During the next four months the fleet passed an uneventful time in the Canadian waters, the flagship being moored in the Basin, and then on the 12th September they received the acceptable news that Montreal and the rest of the province of New France had surrendered to General Amherst, and on 10th October the squadron again returned to Halifax to winter quarters.

On 19th January 1761, Lord Colville records in his Journal that he had “directed the storekeeper to pay the Master of the Northumberland, fifty pounds in consideration of his indefatigable industry in making himself master of the pilotage of the River St. Lawrence.”  This is the first official recognition that has been found of the fact that Cook had gone beyond the ordinary duties incumbent on every Master in His Majesty’s Service, namely:  “To observe all coasts, shoals, and rocks, taking careful notes of the same.”  There is no record in any of the official documents that Cook was specially engaged in surveying the river, but it is very evident from this entry that he must have done the work during the four months that his ship was moored in the Basin of Quebec.  That is to say, his promotion to the Northumberland was previous to, and not a consequence of his survey of the river, and that it was on account of his fitness for the work, and not because it had been done, as is constantly asserted, that he had been selected.

The north American pilot.

Admiral Saunders had issued orders the previous year, that the general instructions of the Admiralty as to taking observations, soundings, and bearings were to be carefully carried out, and the information obtained was, as opportunity offered, to be forwarded to him “so that all existing charts may be corrected and improved.”  This information, in the ordinary course, would be handed to Mr. Bissett, the Master of the flagship, for comparison and compilation, and he, knowing Cook’s fitness for the work, may have asked for his assistance and thus introduced him to the notice of Saunders, noted for his quick eye for merit, who, seeing his aptitude, selected him for the completion of the task.  Saunders, after his return to England, wrote to the Secretary of the Admiralty, on 22nd April 1760, saying that he had, ready for publication, a Draught of the River St. Lawrence with its harbours, bays, and islands, and asked for their Lordships’ directions thereon.  With their Lordships’ approval it was published, and may be found at the end of The North American Pilot, London, 1775, together with other maps, some of which are Cook’s work.  At the commencement of the book is a letter from Cook to the compiler of the volume, congratulating him on the collection, and referring to the fact that some of the charts contain his work, but he does not lay claim to any special ones.  On Saunders’ chart there is a long note which concludes: 

“The distances between Isle Coudre and Isle of Orleans, the Pillar Rocks and Shoals in the south channel were accurately determined by triangles.  The other parts of this chart were taken from the best French Draughts of this River.”