Flashes of light appeared to be emitted, exactly resembling those of lightning, though without being so considerable; and such was the frequency of them, that sometimes eight or ten were visible almost at the same moment.

It was the opinion of Mr.Cook and the other gentlemen, that these flashes proceeded from some luminous animal; and their opinion was confirmed by experiment.
At Rio de Janeiro, in the port of which Lieutenant Cook came to an anchor on the 13th of November, he did not meet with the polite reception that, perhaps, he had too sanguinely expected.

His stay was spent in continual altercations, with the viceroy, who appeared not a little jealous of the designs of the English: nor were all the attempts of the lieutenant to set the matter right, capable of producing any effect.

The viceroy was by no means distinguished either by his knowledge or his love of science; and the grand object of Mr.
Cook's expedition was quite beyond his comprehension.

When he was told that the English were bound to the southward, by the order of his Britannic majesty, to observe a transit of the planet Venus over the Sun, an astronomical phenomenon of great importance to navigation, he could form no other conception of the matter, than that it was the passing of the North star through the South Pole.
During the whole of the contest with the viceroy, Lieutenant Cook behaved with equal spirit and discretion.