THE most distinguished as well as most valuable voyages, because of the great geographical information acquired, were performed by Captain Cook during the latter half of the eighteenth century, under peculiarly favorable auspices, in that his several expeditions were provided with every possible advantage, including the best vessels then in service, while his assistants were selected from the most successful and learned navigators of that age. Add to this the power which England wielded as a maritime nation, and the liberal appropriations made for the fitting out of his ships, and the peerless abilities which Cook brought to the command, and you will perceive what might reasonably be expected from an enterprise thus favored and sent upon such important commission. A brief history of this greatest of navigators of his time may be thus supplied:

Captain Cook, the son of a common farm laborer, was born in the village of Marton, Yorkshire, England, October 27th, 1728. His death occurred at the hands of Sandwich islanders, February 14th, 1779, as will be more particularly related hereafter. His father being unable to give him any opportunities in his youth, young Cook at the age of thirteen was apprenticed to a haberdasher in the little fishing town of Whitby. He had not long remained in this employment before his father died, when at his earnest persuasions his master gave up his indentures, and young Cook engaged himself as a cabin boy in one of the small coasting vessels of Whitby, where he continued his service for quite a year before he was rewarded with promotion. But ultimately, his adaptability, ready resource and natural abilities came to be recognized, and before he was twenty-five he had risen to the position of master of a vessel, and in 1755 he shipped in the royal navy, and was directly afterwards promoted to the quarter deck for his efficiency. He served successively as master of the Grampus and the Garland, and in 1759 his master's rank was confirmed by the admiralty, and he was appointed to the command of the frigate Mercury, and attached to the squadron sent out to co-operate with Gen. Wolfe at Quebec. He led the attack at Montmorency, and conducted the disembarkment of the troops for the assault on the heights of Abraham.

COOK'S ACCOUNT OF AN ECLIPSE OF THE SUN.

This really brilliant service brought him great reputation at home, which was largely increased by the publication of one of his charts which he had prepared of the channel of the St. Lawrence from Quebec to the sea. His reputation so increased that he was soon afterwards promoted to the flag-ship Northumberland, where, not being in active service, he had the leisure to prosecute with great diligence the study of mathematics and astronomy, in which he was to soon after win great renown. He was present at the re-capture of Newfoundland in 1762, and returning from there to England he married, and the year following was sent out to survey the coast of Newfoundland, during which service he was so fortunate as to observe an eclipse of the sun, upon which he prepared a paper of such great accuracy and value that he received from the "Philosphical Transactions" a most fulsome commendation, and his reputation as an astronomer was thereby established.

A few years afterwards, when the royal society obtained the consent of King George to fit out an expedition for the purpose of observing the transit of Venus, which was visible only in the Pacific Ocean, he was chosen to command the vessel, receiving a commission as lieutenant. The Endeavor, a ship of 370 tons, was supplied, and the expedition set sail August 23d, 1768, from Plymouth, accompanied by Mr. Green as astronomer, and Sir Joseph, Banks as naturalist of the expedition. On April 13th, 1769, the Endeavor reached Tahiti (Otaheite), where the astronomical observations were successfully made (June 3d), after which he set sail in search of an Antarctic continent, a belief in the existence of which was at that time agitating many bold navigators. After sailing to 60� degrees south, and discovering no land, he turned eastward, re-discovering New Zealand, and was the first to observe the narrow strait which divides the island into two parts.

Thence proceeding eastward Cook came upon the coast of Australia at Botany Bay, which he took possession of in the name of the King of Great Britain, and thereupon surveyed the coast for a distance of 1,300 miles, by which he proved by actual investigation the separation of Australia from Papua, which were formerly believed to be one island. His voyage thus far had not been entirely without accident, though he had the good fortune to escape from shipwreck and from native hostility which threatened him at many places, after which he put into Batavia to refit his vessel, and while lying there thirty of his men died of a sickness peculiar to the coast of Java. He finally reached England June nth, 1771, having in less than three years completely circumnavigated the globe and successfully accomplished the object of the expedition.

IN SEARCH OF AN ANTARTIC CONTINENT.

Upon his return to England Captain Cook prepared a report supplemental to that of Mr. Banks, in which he gave a very valuable account of the voyage, and having demonstrated that Australia was an island, his paper was the more keenly debated and a belief in the existence of a continent south of that island became more fixed in the public mind than ever. To settle this point, in which Captain Cook was also himself a firm believer, it was determined to send out another expedition. Accordingly the Resolution, of 462 tons, and manned by 112 seamen, commanded by Captain Cook, and the Adventure, of 336 tons and 81 men, commanded by Tobias Furneaux, set sail from Plymouth, July 13, 1772, with instructions "to circumnavigate the whole globe in high southern latitudes, making traverses from time to time into every part of the Pacific Ocean which had not undergone previous investigation, and to use his best endeavors to solve the much agitated question of a southern continent."

On this voyage the two vessels sailed a distance of more than ten thousand miles, reaching latitude 71� 10' south, and longitude 106� 54' west. The ships were for a time separated, but after being out of sight of land for 117 days, the Resolution rejoined the Adventure at New Zealand. Both commanders had thus conducted an independent search for the supposed continent, but each being alike disappointed, the vessels sailed for the Society Islands where they spent the winter, after which they made cruises between Easter Island and the New Hebrides, during which they discovered and named the island of New Caledonia. They finally turned eastward towards Cape Horn, and reached England by way of the Cape of Good Hope, on July 30, 1775, after an absence of three years and sixteen days, in which time the vessels had sailed over a distance of sixty thousand miles.

Though this second expedition had resulted without material benefits, the reputation of Captain Cook as a successful navigator was nevertheless considerably increased, and immediately upon his return, among other flattering honors bestowed upon him, he was made post-captain, and appointed to the command of the Greenwich hospital. Six months afterwards he was chosen a member of the Royal Society, and the Copley gold medal was bestowed upon him for a paper which he had prepared and read before that body, describing his methods of preserving the health of his men on long voyages. But though Cook had settled down to what for a time appeared permanent employment on land, which gave opportunities to pursue his studies, or until his country had occasion for his services, he was not permitted to long enjoy the quiet of his position.

A SEARCH FOR THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE.

Though many expeditions had been sent out in search of a north-west passage to Asia, and all alike had returned with no other results of their enterprise than stories of shipwreck, disaster, and suffering, the belief in the existence of such a passage had in nowise abated, but continued to be a question of earnest debate not only among navigators of the time, but nations as well that were anxious to extend their commerce with the east by such a route. In the opinions entertained of its existence Cook eagerly shared, and at the suggestion of many wealthy gentlemen interested in such an enterprise, Cook accepted the command of an expedition which was organized to ascertain if it were possible to make a passage around North America by way of Behring Strait. Under this commission, he sailed for a third time from Plymouth, July 12th, 1776, with two ships, the Resolution and Discovery, the latter vessel being placed under the command of an almost equally experienced navigator, named Charles Clerke. The expedition set sail direct for the South Pacific, among the islands of which it spent a considerable time, as will be hereafter related, after which Cook directed his course northward, and on his way towards Behring Sea he discovered, in January, 1778, a group to which he gave the name of Sandwich Islands. These he circumnavigated, and then proceeded eastward to the American coast, along which he sailed, unable to find any passage until he reached Behring Strait. The season was now so far advanced that further progress was impossible, by reason of a great barrier of ice which confronted him. But while lying before the icy wall which forbade him proceeding further northward, he untilized his time by making charts and locations of the islands which he had discovered, and of the American coast, and determining its distance from Asia.

KILLING OF COOK BY SANDWICH ISLANDERS.

In the latter part of August, 1778, finding his efforts futile to pass around North America, he returned to the Sandwich islands with the intention of waiting a more favorable season, hoping that he would be able to make the passage in the following year. He cruised about Hawaii, which he calls Owyhee, and Maui, for several weeks, finding the natives generally peaceably disposed, but such consummate thieves that on February 13th 1779, he determined to seize the person of the King and hold him a prisoner until one of his boats, which the natives had stolen, was returned. To accomplish this purpose he went on shore on the I4th, accompanied by a lieutenant and nine men. But scarcely had he landed when the suspicions of the islanders were aroused, most probably by the arms which the white men carried, and a fight ensued, in which the gallant captain and several of his marines lost their lives. Their bodies did not escape mutilation, for when those who had escaped injury in the attack jumped hastily into their boat and put back to the ship, the natives seized the bodies of the slainr and after cutting them up devoured them, which was the invariable custom of the Sandwich islanders until the influence of the whites became dominant fifty years later. The bare bones of the great navigator were recovered seven days after the fatal attack and were deposited in a coffin and reverently buried in the sea.

The expedition, though deprived of its commander, had no idea as yet of abandoning the purpose for which it had sailed, but in the following year made another effort to accomplish the north-west passage; but meeting with the same obstacles as before, departed for the coast of China down which it passed and returned home by the same route as that over which the second expedition had sailed. As a recognition of his distinguished services to the nation, the English government bestowed a pension of a thousand dollars per annum upon Cook's widow, and a hundred dollars to each of his children, a gratuity which has been continued to his descendants ever since.