ction, which was intended
as a kind of epilogue to our Voyages of Discovery. He must be permitted,
however, to say, that he considers himself as entitled to no
inconsiderable share of candid indulgence from the public; having
engaged in a very tedious and troublesome undertaking upon the most
disinterested motives; his only reward being the satisfaction he feels,
in having been able to do an essential service to the family of our
great navigator, who had honoured him, in the journal of this voyage,
with the appellation of friend.

They who repeatedly asked why this publication was so long delayed,
needed only to look at the volumes, and their attendant illustrations
and ornaments, to be satisfied that it might, with at least equal
reason, be wondered at, that it was not delayed longer. The journal of
Captain Cook, from the first moment that it came into the hands of the
editor, had been ready for the press; and Captain King had left with
him his part of the narrative, so long ago as his departure for the West
Indies, when he commanded the Resistance man-of-war. But much, besides,
remained to be done. The charts, particularly the general one, were to
be prepared by Mr Roberts; the very numerous and elegant drawings of Mr
Webber were to be reduced by him to the proper size; artists were next
to be found out who would undertake to engrave them; the prior
engagements of those artists were to be fulfilled before they could
begin; the labour and skill to be exerted in finishing many of them,
rendered this a tedious operation; paper fit for printing them upon was
to be procured from abroad; and after all these various and unavoidable
difficulties were surmounted, much time was necessarily required for
executing a numerous impression of the long list of plates, with so much
care as might do justice both to Mr Webber, and to his several
engravers.

And here it seems to be incumbent upon us to add, as another instance of
munificent attention, that care was taken to mark, in the most
significant manner, the just sense entertained of the human and liberal
relief afforded to our ships in Kamtachatka. Colonel Behm, the
commandant of that province, was not rewarded merely by the pleasure
which a benevolent mind feels in reflecting upon the blessings it
confers, but also thanked in a manner equally consistent with the
dignity of his own sovereign and of ours, to whose subjects he extended
protection. A magnificent piece of plate was