fallibility by a
miftake W his reference to my book; inftead o f line theflrfl,
it ffiould have been line the eleventh.
That I Mr. Banks is in poffeffion of many views of the
“ land feen in the Endeavour’s Voyage which convey a more
I exaft appearance of the country than any words poffibly
“ can,” maybe true; but does it therefore .follow that I
am in fault becaufe engravings were not made from therm
It .was-left to better judges tofe ie ft the drawings, and, I did