there to find a premature termination to his labours. The particulars of that great navigator's death, as well as of the circumstances which led to it, are circumstantially and graphically detailed by Ledyard; and his account of the transaction, varying from that which was officially published in England, seems entitled to credit, not merely from the air of truth and impartiality which it wears, but because he was one of the only two persons who accompanied Cook in his last fatal visit to the island. According to Ledyard, in the rupture which took place between their party and the natives, in which Captain Cook lost his life, the strangers were far more to blame than the islanders. Mr. Sparks here quotes the speculations of Ledyard on the origin of the people of the Polynesian Islands; and, agreeing with him that they are all affiliated tribes of the same common race, he examines the question whether they originally proceeded from the Asiatic, or the American coast. He inclines in favour of the latter opinion, but admits that a further investigation of their respective languages is necessary to free the question from doubt.

Ledyard continued in the British navy, after the expedition returned to England, refusing at first "to be attached to any of the squadrons which came out to America," but finally conquering his scruples, and desirous, probably, of quitting the service, he sought an opportunity of being transferred to the American station, "and in December, 1782, says Mr. Sparks, we find him on board a British man of war, in Huntingdon Bay," a part of Long-Island Sound. His mother, at that time, kept a boarding-house at Southold, on Loug-Island, which was occupied chiefly by British officers. He obtained leave to go on shore for the purpose of visiting her, and their meeting is thus described:

"He rode up to the door, alighted, went in, and asked if he could be accommodated in her house as a lodger. She replied that he could, and showed him a room into which his baggage was conveyed. After having adjusted his dress, he came out and took a seat by the fire, in company with several other officers, without making himself known to his mother, or entering into conversation with any person. She frequently passed and repassed through the room, and her eye was observed to be attracted towards him with more than usual attention. He still remained silent. At last, after looking at him steadily for some minutes, she deliberately put on her spectacles, approached nearer to him, begging his pardon for her rudeness, and telling him, that he so much resembled a son of her's who had been absent eight years, that she could not resist her inclination to view him more closely. The scene that followed may be imagined, but not described; for Ledyard had a tender

heart, and affection for his mother was among its deepest and most constant emotions." p. 127.

His settled intention having been to quit the service of the enemies of his country, he crossed the sound before his furlough of seven days had expired; and having continued a short time in New-London, the scene of his early childhood, he proceeded to Hartford. Here he remained four months, during which time he wrote his journal of Cook's last voyage, as has been mentioned. But weary at length of inaction, and filled with the project of a voyage to the north-west, he repaired to NewYork with the hope of there obtaining the means of making it; but not meeting with the encouragement he expected, he continued on to Philadelphia. In that city, Mr. Robert Morris, well known for the greatness as well as the failure of his enterprises, was, at first, strongly disposed to embark in his scheme, but finally abandoned it, from some difficulties in obtaining a suitable ship, which are not distinctly explained. While he was thus tantalized with the prospect of carrying his darling project into execution, he seems to have been partly supported by Mr. Morris, "by way of compensation for the time spent in his service," and partly by the gratuitous assistance of Mr. Comfort Sands, of New-York.

He then went to New-London, and there renewed his efforts to obtain the means of executing his scheme; but finding them all unavailing, he determined to seek the requisite assistance in France. He accordingly sailed in June, 1784, from New-London to Cadiz, and from thence found his way, partly by water and partly by land, to L'Orient. In this place his project met, as he thought, with a favourable reception; but he here eventually experienced the same disappointment as before, upon which he proceeded to Paris as his last hope.

Mr. Jefferson then resided in Paris, as American Minister, and he proved a steady and efficient friend to our traveller during a residence of nearly a year in that metropolis. Ledyard there became acquainted with the celebrated Paul Jones, who was so favourably impressed with the project of a northwest voyage, that he endeavoured to induce the French Government to fit out two ships for the expedition. It was, however, the fate of that scheme, which has since proved so practicable and lucrative, to be received at first with favour, and to be abandoned at the moment of consummation. This happened to him so often as to excite a doubt whether his sanguine temper did not sometimes greatly overrate his prospects of success, or

whether he was not better qualified for inspiring confidence in the first instance, than for keeping it up afterwards. The only advantage he derived from his brief connexion with Paul Jones, was an allowance of money sufficient for his expenses.

During the greater part of the time that he was thus indulging in hopes only to be disappointed, he seems to have been supported by Mr. Jefferson, General La Fayette, and a few other friends. Being foiled in every attempt to get to the north-west coast by sea, and of uniting a voyage of discovery with one of profit, he formed the plan of carrying his original purpose into execution, of travelling across the American continent, which he proposed to do by traversing the northern regions of Europe and Asia, until he reached the Pacific, and then crossing Behring's strait to the western coast of America, continue his route east towards Virginia. Mr. Jefferson made an application to the Empress of Russia, through her accredited minister, Monsieur De Simoulin, and her secret agent, Baron De Grimm, to grant Ledyard permission to pass through her territories, and they readily consented to solicit it; but no answer to the application being received after waiting five months, and Ledyard having heard from Sir James Hall, then in Paris, that a vessel was about to sail from England for the north-west coast of America, he determined to try to avail himself of this opportunity of effecting his long meditated purpose.

He relates a circumstance of this English Baronet, which, for the amiable eccentricity of character it exhibits, deserves to be repeated. If the general tenor of Ledyard's life was like a journey through a desert, it must be confessed that he met, in his pilgrimage, with many such verdant spots as this to cheer and comfort him. He thus writes to a friend :

"Permit me to relate to you an incident. About a fortnight ago, Sir James Hall, an English gentleman, on his way from Paris to Cherbourg, stopped his coach at our door, and came up to my chamber. I was in bed, at six o'clock in the morning, but having flung on my robe de chambre, I met him at the door of the anti-chamber, and was glad to see him, but surprised. He observed, that he had endeavoured to make up his opinion of me, with as much exactness as possible, and concluded that no kind of visit whatever would surprise me. I could do no otherwise than remark, that his opinion surprised me at least, and the conversation took another turn. In walking across the chamber, he laughingly put his hand on a six livre piece and a louis d'or, that lay on my table, and with a half stifled blush, asked me how I was in the money way. Blushes commonly beget blushes, and I blushed partly because he did, and partly on other accounts. 'If fifteen guineas,' said he, interpreting the answer he had demanded, 'will be of any service to you, there they are,' and he put them on the table. 'I am a

traveller myself, and though I have some fortune to support my travels, I have been so situated as to want money, which you ought not to do. You have my address in London.' He then wished me a good morning, and left me. This gentleman was a total stranger to the situation of my finances, and one that I had, by mere accident, met at an ordinary in Paris. We had conversed together several times, and he once sent his carriage for me to dine with him. I found him handsomely lodged in the best Fauxbourg in the city. Two members of the British House of Commons, two lords, Beaumarchais, and several members of the Royal Academy, were at his table. He had seen me two or three times after that, and always expressed the highest opinion of the tour I had determined to make, and said he would, as a citizen of the world, do any thing in his power to promote it; but I had no more idea of receiving money from him, than I have at this moment of receiving it from Tippoo Saib. However, I took it without any hesitation, and told him I would be as complaisant to him, if ever occasion offered." p. 168.

It seems highly probable that Ledyard's project of visiting the western coast of this continent, and of exploring its interior, favoured as it was by Mr. Jefferson, suggested the similar expedition of Lewis and Clark, undertaken at his instance about twenty years afterwards, by which his administration became better known to the scientific portion of Europe, than by any other act whatever.

On Ledyard's arrival in England, he found the ship ready to sail, and by the agency of Sir James Hall, he was offered a free passage by the owners, and promised "to be set on shore at any place on the north-west coast which he might choose." The day before he was to embark, he made the following grateful mention of the favours he had received in Paris.

"Sir James Hall presented me with twenty guineas pro bono publico. I bought two great dogs, an Indian pipe, and a hatchet. My want of time, as well as of money, will prevent my going any otherwise than indifferently equipped for such an enterprise; but it is certain that I shall be more in want before I see Virginia. Why should I repine? You know how much I owe the amiable La Fayette. Will you do me the honor to present my most grateful thanks to him? If I find in my travels a mountain, as much elevated above other mountains, as he is above ordinary men, I will name it La Fayette. I beg the honor, also, of my compliments to Mr. Short, who has been my friend, and who, like the good widow in Scripture, cast in not only his mite, but more than he was able, for my assistance." p. 173.

His long cherished hopes seemed now about to be fulfilled. The vessel left Deptford, and in a few days put to sea; but his ill-fortune still pursued him. Ere the ship was out of sight of land, an order from the government brought her back, for some breach of the revenue laws, as it seems, and the voyage

was abandoned. On this failure, his fortitude appears for a time to have deserted him. After a while, however, his Siberian journey was revived, and a subscription was raised to defray the expenses of it by Sir Joseph Banks, Dr. Hunter, Sir James Hall, and his countryman Colonel Smith, Secretary of the American Legation.

From London he went over to Hamburg, where he heard that Major Langborn, an American citizen, impelled by curiosity and a spirit of adventure similar to his own, was travelling over Europe on foot, and was then at Copenhagen. Ledyard immediately set off for the Danish capital, to meet with a countryman, so congenial to him in taste, and to persuade him to be the companion of his travels. He reached Copenhagen in mid-winter, January, 1787, and finding Langborn without money or friends, Ledyard generously accommódated him with the few guineas he had, and was fortunate enough to supply his own necessities by disposing of a small draft on Colonel Smith. His new friend meant to travel through Norway, Lapland and Sweden, during the winter, and to visit St. Petersburg in the spring; but he peremptorily rejected Ledyard's offer of attending him on this route, saying "No: I esteem you, but I can travel in the way I do with no man on earth.”

Mr. Sparks comments very naturally on what appeared to be an ungracious return for an act of such well-timed generosity and disinterested friendship. But we are persuaded that there is some misapprehension in this matter. We chanced to know Major Langborn after he returned from his peregrinations, and have often been amused with his account of his adventures and odd modes of travelling. He possessed a competent estate in Virginia, had been an officer of the Revolution, and soon after the peace, having conceived an ardent desire of seeing remote parts of the world, he determined to visit them in his own way. He commonly travelled on foot, and in the cheapest and obscurest style. When he arrived at any town at which he meant to stop, his appearance underwent an immediate metamorphosis, and he assumed his proper character. He was in Paris during the reign of terror, and was himself near falling a victim to the tyrannical proscriptions which then prevailed. Once, at a late hour of the night, his chamber was forced open by several gens d'armes, and he, with difficulty, escaped being hurried from his bed to the prison, for some other person for whom he was mistaken. Had he once entered its walls, it is needless to say that he would never have found his way out again except to the guillotine. He however continued in Paris until that bloody