to think, how many of our brave seamen fall victims to the beastly vice of drunkenness.
On the 1st of May, they arrived at St. Helena, where they remained till the 4th, to procure refreshments. From hence they sailed for England, in company with the Portland man of war, and twelve sail of Indiamen. On the 10th, the Commander finding his ship sailing more heavily than any of the fleet, made a signal to speak with the Portland, upon which Capt. Elliot himself came on board; when Lieut. Cook, intimating that he could not keep up with the fleet, gave him in charge a letter to the Admiralty, and a box containing some logbooks and journals. Our navigators, however, did not lose sight of the Indiamen, till the 23rd; and on the same day they lost Mr. Hicks, the first Lieutenant. He died of consumption, from which he was not free on leaving England. Next day, the Commander promoted Mr. Charles Clerke, a worthy young man, to act as Lieutenant in his stead.
They continued on their course till the 10th of June, when land, which proved to be the Lizard, was discovered by Nicholas Young, the same boy that first saw New Zealand. On the 11th, they ran up the channel; and on the 12th, at 3 P.M. they came to an anchor in the Downs, and landed at Deal; thus happily arriving in their native country, after an absence of two years, and nearly eight months.
