Discovery did not lose a single man by sickness, and the Resolution only five. Such was the salutary effect of Capt. Cook's regulations for preserving health.
A Journal of the voyage, in one volume 8vo, hastily got up, and abounding with inaccuracies, was published early in 1781: but, owing to the time required for engraving 86 plates, furnished at the expense of Government, the authorised narrative of the Voyage to the Pacific Ocean did not appear till the summer of 1784; when it came forth in 3 volumes, 4to, with an admirable Introduction by Dr. Douglas, (afterwards Bishop of Carlisle, and Salisbury); price £4 14s. 6d. Notwithstanding this long delay, such was the unprecedented eagerness of the public to obtain these precious volumes, that on the third day after publication, not a single copy remained with the bookseller. Some who were disappointed, offered 6, 8, and even 10 guineas for a set. A second edition was published next year. The volumes, so justly esteemed, were read with a painful interest; the public being sensible, that the discoveries which they record, were purchased at a price too dear. A separate narrative of the Captain's death, which has been made use of in the foregoing chapter, was published by Mr. Samwell, Surgeon of the Discovery.
The news of our great navigator's death reached the Admiralty on the 11th of January, 1780, in a letter from Capt. Clerke, sent from Kamtschatka with Capt. Cook's journal, through the hands of Major Behm: but the particulars were not fully known till the arrival of the ships. The heartrending tidings produced universal grief: he was
