His third circumnavigation of the globe was in the Resolution, of which he was appointed the second lieutenant; and he continued in that situation till his return in 1775; soon after which he was promoted to the rank of master and commander.

In what capacity he sailed with Captain Cook in this last expedition, need not be added.

The consumption, of which Captain Clerke died, had evidently commenced before he left England, and he lingered under it during the whole voyage.

Though his very gradual decay had long made him a melancholy object to his friends, nevertheless, they derived some consolation from the equanimity with which he bore his disorder, from the constant flow of good spirits maintained by him to his latest hour, and from his submitting to his fate with cheerful resignation.

'It was, however, impossible,' says Mr.King, 'not to feel a more than common degree of compassion for a person, whose life had been a continued scene of those difficulties and hardships, to which a seaman's occupation is subject, and under which he at last sunk.' _King's Voyage_, p.