and merit. Accordingly, Mr. Cook was appointed to the command of the
expedition by the lords of the Admiralty; and, on this occasion, he
was promoted to the rank of a lieutenant in the royal navy, his
commission bearing date on the 25th of May, 1768.

When the appointment had taken place, the first object was to provide
a vessel adapted to the purposes of the voyage. This business was
committed to Sir Hugh Palliser; who took Lieutenant Cook to his
assistance, and they examined together a great number of the ships
which then lay in the river Thames. At length they fixed upon one, of
three hundred and seventy tons, to which was given the name of the
Endeavour.

While preparations were making for Lieutenant Cook's expedition,
Captain Wallis returned from his voyage round the world. The Earl of
Morton, president of the Royal Society, had recommended it to this
gentleman, on his going out, to fix upon a proper place for observing
the transit of Venus. He kept, accordingly, the object in view: and
having discovered, in the course of his enterprise, an island called
by him George's Island, but which has since been found to bear the
name of Otaheite, he judged that Port Royal harbour in this island
would afford an eligible situation for the purpose. Having,
immediately on his return to England, signified his opinion to the
Earl of Morton, the captain's idea was adopted by the society, and an
answer conformable to it was sent to the commissioners of the
Admiralty, who had applied for directions to what place the observers,
should be sent.

Mr. Charles Green, a gentleman who had long been assistant to Dr.
Bradley at the royal observatory at Greenwich, was united by