12175-

NARRATIVE

OF THE

VOYAGES ROUND THE WORLD

PERFORMED BY

CAPTAIN JAMES COOK.

WITH AN

ACCOUNT OF HIS LIFE

BURING THE PREVIOUS AND INTERVENING PERIODS

drew

BY A. KIFPIS, D.D. F.R.S. AND S.A.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

PHILADELPHIA:

PUBLISHED BY LEARY & GETZ.

NO. 138 NORTH SECOND STREET.

1853.

31X

TO THE KING.

SIRE,-I esteem myself highly honoured in teing permitted to dedicate and present my narrative of the Life and Actions of Captain James Cook to your Majesty. It was owing to your Majesty's royal patronage and bounty that this illustrious navigator was enabled to execute those vast undertakings, and to make those extraordinary discoveries, which have contributed so much to the reputation of the British empire, and have reflected such peculiar glory on your Majesty's reign. Without your Majesty's munificence and encouragement, the world would have remained destitute of that immense light which has been thrown on geography, navigation, and the most important sciences. To your Majesty, therefore, a work like the present, s with particular propriety addressed.

It is impossible, on this occasion, to avoid extend ing my thoughts to the other noble instances in which your Majesty's liberal protection of science and literature has been displayed. Your Majesty began your reign in a career so glorious to princes; and wonderful has been the increase of knowledge and taste in this country. The improvements in philosophical science, and particularly in astronomy; the exertions of experimental and chemical inquiry, the advancement of natural history, the progress and perfection of the polite arts, and the valuable compositions that have been produced in every department of learning, have corresponded with your Majesty's gracious wishes and encouragement, and have rendered the name of Britain famous in every quarter of the globe. If there be

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