XXKli I N T R O D U C T I O N .
-Oil your arrival at the Cape of Good Hope, you are to refrejh the Jloops companies,
and to cauje the Jloops to be Jupplied with as much provifons and water
as they can conveniently flow. *
You are, i f pojftble, to leave the Cape of Good Hope by the end of Oflober,
or the beginning of November next, and proceed to the' Southward in fearch of
fopie ijlands /aid to have been lately feen by the French, in the latitudeof-nftf o'
South, and about the meridian of Mauritius. In cafe you find thofe ijlands,
you are to examine them thoroughly for a good harbour; and upon dif covering
one, make the necejfary objervations to facilitate the finding it again; as a good
port, in that fituation, may hereafter prove very ufeftll, although it Jhould
afford little or nothing more than Jhelter, wood, and water. You are not,
however, to Jpend too much time in looking out. for thffe ijlands, or in the exa-
minatiob of them, i f found, but proceed to Otaheite, or the Society IJles
( touching at New Zealand in your way. thither, i f you Jhould judge it necejfary
and convenient), and taking care to arrive there time enough to admit of your
giving the Jloops companies the refrejhment they may fiand in need of, before
you profecute the farther objeSt of thefe hiJlruSions.-
Upon your arrival at Otaheite, or the Society IJles, you are to land Omiah
at fuch of them as be may chooje, and to leave him there.
■ You are to dijlribute among the Chiefs of thofe i/lands'fuch part of the pre -
Jents with which you have been Jupplied, as you Jhall judge proper, rejerving
the remainder to dijlribute among the natives o f the countries you may dif cover
in the Northern Hemijphere: And having refrejhed the people belonging to the
Jloops under your command, and taken on board fuch-wood and .water as they
may refpebtively Jland in need of,’you are to leave'thofe ijlands in the beginning
of February, or fooner i f you Jhall judge it necejfary, and then proceed in as
direii a courje as you can to the coaft of New Albion, endeavouring to fa ll in
with it in the latitude-of 45^ o' North; and taking care, in your way .thithers
not to lofe any time in fearch of new lands, or to flop at any you may fa ll in
with, unlejs you find it necejfary to recruit your wood and water. •
You are alfo,- in your way thither, Jlriblly enjoined not to touch upon any
part o f the. Spanijh dominions on the Weftern continent of America, unlejs
driven thither; by fame unavoidable accident; in which cafe you are to flay no
longer there than Jhall be abjolutely necejfary, and. to be verysareful not to
give any umbrage or offence .to any of the inhabitants or fubjeffs of his Catholic
Majefty. And if, in your farther progrefs to the Northward, as hereafter
direiled, you find any fubjeUs of any European Prince or State upon any part
pf the foafiyou may think proper to vifit, you are not to difiurb them, or give
them
I N T R O D U C T I O N . x x x iii
them any jufi caufe of offence, but, on the contrary, to treat them with civility
and friend/hip.
Upon your arrival on the coaft of New Albion, you are to put into the firfi
convenient port to recruit your wood and water, and procure refrejhments, and
then to proceed Northward along the coaft, as far as the. latitude of 65°, or
farther, i f you are not obftrubled by lands or ice; taking care not to lofe any
time in exploring rivers or inlets, or upon any other account, until you get into
the before-mentioned latitude of (>$°, where we could wifh you., to arrive in the
month of June next. When you get that length, you are very carefully to
fearch for, and to explore, fuch rijjejj jr ..M g s as may appear to be of a con-
fiderable extent, and pointing towards Hudfon’s or Baffin’s Bays; and if,
from your own objervations, or from any information you may receive from the
natives ( who, there is reafon to believe, are the fame race of people, and/peak
the fame language, of which you are furnijhed with a Vocabulary, as the Ef-
quimaux), there Jhall appear to be a certainty, or, even a probability, of a
water paffage into the afore-mentioned bays, or either of them, you are, in fuch
cafe, to uje your utmoft endeavours to pajs through with one or both of the
Jloops, unlejs you Jhall be of opinion that the paffage may be effected with.more
certainty, or with greater probability, by fmaller veffelsy in which cafe you
are to Jet up the frames of one or both the Jmall veffels with which you are
provided, and, when they are put together, and are properly fitted, ftored
and viliualled, you are to difpatch one or both of them, under the care of proper
officers, with ajufficient number of petty officers, men, and boats, in order
to attempt the faid paffage y with fuch inftrublioris for their rejoining you, i f
they Jhould fail, or for their farther proceedings, i f they Jhouldfucceed in the
attempt, as you Jhall judge moft proper. But, neverthelefs, i f you Jhall find it
more eligible to purfue any other meafures than thofe above pointed out, in order
to make a difcovery of the before-mentioned paffage- ( i f any fuch there be), -
you are at liberty, and we leave it to your difcretion, to purfue fuch meafures
accordingly.
In cafe you Jhall be Jatisfied that there is no paffage through to the above-
mentioned bays, Jufficient for the purpofes of navigation, you are, at the proper
feffon of the year, to repair to the port of St. Peter an<j St. Paul in Kamtf-
chatka, or wherever elje you Jhall judge more proper, in order to refrejh your
people and pajs the Winter j and, in the Spring of the enfuing year 1.778, to
proceed from thence to the Northward, as far as, in your prudence, you may
thmk proper, in further fearch of q North Eaft, or North Weft paffage, from
the Pacific Ocean into the Atlantic Ocean., or the North Sea: and if, from
V o l . I. „
c your