In that case, he would have put an end to the finding of a continent; which was indeed the first object of the voyage.

But this could not satisfy the extensive and magnanimous mind of our commander.

He had a good ship, expressly sent out on discoveries, a healthy crew, and was not in want either of stores or of provisions.

In such circumstances, to have quitted this Southern Pacific Ocean, would, he thought, have been betraying not only a want of perseverance, but of judgment, in supposing it to have been so well explored, that nothing farther could be done.

Although he had proved that there was no continent but what must lie far to the south, there remained, nevertheless, room for very large islands in places wholly unexamined.