There is no doubt that the Government of the time earnestly
desired the success of the voyage and exhibited its interest therein
by amending the Act of Parliament of 1745, which offered a reward
of twenty thousand pounds for the discovery of a Northwest Passage.
That act had applied only to the ships of private owners, and it was
stipulated therein that the reward was to be paid only to such ships
as should discover a passage opening into Hudson Bay. A new law 

76 BRITISH COLUMBIA 

was passed extending the operation of the former act to ships of the
Royal Navy, and providing that the passage by sea between the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans might be sought for in any direction or
paralled above the 52nd degree of north latitude. It was also en-
acted that any ship approaching within one degree of the North
Pole should be entitled to a reward of five thousand pounds. It is
safe to conclude, therefore, that Captain Cook's new enterprise was
considered of more than ordinary importance. 

Cook's own words may be quoted in proof of the interest shown
by those high in authority. Under the date of Saturday, 8th of June,
1776, the following entry appears in his journal: "The Earl of
Sandwich, Sir Hugh Palliser, and others of the Board of Admiralty
paid us the last mark of the extraordinary attention they had all
along paid to this equipment, by coming on board to see that every-
thing was compleated to their desire and to the satisfaction of all
who were to embark in the voyage. They and several other noble-
men and gentlemen honoured me with their Company at dinner
and were saluted with 17 guns and 3 cheers at their coming on board
and also on going ashore." 

On the 9th day of February, 1776, H. M. S. Resolution was com-
missioned for the voyage. On the following day Cook went on board,
hoisted his pennant and began to enroll his men. At the same time
the Discovery, a small vessel of three hundred tons, was purchased
and placed in command of Captain Clerke, who had been Second
Lieutenant of the Resolution on Cook's second voyage. Four months
were consumed in fitting out the vessels for their long voyage, and
it was not until June that they sailed for Plymouth, the Resolution
anchoring at the Nore to wait for Captain Cook, who was then in
London in consultation with the Admiralty. The Resolution sailed
from the Nore at noon on the 25th of June and three days later
dropped anchor in Plymouth Sound, whither the Discovery had
preceded her. On the 8th of July the secret instructions already
mentioned were received and on the 12th at eight in the evening the
vessels weighed anchor and stood out of the Sound. Lieutenant
James King, F. R. S., accompanied Cook in the Resolution, and it
was this officer who continued the narrative of the expedition from
the time of Cook's death to its conclusion. He also prepared a brief
sketch of the famous navigator's life and career and tragic death,
which is referred to later on in this chapter. 

1 

1 

2 

,T 

^1 

'1 

I 

1 ■ 

r
t 

PHOTOGl^APH OF MODEL OF H. M. S. "EESOLUTION" NOW IN WHITBY MUSEIIxM 

From a Pencil Drawing by John Webber, R. A. 

H. M. S. "EBSOLUTION," IN NOOTKA SOUND, CAPTAIN JAMES COOK, 

COMMANDER

CHAPTER V 

CAPTAIN JAMES COOK 

In 1780 all that was known of the northwest coast was contained
• in the meagre reports of the expeditions of the Spaniards, Perez,
Martinez, Heceta, Bodega y Quadra and Maurelle. Gradually,
I however, the lines of exploration converged towards that untravelled
; land that had hitherto defied all efforts to fathom its mystery. As
I a matter of fact the western slope of the North American continent
! — from the ramparts of the Rocky Mountains, to the islands that
I guard the continental coastline — was among the last of the Ameri-
can territories to be conquered by the explorer. Here and there a
i corner of the veil had been lifted by Russian and Spaniard, but it
iwas not dreamed that behind it lay immeasurable potential wealth
in vast forests, rolling plateaux, fertile valleys, and unfathomed mines
of gold and silver. Glimpses of it had been caught, but as through
a glass darkly. And that was all. 

I Now, a new force was to be directed to the far northwest coast;
and novel and discordant elements were to enter into the discussions
concerning it. Unknown though it then was, with limits still unde-
fined, the Pacific slope .was destined within a few vears to come
within the purview of European diplomacy, and to be a conspicu-
ous feature in the zone of international politics. 

The desire for knowledge of new lands and seas, which had found
expression during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in the ardu-
ous and successful exertions of mariners and travellers, gradually
subsided and had lain for a time dormant; but it was revived in
Great Britain in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, when
the English navigators of that age emulated the achievements of
'earlier generations. Of the names associated with this revival of
maritime enterprise, that of Captain James Cook stands first and
foremost. 

73 

74 BRITISH COLUMBIA 

Upon the conclusion of his second great Australian expedition,
he was entrusted with another mission of equal, if not greater, im-
portance. The Northwest Passage had again become the subject of
animated discussion amongst geographers and men of science. It
was agreed by the Admiralty that a scientific and exploring expe-
dition, under the auspices of the British Crown, should be despatched
to the northwest coast of America for the purpose of establishing;
the truth or falsity of the accounts regarding the existence of a nav-
igable waterway connecting the two great oceans. | 

The first British scientific expedition, the aim of which was to dis-
cover the western approach of the supposed northern passage be-:
tween the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, w\as conceived, planned and'
sent on its way in 1776 by the Earl of Sandwich, then the First Lord
of the Admiralty. The operations proposed to be pursued were so
new, so extensive and so various that the skill and experience of
Captain Cook, who but a short time previous had returned to Eng-,
land from his second voyage of circumnavigating the globe, seemed
the one man of all others best fitted to conduct them. In addition:
to other rewards for his inestimable service to his country, and thei
world at large, he had been appointed to the command of Green-
wich Hospital, there to enjoy the fame he had dearly earned; but
he cheerfully relinquished this honourable station at home to engage,
in the conduct of an expedition that would expose him to the toils
and perils of a third circumnavigation by a track hitherto unat-
tempted. Heretofore, in the search for the Northwest Passage.
British navigators, with the solitary exception of Sir Francis Drake,
had confined their attention to the northeastern shores of the con-
tinent, but on this occasion the usual plan was to be reversed. The
great task now before Captain Cook was to reach the high northerni
latitudes between Asia and America, and, instead of making a pas'
sage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, one from the latter into the
former was to be tried. Cook was therefore ordered to proceed intc
the Pacific ocean, through the chain of islands discovered by him iri
the southern tropic, and to hold such a course northward to the
principal scene of his operations. \ 

The plan of the voyage can best be given from the secret instruc-i
tions which were issued by the Admiralty: It was directed that he
should attempt to find out a northern passage by sea from the Pacific
to the Atlantic Ocean ; that he should proceed with two sloops directb. 

BRITISH COLUMBIA 75 

to the Cape of Good Hope, unless it was found necessary to stop at 

Madeira, Cape de Verde, or the Canary Islands; then to leave the 

Cape of Good Hope and proceed southward in search of some islands 

j purported to have been seen by the French about the meridian of 

! Mauritius. In case islands were found, Cook was to examine them 

j thoroughly for a good harbour. It was planned he should stop at 

I Otaheite, or Society Islands, touching at New Zealand on the way. 

j At Otaheite he was to leave Omai, a chief of that island, who had 

' been taken by Cook to England on a former voyage. Cook was 

I strictly enjoined not "to touch upon any part of the Spanish dominions 

! on the Western continent of America, unless driven thither by some 

1 unavoidable accident; in which case you are to stay no longer there 

j than shall be absolutely necessary, and to be very careful not to give 

I any umbrage or offense to any of the inhabitants or subjects of His 

Catholic Majesty. And if, in your farther progress to the Northward, 

i as hereafter directed, you find any subjects of any European Prince 

or State upon any part of the coast you may think proper to visit, you 

are not to disturb them, or give them any just cause of offense, but, 

on the contrary, to treat them with civility and friendship." 

The navigator was further instructed to reach latitude 65°, or
further, if not obstructed by lands or ice, where he was to search for
and explore rivers or inlets that might communicate with Hudson
Bay or Baffin Bay. If there should be a certainty or even a prob-
ability of a water passage into one or both of these bays, he was to
use his utmost endeavours to pass through with one or both of the
sloops. In case he was satisfied there were no such passages, Cook
was to repair to the port of St. Peter and St. Paul in Kamchatka, or
any other eligible port, there to pass the winter, and in the spring
of the ensuing year to proceed thence northward in the endeavour
to find a northeast passage from the Pacific Ocean into the Atlantic
or the North Sea, and having thoroughly explored such passage,
make his way back to England.