During the progress of his labours as Marine Surveyor, Mr. Cook might occasionally be engaged in other undertakings for the public good; but there is a service ascribed to him by some of his biographers, which was done by another officer of the same name. The following paragraph stands as part of the Life of our navigator, in Chalmers's Biographical Dictionary:
"He received a commission, as Lieutenant, on the first day of April, 1760; and soon after gave a specimen of those abilities, which recommended him to the commands which he executed so highly to his credit, that his name will go down to posterity as one of the most skilful navigators which this country has produced. In 1765, he was with Sir William Burnaby on the Jamaica station; and that officer having occasion to send dispatches to the governor of Jucatan, relative to the logwood-cutters in the bay of Honduras, Lieut. Cook was selected for that employment; and he performed it in a manner which entitled him to the approbation of the Admiral. A relation of this voyage and journey was published in 1769, under the title of 'Remarks on a passage from the river Balise in the bay of Honduras, to Merida, the capital of the province of Jucatan, in the Spanish west Indies, by Lieutenant Cook,' in an 8vo. pamphlet."
The writer of this paragraph has not observed, that there was another Mr. James Cook in the navy, cotemporary with our hero. He was made Lieutenant, April 1st, 1760, eight years before the great navigator attained that dignity; but he never rose above that rank, for long after the death of Capt. Cook, the name of this James Cook still
