Books: As Far As Man Could Go

THE VOYAGES OF CAPTAIN COOK (384 pp.)—Edlfed by Christopher Lloyd—Chanticleer Press ($2).

Parts of Mr. Orton's ears were missing. Captain James Cook of H.M.S. Endeavour was very much upset; his ship's clerk had been grossly abused. The poor fellow had gone to bed drunk in the ordinary way, and then someone had crept into his cabin and cropped his ears. There had been no witnesses, but on circumstantial evidence Captain Cook suspended a midshipman from duty for three weeks.

The midshipman's punishment would have been much harsher if Cook had found more proof. Nonetheless,...