First Voyage Round the World | Page 2

complete copy is still in possession of the Admiralty, though in some unexplained manner it was absent for some years, and was only recovered by the exertions of Mr. W. Blakeney, R.N.
A third copy of the Journal also terminates a few days before reaching Batavia. It is in the possession of Her Majesty the Queen, and from its appearance was kept for, and probably presented to, George III, who took great interest in the voyage.
Neither private possessors nor the Admiralty have felt moved to publish this interesting document until Mr. Corner acquired his copy, when, being an enthusiastic admirer of Captain Cook, he determined to do so, and was making preliminary arrangements, when he suddenly died, after a few hours' illness. His son, anxious to carry out his father's wishes, which included the devotion of any proceeds to the restoration of Hinderwell Church--the parish church of Staithes, whence Cook ran away to sea--has completed these arrangements, and the present volume is the result.
The text is taken from Mr. Corner's copy so far as it goes, paragraphs from the Admiralty copy, which do not appear in the former, being added, with a notation of their source.
The last portion, from October 23rd, 1770, which is only given in the Admiralty copy, is necessarily taken from it.
The three copies are, practically, identical, except for the period August 13th to 19th, 1770, during which the wording is often different, though the events are the same.
It is not very difficult to account for this.
The two first-mentioned Journals are in the handwriting of an amanuensis, Mr. Orton, the clerk. No autograph journal is, so far as is known, in existence, but some rough original must have been kept, as both copies bear internal evidence of having been written up after the lapse of an interval after the events described.
This is markedly the case in the Australian part of the Journal.
It is known that Botany Bay was at first called by Cook, Stingray Bay, on account of the number of rays caught there; but after Banks had examined his collection, and found all his plants new to science, Cook determined to call it Botany Bay. It is, however, called Botany Bay from the first in the Journals.
The name, "New South Wales," was not bestowed without much consideration, and apparently at one stage New Wales was the appellation fixed upon, for in Mr. Corner's copy it is so called throughout, whereas the Admiralty copy has "New South Wales."
It would therefore seem that about the period of the discrepant accounts Mr. Corner's copy was first made, and that Cook, in the Admiralty copy, which for this part is fuller, revised the wording of his description of this very critical portion of the voyage.
The Queen's Copy has been written with especial care, and by several different hands. It was evidently the last in point of time.
In reading COOK'S JOURNAL of his First Voyage it must be remembered that it was not prepared for publication. Though no doubt the fair copies we possess were revised with the care that characterises the man, and which is evidenced by the interlineations and corrections in his own hand with which the pages are dotted, it may be supposed, from the example we have in the published account of his Second Voyage, which was edited by himself, that further alterations and additions would have been made, to make the story more complete, had he contemplated its being printed.
This does not, however, in any way detract from the interest of a transcript of his record on the spot; and though many circumstances recorded in Hawkesworth, from Banks or others, will not be found, it is probable that an exact copy of the great navigator's own impressions, and the disentanglement of them from the other interpolated matter, will be welcome.
In printing this Journal the only alterations that have been made are the breaking-up into chapters, with modern headings; the addition of punctuation; and in the form of the insertion of the daily record of wind, weather, and position of the ship. These in the original are on the left hand page in log form. To save space they have been placed at the end of every day's transactions.
The eccentricities in the spelling have been preserved. A good many of these would seem to be due to Mr. Orton, the transcriber, as Cook's own letters are generally correct in their orthography. The use of the capital letter was usual at the time.
References will be found to sketches and plans which have not been reproduced.
Cook's knack of finding names for localities was peculiarly happy. Those who have had to do this, know the difficulty. Wherever he was able to ascertain the native name, he adopts it; but in the many cases where this was impossible, he manages to find