rouse.
One of his artists made a drawing of them on the spot. They were
recovered, and, together with Dillon's collection, are now exhibited in
a pyramid at the Marine Museum at the Louvre in Paris, in memory of the
ill-fated commander and crew who perished, martyrs in the great cause
of discovery, a century and a quarter ago.
It is interesting to note that descendants of Captain Dillon are
residents of Sydney to this day.
Chapter X.
THE FAME OF LAPEROUSE.
Intellectually, and as a navigator, Laperouse was a son of James Cook,
and he himself would have rejoiced to be so described. The allusions to
his predecessor in his writings are to be numbered by scores, and the
note of reverent admiration is frequently sounded. He followed Cook's
guidance in the management of his ships, paying particular attention to
the diet of his crews. He did not succeed in keeping scurvy at bay
altogether, but when the disease made its appearance he met it promptly
by securing fresh vegetable food for the sufferers, and was so far
successful that when he arrived in Botany Bay his whole company was in
good health.
The influence of the example and experience of Cook may be illustrated
in many ways, some of them curious. We may take a point as to which he
really had little to fear; but he knew what had occurred in Cook's case
and he was anxious that the same should not happen to him. The
published story of Cook's first South Sea Voyage, as is well known, was
not his own. His journal was handed over to Dr. Hawkesworth, a
gentleman who tried to model his literary style on that of Dr. Johnson,
and evolved a pompous, big-drum product in consequence. Hawkesworth
garnished the manly, straightforward navigator's simple and direct
English with embellishments of his own. Where Cook was plain Hawkesworth
was ornate; where Cook was sensible Hawkesworth was silly; where Cook
was accurate, Hawkesworth by stuffing in his own precious observations
made the narrative unreliable, and even ridiculous. In fact, the
gingerbread Johnson simply spoiled Cook.
Dr. Johnson was by no means gratified by the ponderous prancings of his
imitator. We learn from Boswell that when the great man met Captain
Cook at a dinner given by the President of the Royal Society, he said
that he "was much pleased with the conscientious accuracy of that
celebrated circumnavigator, who set me right as to many of the
exaggerated accounts given by Dr. Hawkesworth of his voy
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