med the instructions, to carry their views so far
northward, as the proper situation, where the passage, if it existed at
all, was likely to be attempted with success. It may be asked, why was
Hudson's Bay neglected on our side of America; and why was not Captain
Cook ordered to begin his search on its opposite side, in much lower
latitudes? particularly, why not explore the strait leading into the
western sea of John de Fuca, between the latitudes of 47 deg. and 48 deg.; the
Archipelago of St Lazarus of Admiral de Fonte, between 50 deg. and 55 deg.; and
the rivers and lakes through which he found a passage north-eastward,
till he met with a ship from Boston?

As to the pretended discoveries of de Fuca, the Greek pilot, or of de
Fonte, the Spanish admiral, though they have sometimes found their way
into fictitious maps, or have been warmly contended for by the espousers
of fanciful systems, to have directed Captain Cook to spend any time in
tracing them, would have been as wise a measure as if he had been
directed to trace the situation of Lilliput or Brobdignag. The latter
are, indeed, confessedly, mere objects of imagination; and the former,
destitute of any sufficient external evidence, bear so many striking
marks of internal absurdity, as warrant our pronouncing them to be the
fabric of imposture. Captain Cook's instructions were founded on an
accurate knowledge of what had been already done, and of what still
remained to do; and this knowledge pointed out the inutility of
beginning his search for a passage till his arrival in the latitude of
65 deg.. Of this every fair and capable enquirer will be abundantly
convinced, by an attention to the following particulars:

Middleton, who commanded the expedition in 1741 and 1742, into Hudson's
Bay, had proceeded farther north than any of his predecessors in that
navigation. But though, from his former acquaintance with that bay, to
which he had frequently sailed in the service of the company, he had
entertained hopes of finding out a passage through it into the Pacific
Ocean, the observations which he was now enabled to make, induced him to
change his opinion; and, on his return to England, he made an
unfavourable report. Mr Dobbs, the patron of the enterprise, did not
acquiesce in this; and, fortified in his original idea of the
practicability of the passage, by the testimony of some of Middleton's
officers, he appealed to the public, accusing him of having
misrepresente