On the 8th I received, by express, my instructions for the voyage, and an order to proceed to the Cape of Good Hope with the Resolution. I was also directed to leave an order for Captain Clerke to follow us as soon as he should join his ship, he being at this time detained in London.
Our first discoverers of the New World, and navigators of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, were justly thought to have exerted such uncommon abilities, and to have accomplished such perilous enterprises, that their names have been handed down to posterity as so many Argonauts. Nay, even the hulks of the ships that carried them, though not converted into constellations in the heavens, used to be honoured and visited as sacred relics upon earth. We, in the present age of improved navigation, who have been instructed by their labours, and have followed them as our guides, have no such claim to fame. Some merit, however, being still, in the public opinion, considered as due to those who sail to unexplored quarters of the globe; in conformity to this favourable judgment, I prefixed to the account of my last voyage the names of the officers of both my ships, and a table of the number of their respective crews. The like information will be expected from me at present.
The Resolution was fitted out with the same complement of officers and men as she had before; and the Discovery's establishment varied from that of the Adventure, in the single instance of her having no marine officer on board. This arrangement was to be finally completed at Plymouth; and on the 9th we received the party of marines allotted for our voyage. Colonel Bell, who commanded the division at this port, gave me such men for the detachment as I had reason to be satisfied with. And the supernumerary seamen, occasioned by this reinforcement, being turned over into the Ocean man-of-war, our several complements remained fixed, as represented in the following table:--
_Officers and Men. No. Officers No. Officers Names Names_. Captains, 1 James Cook. 1 Charles Clerke. Lieutenants, 3 John Gore. 2 James Burney. James King. John Rickman. John Williamson. Master, 1 William Bligh. 1 Thomas Edgar. Boatswain, 1 William Ewin. 1 Aneas Atkins. Carpenter, 1 James Clevely. 1 Peter Reynolds. Gunner, 1 Robert Anderson. 1 William Peckover. Surgeon, 1 William Anderson. 1 John Law. Master's Mates, 3 2 Midshipmen, 6 4 Surgeon's Mates, 2 2 Captain's Clerk, 1 1 Master at Arms, 1 Corporal, 1 Armourer, 1 1 Ditto Mate, 1 1 Sail Maker, 1 1 Ditto Mate, 1 1 Boatswain's Mates, 3 2 Carpenter's Ditto, 3 2 Gunner's Ditto, 2 1 Carpenter's Crew, 4 4 Cook, 1 1 Ditto Mate, 1 Quarter Masters, 6 4 Able Seamen, 45 33 Marines. Lieutenants, 1 Molesworth Philips. Serjeant, 1 1 Corporals, 2 1 Drummer, 1 1 Privates, 15 8