dagger, partly concealed under his cloke, feemingly with the intention of ftabbing Capt. Cook, or the lieutenant of marines. The latter propofed to fire at him, but Captain Cook would not permit him. Coho clofing upon them, obliged the officer to strike him with his piece, which made him retire. Another Indian laid hold of the ferjeant's musket, and endeavoured to wrench it from him, but was prevented by the lieutenant's making a blow at him. Capt. Cook, feeing the tumult increase, and the Indians growing more daring and refolute, obferved, that if he were to take the King off by force, he could not do it without facrificing the lives of many of his people. He then paused a little, and was on the point of giving his orders to reimbark, when a man threw a ftone at him: which he returned with a discharge of small shot (with which one barrel of his double piece was loaded). The man, having a thick mat before him, received little or no hurt: he brandifhed his fpear, and threatened to dart it at Capt. Cook, who being ftill unwilling to take away his life, instead of firing with ball, knocked him down with his musket. He expoftulated ftrongly with the moft forward of the crowd, upon their turbulent behaviour. He had given up all thoughts of getting the King on board, as it appeared impracticable; and his care was then only to act on the defenfive, and to fecure a fafe embarkation for his fmall party, which was clofely preffed by a body of feveral thousand people. Keowa, the King's fon, who was in the pinnace, being alarmed on hearing the first firing, was, at his own entreaty, put on fhore again: for even at that time, Mr. Roberts, who commanded her, did not apprehend that Captain Cook's perfon was in any danger: otherwife he would have detained the prince, which, no doubt, would have been a great check on the Indians. One man was observed, behind a double canoe, in the action of darting his fpear at Capt. Cook, who was forced to fire at him in his own defence, but happened to kill another clofe to him, equally forward in the tumult: the ferjeant obferving that he had miffed the man he aimed at, received orders to fire at him, which he did, and killed him. By this time the impetuofity of the Indians was fomewhat reprefied; they fell back in a body, and seemed staggered: but being pushed on by thofe behind, they returned to the charge, and poured a volley of ftones among the marines, who, without waiting for orders, returned it with a general difcharge of musketry, which was intantly followed by a fire from the boats. At this Captain Cook was heard to exprefs his aftonishment: he waved his hand to the boats, called to them to cease firing, and to come nearer in to receive the marines. Mr. Roberts immediately brought the pinnace as close to the shore as he could, without grounding, notwithstanding the fhowers of tones that fell among the people: but Mr. John Williamfon, the lieutenant, who commanded in the launch, inftead of pulling in to the affiftance of Captain Cook, withdrew his boat farther off, at the moment that every thing feems to have depended upon the timely exertions of thofe in the boats. By his own account, he mistook the fignal: but be that as it may, this circumftance appears to me to have decided the fatal turn of the affair, and to have removed every chance, which remained with Captain Cook, of efcaping with his life. The bufinefs of faving the marines out of

the

the water, in confequence of that, fell altogether upon the pinnace; which thereby became fo much crowded, that the crew were, in a great measure, prevented from using their fire-arms, or giving what affiftance they otherwife might have done to Captain Cook; fo that he feems, at the most critical point of time, to have wanted the affiftance of both boats, owing to the removal of the launch. For, notwithstanding that they kept up a fire on the crowd from the fituation to which they removed in that boat, the fatal confufion which enfued on her being withdrawn, to say the leaft of it, must have prevented the full effect, that the prompt co-operation of the two boats, according to Captain Cook's orders, muft have had, towards the prefervation of himself and his people. At that time, it was to the boats alone, that Capt. Cook had to look for his fafety; for when the marines had fired, the Indians rushed among them, and forced them into the water, where four of them were killed: their lieutenant was wounded, but fortunately escaped, and was taken up by the pinnace. Capt. Cook was then the only one remaining on the rock: he was obferved making for the pinnace, holding his left hand against the back of his head, to guard it from the stones, and carrying his mufket under the other arm. An Indian was feen following him with caution and timidity; for he ftopped once or twice as if undetermined to proceed. At laft he advanced upon him unawares, and with a large club, or common flake, gave him a blow on the back of the head, and then precipitately retreated. The ftroke feemed to have ftunned Capt. Cook: he ftaggered a few paces, then fell on his hand and one knee, and dropped his musket. As he was rifing, and before he could recover his feet, another Indian ftabbed him in the back of his neck with an iron dagger. He then fell into a bite of water, about knee deep, where others crowded upon him, and endeavoured to keep him under: but struggling very strongly with them, he got his head up, and cafting his look toward the pinnace, feemed to folicit affiftance. Though the boat was not above five or fix yards diftant from him, yet from the crowded and confufed ftate of the crew, it feems it was not in their power to fave him. The Indians got him under again, but in deeper water: he was, however, able to get his head up once more, and being almoft spent in the ftruggle, he naturally turned to the rock, and was endeavouring to fupport himself by it, when a favage gave him a blow with a club, and he was feen alive no more. They hauled him up lifeless on the rocks, where they feemed to take a favage pleasure in using every barbarity to his dead body, fnatching the

I have heard one of the gentlemen who were present say, that the first injury he received was from a dagger, as it is reprefented in the voyage; but, from the account of many others, who were alfo eye-witneffes, I am confident in faying that he was first ftruck with a club. I was afterwards confirmed in this by Kaireekea, the priest, who particularly mentioned the name of the man who gave him the blow, as well as that of the Chief who afterwards ftruck him with the dagger. This is a point not worth difputing about: I mention it as being folicitous to be accurate in this account, even in circumstances of themselves not very material.'

H 2

daggers

daggers out of each others hands, to have the horrid fatisfaction of piercing the fallen victim of their barbarous rage.

'I need make no reflection on the great lofs we fuffered on this occafion, or attempt to defcribe what we felt. It is enough to say, that no man was ever more beloved or admired: and it is truly painful to reflect, that he feems to have fallen a facrifice merely for want of being properly fupported; a fate, fingularly to be lamented, as having fallen to his lot, who had ever been confpicuous for his care of thofe under his command, and who feemed, to the laft, to pay as much attention to their prefervation, as to that of his own life.

If any thing could have added to the fhame and indignation univerfally felt upon the occafion, it was to find, that his remains had been deferted, and left expofed on the beach, although they might have been brought off. It appears, from the information of four or five midshipmen, who arrived on the fpot at the conclufion of the fatal bufinefs, that the beach was then almost entirely deferted by the Indians, who had at length given way to the fire of the boats and difperfed through the town; fo that there feemed no great obftacle to prevent the recovery of Capt. Cook's body; but the lieutenant returned on board without making the attempt.

It is unneceffary to dwell longer on this painful fubjec, and to relate the complaints and cenfures that fell on the conduct of the lieutenant. It will be fufficient to obferve, that they were fo loud as to oblige Capt. Clerke publicly to notice them, and to take the depofitions of his accufers down in writing. The Captain's bad ftate of health and approaching diffolution, it is fuppofed, induced him to deftroy thefe papers a fhort time before his death.

It is a painful tafk, to be obliged to notice circumstances, which feem to reflect on the character of any man. A ftrict regard to truth, however, compelled me to the infertion of these facts, which I have offered merely as facts, without prefuming to connect with them any comment of my own: efteeming it the part of a faithful hiftorian, "to extenuate nothing, nor fet down aught in malice."

Thefe circumftances are of too ferious a nature to admit of any comment from us. No man, we conclude, can poffioly fit down filently under fo direct a charge without being deemed guilty; but it would ill become us to judge in fuch a cafe, before we have heard the accused party.

Mr. S.'s anecdotes relating to Capt. Cook's life and fervices are more numerous than thofe which are inferted by Captain King, in the account of the voyage; and the Author concurs entirely in the opinion which we hazarded, in our account of that pub. lication, concerning the introduction of the venereal difeafe into the Sandwich-iflands: See Review, for October 1784, p. 298. He does not attempt to decide, abfolutely, that it was not left there by our people, but he endeavours fully to refute the arguments of those who have contended for the contrary opinion.

Wa

ART.

ART. II. Aretaus; confifting of Eight Books, on the Caufes, Symptoms, and Cure of acute and chronic Difeafes. Tranflated from the original Greek. By John Moffat, M. D. 8vo. 6s. Boards. Richardfon.

So many are the requifites for a good tranflation of a valuable

author, that we confider a judicious and elegant tranflator, as entitled to a very eminent place in the ranks of literary merit. A competent knowledge of the two languages is but a small part of the many accomplishments that form such a character. He ought, in the first place, to be thoroughly acquainted with the fubje&t, efpecially if it be fcientific, that he may be the better enabled to understand his author, and gain a clear and accurate idea of his thoughts. A good tranflator ought to convey the fenfe of the original in fuch terms, and in fuch a manner, as the author himself would have done had he written in the fame language; whence it appears, that a genius, or a manner of thinking, fimilar to that of the original writer, is a neceffary qualification of a tranflator, in order that the turn of their thoughts may not only be alike, but even be expreffed in the fame ftyle.

Aretaus is an author much admired by every physician who has attentively confidered him; and the more he is examined, and ftudied, the more brilliant he appears. His ftyle is, perhaps, the most concise that can be, yet, at the fame time, extremely perfpicuous: he conveys as much real knowledge in a fingle line as many other writers have done in feveral pages. His energy of expreffion commands attention, while his fimple and unadorned, though forcible, arguments compel the affint of his readers. The defcriptive part of his writings is fo admirably executed, that no fymptom, however trivial, is paffed over in filence; and yet nothing appears redundant or tirefome. In the therapeutic part he is fcarce equalled by any of his fucceffors, for method or elegance, and his inftructions are delivered in plain and comprehenfible terms.

Aretæus is one of thofe authors whofe writings have not efcaped the ravages of time. We have only part of them tranfmitted to us. Dr. Moffat, in his Preface, obferves, that our

• He was a phyfician of the fect of Pneumatiits, but in what age he lived is not a matter eafy to be determined. From an attentive perufal of his writings, we may be enabled to difcover what other writers preceded him; for inftance, he mentions the antidote for the poifon of vipers, difcovered by Andromachus, Nero's phyfician, which evidently places him after Nero. Diofcorides, the author of the Euporifta, who lived a little before the time of Galen, quotes Aretaus: whence we may infer that he flourished fome time between the reigns of Vefpafian and Adrian.

H. 3

Author

Author writes eight books in Greek; the four firft, on the causes and fymptoms of acute and chronic diseases, and the other four, on the cure, or therapeutics. It is matter of regret [he adds] that the five chapters of the firft book, on the caufes and fymptoms of acute difeafes have been loft. I have therefore purpofely avoided to give the cure of thefe, as it in fome measure appeared contradictory to common fenfe to obviate causes and symptoms, which were not in the original, or did not exist. I must likewife obferve, that the fifth chapter holds the place of the first, in order that it might better please the eye, and have more the appearance of a whole: befides thefe mentioned, there are a few chapters wanting in the cure of chronic difeafes, which I have taken care to point out in the course of the work, and to mark with afterifks in the contents.'

Every edition of Aretæus, which we have seen, contains a very large portion of the fifth chapter of the first book, in all probability the greatest part of it. The disease described in it is evidently the epilepfy, whofe various fymptons are most accurately enumerated, and admirably delineated. We can see no reason why it should be omitted in a tranflation, or why the five first chapters of the cure of difeafes fhould be neglected: they contain many curious obfervations, and are certainly as valuable as any of the reft. Tranflators, as editors, ought not to withhold any part of their author. The reafon Dr. M, affigns for numbering his chapters as he has done, making the fifth (which we find to be the fixth) of Aretæus the first of the translation, is a trifling one, and the change is attended with a very great inconvenience, especially to thofe, who like us, with to compare the tranflation with the original.

As a fpecimen, we have felected the 11th chapter of the third book, because we think it neither the beft nor worst part of the performance, and on that account, properly adapted to give our Readers a general idea of the whole:

If a difficulty of breathing is produced either from running, exceffive exercife, or any other caufe +, it is denominated Afthma that disease likewife ‡ known by the name Orthopnœa, is

There are few editions of this valuable author.-A Latin translation by Junius Paulus Craffus, Profeffor at Padua; printed at Venice, 1552, 4to.-A Greek edition by Jacobus Goupylus, Paris, 1554, 8vo. This edition was reprinted by H. Stephens.-A Greek and Latin edition, by Henifchius, 1603, fal.-A Greek and Latin elegant edition, by Dr. Wigan, Oxford, 1723, fol.-Another by Boerhaave, at Leyden, 1731.

+ Any other caufe.] The original ad eye would certainly have been better rendered by any kind of labour.

Like wife known.] The adverb likewife belongs to the verb called, ἡ νουσαν δε τρίσπνοια και ήδε κικλησκίαν ασθμα ; read therefore, the difcafe Orthopnea is likewife called Afthma...

called