Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 60.djvu/219

Rh. He circumnavigated the south polar region, and reached latitudes which in some parts of his circuit have not yet been passed. Cook's magnificent results were all the more remarkable because of his distaste of the work. He described the sea as 'so pestered with ice' and the lands as having 'an inexpressibly horrid aspect, and though he saw the beauty of the icebergs he regarded them with a 'mind filled with horror.' While so many coasts were uncharted and so many seas were unsurveyed Cook thought it a preposterous waste of time to hunt for a land, which, even if it existed, would be absolutely useless to his or to several succeeding generations. At times Cook was so impressed by the worthless nature of the Antarctic lands, that he believed they would be severely let alone when men heard his report of them and that they are uninhabited, uninhabitable and tradeless. If any one go further south than I have been, said Cook, 'I shall not envy him the honor of the discovery, but I will be bold to say that the world will not be benefited by it.'

All through Cook's journal we feel his irritation at having been sent on a mission which he regarded as a waste of his time and powers. He was comforted by the thought that he had, however, finally shown