is corpse upon the rock, and
ferociously stabbed the body all over, snatching the dagger from each
others' hands to wreak their sanguinary vengeance on the slain. The body
was left some time exposed upon the rock; and as the islanders gave way,
through terror at their own act and the fire from the boats, it might
have been recovered entire. But no attempt of the kind was made; and it
was afterwards, together with the marines, cut up, and the parts
distributed amongst the chiefs. The mutilated fragments were
subsequently restored, and committed to the deep with all the honors due
to the rank of the deceased. Thus, February 14, 1779, perished in an
inglorious brawl with a set of savages, one of England's greatest
navigators, whose services to science have never been surpassed by any
man belonging to his profession. It may almost be said that he fell a
victim to his humanity; for if, instead of retreating before his
barbarous pursuers, with a view to spare their lives, he had turned
revengefully upon them, his fate might have been very different.

The death of their commander was felt to be a heavy blow by the officers
and seamen of the expedition. With deep sorrow the ships' companies left
Owyhee, where the catastrophe had occurred, the command of the
_Resolution_ devolving on Captain Clerke, and Mr. Gore acting as
commander of the _Discovery_. After making some further exploratory
searches among the Sandwich Islands, the vessels visited Kamtschatka and
Behring's Strait. Here it was found impossible to penetrate through the
ice either on the coast of America or that of Asia, so that they
returned to the southward; and on August 22, 1779, Captain Clerke died
of consumption, and was succeeded by Captain Gore, who, in his turn,
gave Lieutenant King an acting order in the _Discovery_. After a second
visit to Kamtschatka, the two ships returned by way of China, remained
some time at Canton, touched at the Cape, and arrived at the Nore,
October 4, 1780, after an absence of four years, two months, and
twenty-two days, during which the _Resolution_ lost only five men by
sickness, and the _Discovery_ did not lose a single man.

By this, as well as the preceding voyages of Cook, a considerable
addition was made to a knowledge of the earth's surface. Besides
clearing up doubts respecting the Southern Ocean, and making known many
islands in the Pacific, the navigator did an inestimable service to his
country in visiting the coasts o