But it was Dr.
Hawkesworth's account of Lieutenant Cook's voyage which completely gratified the public curiosity.

This account, which was written by authority, was drawn up from the journal of the lieutenant, and the papers of Sir Joseph Banks; and, besides the merit of the composition, derived an extraordinary advantage from the number and excellence of its charts and engravings, which were furnished at the expense of government.

The large price given by the booksellers for this work, and the avidity with which it was read, displayed, in the strongest light, the anxiety of the nation to be fully informed in every thing that belonged to the late navigation and discoveries.
Captain Cook, during his voyage, had sailed over the Pacific Ocean in many of those latitudes, in which a southern continent had been expected to lie.

He had ascertained, that neither New Zealand nor New Holland were parts of such a continent.

But the general question concerning its existence had not been determined by him, nor did he go out for that purpose, though some of the reasons on which the notion of it had been adopted were dispelled in the course of his navigation.
It is well known how fondly the idea of a _Terra Australis incognita_ had for nearly two centuries been entertained.