welcome.

In printing this Journal the only alterations that have been made are the
breaking-up into chapters, with modern headings; the addition of
punctuation; and in the form of the insertion of the daily record of
wind, weather, and position of the ship. These in the original are on the
left hand page in log form. To save space they have been placed at the
end of every day's transactions.

The eccentricities in the spelling have been preserved. A good many of
these would seem to be due to Mr. Orton, the transcriber, as Cook's own
letters are generally correct in their orthography. The use of the
capital letter was usual at the time.

References will be found to sketches and plans which have not been
reproduced.

Cook's knack of finding names for localities was peculiarly happy. Those
who have had to do this, know the difficulty. Wherever he was able to
ascertain the native name, he adopts it; but in the many cases where this
was impossible, he manages to find a descriptive and distinctive
appellation for each point, bay, or island.

He seems to have kept these names very much to himself, as it is seldom
the officers' logs know anything of them; and original plans, still in
existence, in many cases bear different names to those finally pitched
upon.

Cook's names have rarely been altered, and New Zealand and Australian
places will probably for all time bear those which he bestowed.