James Cook

Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 1768 and 1779. He completed the first recorded circumnavigation of the main islands of New Zealand and was the first known European to visit the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands.

Cook joined the British merchant navy as a teenager before enlisting in the Royal Navy in 1755. He served during the Seven Years' War, and subsequently surveyed and mapped much of the entrance to the St. Lawrence River during the siege of Quebec. In the 1760s, he mapped the coastline of Newfoundland and made important astronomical observations which brought him to the attention of the Admiralty and the Royal Society. This acclaim came at a crucial moment in British overseas exploration, and it led to his commission in 1768 as commander of for the first of three Pacific voyages.

During these voyages, he sailed thousands of miles across largely uncharted areas of the globe. He mapped coastlines, islands, and features across the Pacific from Hawaii to Australia in greater detail than previously charted. He made contact with numerous indigenous peoples, and he claimed many territories for Britain. He displayed a combination of seamanship, superior surveying and cartographic skills, physical courage, and an ability to lead men in adverse conditions. His pioneering contributions to the prevention of scurvy led the Royal Society to award him the Copley Gold Medal.

In 1779, during his second visit to Hawaii, Cook was killed when a dispute with Native Hawaiians turned violent. His voyages left a legacy of scientific and geographical knowledge that influenced his successors well into the 20th century. Numerous memorials have been dedicated to him worldwide. However, he remains a controversial figure because of his occasionally violent encounters with indigenous peoples, and allegations that he facilitated British colonialism in the Pacific.

Early life

James Cook was born on 7 November 1728 in the village of Marton, located in the North Riding of Yorkshire, approximately eight miles from the sea.Template:Efn He was the second of eight children of James Cook (1693–1779), a Scottish farm labourer from Ednam in Roxburghshire, and his wife, Grace Pace (1702–1765), from Thornaby-on-Tees.Template:Sfn In 1736, his family moved to Airey Holme farm at Great Ayton, where his father's employer, Thomas Skottowe, paid for him to attend the local school.Template:Sfn In 1741, after five years of schooling, he began work for his father who had been promoted to farm manager.Template:Sfn

In 1745, when he was 16, Cook moved Template:Convert to the fishing village of Staithes to be apprenticed as a shopboy to grocer and haberdasher William Sanderson. After 18 months, Cook, not proving suited for shop work, travelled to the nearby port town of Whitby and was introduced to Sanderson's friends John and Henry Walker. The Walkers were prominent local ship-owners in the coal trade.Template:Sfn

Cook was taken on as a merchant navy apprentice in their small fleet of vessels, plying coal along the English coast. His first assignment was aboard the collier Freelove, and he spent several years on this and various other coasters, sailing between the Tyne and London. As part of his apprenticeship, Cook applied himself to the study of algebra, geometry, trigonometry, navigation and astronomy – all skills he would need one day to command his own ship.Template:Sfn

His three-year apprenticeship completed, Cook began working on merchant ships in the Baltic Sea. After passing his examinations in 1752, he soon progressed through the merchant navy ranks, starting with his promotion in that year to mate aboard the collier brig Friendship. He served as mate on the Friendship for two and a half years, visiting ports in Norway and Netherlands, learning to navigate in shallow waters along the east coast of Britain, and traversing the Irish Sea and the English Channel.Template:Sfn

Royal Navy

In 1755, Britain was re-arming for what was to become the Seven Years' War. Cook realised his career would advance more quickly in the Royal Navy than in commercial shipping, despite the need to start at the bottom of the naval hierarchy. So at age 26, he entered the Royal Navy at Wapping on 17 June 1755.

Cook's first posting was with Template:HMS, serving as able seaman and master's mate under Captain Joseph Hamar for his first year aboard, and Captain Hugh Palliser thereafter. In October and November 1755, he took part in Eagle's capture of one French warship and the sinking of another, following which he was promoted to boatswain in addition to his other duties. His first temporary command was in March 1756 when he was briefly master of Cruizer, a small cutter attached to Eagle while on patrol. In June 1757, Cook passed his master's examinations at Trinity House, Deptford, qualifying him to navigate and handle a ship of the King's fleet. He then joined the sixth-rate frigate HMS Solebay as master under Captain Robert Craig.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn

Canada

During the Seven Years' War, Cook served in North America as master aboard the fourth-rate Navy vessel Template:HMS.Template:Sfn With others in PembrokeTemplate:'s crew, he took part in the major amphibious assault that captured the Fortress of Louisbourg from the French in 1758, and in the siege of Quebec City in 1759.Template:Sfn

The day after the fall of Louisbourg, Cook met an army officer, Samuel Holland, who was using a plane table to survey the area.Template:Sfn The two men had an immediate connection through their interest in surveying, and Holland taught Cook the methods he was using. They collaborated on developing preliminary charts of the entrance to the Saint Lawrence River, with Cook most likely the author of the sailing directions for the river written in 1758. The combination of Holland's land-surveying techniques and Cook's hydrographic skills enabled the latter, from that time onwards, to produce nautical charts for coastal areas that substantially exceeded the accuracy of such Admiralty charts of the time.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

As Major-General James Wolfe's advance on Quebec progressed in 1759, Cook and other ship's masters took soundings, marked shoals, and updated chartsTemplate:Sndparticularly around Quebec. This information enabled Wolfe to mount a stealth attack at night, transporting troops across the river, leading to victory in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

File:Cooks Karte von Neufundland.jpg

This 1775 chart of Newfoundland was based on charts prepared by Cook during the Seven Years' War.

Cook's surveying ability was also put to use in mapping the jagged coast of Newfoundland in the 1760s, as master of Template:HMS.Template:Sfn He surveyed the northwest stretch in 1763 and 1764, the south coast between the Burin Peninsula and Cape Ray in 1765 and 1766, and the west coast in 1767. Cook employed local pilots to point out the rocks and hidden dangers along the south and west coasts. During the 1765 season, local pilots were engaged to assist with mapping Fortune Bay, Connaigre Bay, Hermitage Bay, the Bay d'Espoir and the coast west of St. Lawrence.Template:Efn

While in Newfoundland, Cook also conducted astronomical observations, in particular of the eclipse of the sun on 5 August 1766.Template:Sfn By obtaining an accurate estimate of the time of the start and finish of the eclipse, and comparing these with the timings at a known position in England, it was possible to calculate the longitude of the observation site in Newfoundland. This result was communicated to the Royal Society in 1767.

Cook's hydrographic surveys in NewfoundlandTemplate:Sndconducted over five seasonsTemplate:Sndproduced the first large-scale, accurate maps of the island's coasts. They were the first large-scale surveys to use precise triangulation to establish land outlines. They also gave Cook his mastery of practical surveying, achieved under often adverse conditions, and brought him to the attention of the Admiralty and Royal Society at a crucial moment both in his career and in the direction of British overseas discovery. Cook's charts were used for over 100 years.Template:Sfn

At the end of the 1767 surveying season, while HMS Grenville was returning to her home port of Deptford, Cook encountered a storm at the entrance to the Thames. He anchored Grenville off the Nore lighthouse and prepared the ship to ride out the weather. One anchor cable broke, and the ship went aground on a shoal. Despite efforts to improve the situation, Cook and his crew were obliged to abandon ship. They returned when the storm eventually abated, lightened and re-rigged the ship and continued into Deptford.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

First voyage (1768–1771)

A map of the entire globe, with lines showing where Cook's ships travelled

The tracks of Captain James Cook's voyages. The first voyage is shown in red, second voyage in green, and third voyage in blue. The track of Cook's crew following his death is shown as a dashed blue line.

Cook's first scientific voyage was a three-year expedition to the south Pacific Ocean aboard HMS Endeavour, conducted from 1768 to 1771. The voyage was jointly sponsored by the Royal Navy and Royal Society.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn The publicly stated goal was to observe the 1769 transit of Venus from the vantage point of Tahiti.Template:Sfn Additional objectivesTemplate:Sndoutlined in sealed orders not to be opened until Cook reached TahitiTemplate:Sndwere searching for the postulated Terra Australis Incognita (undiscovered southern land) and claiming lands for Britain.Template:SfnTemplate:EfnTemplate:Efn

In early 1768, the Admiralty asked shipwright Adam Hayes to select a vessel for the expedition; he chose the merchant collier Earl of Pembroke, which the Royal Navy renamed Endeavour.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn On 5 May 1768Template:Sndbased on the recommendation of Hugh PalliserTemplate:SndCook, age 39, was selected by the Admiralty to lead the voyage.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn The next day, he took his examination for the rank of lieutenantTemplate:Snda rank that was required for the captain of a ship armed with the number of guns planned for Endeavour.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn

Like most colliers, Endeavour had a large hold, a sturdy construction that would tolerate grounding, was small enough to be careened for repairs, and had a small draft that enabled navigating in shallows.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Upon completion of the first voyage, Cook wrote "It was to these properties in her, those on board owe their Preservation. Hence I was enabled to prosecute Discoveries in those Seas so much longer than any other Man ever did or could do."Template:Sfn When selecting ships for his second voyage in 1772, Cook chose the same type of ship, from the same shipbuilder.Template:Sfn

The Admiralty authorised a ship's company of 73 sailors and 12 Royal Marines.Template:Sfn Cook's second lieutenant was Zachary Hicks, and his third lieutenant was John Gore, a 16-year Naval veteran who had already circumnavigated the world twice aboard HMS Dolphin.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Also on the ship were astronomer Charles Green and 25-year-old naturalist Joseph Banks.Template:Sfn Banks provided funding for seven others to join the journey, including two naturalists, two artists, a secretary, and two servants.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn

Tahiti

The expedition departed England on 26 August 1768.Template:Sfn Cook and his crew rounded Cape HornTemplate:Efn and continued westward across the Pacific, arriving at Tahiti on 13 April 1769, where the observations of the transit were made.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn After the observations were completed, Cook was permitted to open the sealed orders, which instructed him to search for the postulated southern continent of Terra Australis. In May, Cook and some of his crew observed some Tahitians surfingTemplate:Snd becoming the first Europeans to witness the practice.Template:Sfn Two marines deserted by taking local wives and going into hiding, intending to remain on the island. In response, Cook detained a Tahitian chief as a hostage to compel the local community to locate and return the deserters.Template:Sfn

New Zealand

From Tahiti, Cook sailed to New Zealand andTemplate:Sndin October 1769Template:Sndlanded in Poverty Bay near the Tūranganui River.Template:Sfn With the aid of Tupaia, a Tahitian priest who had joined the expedition, Cook was the first European to communicate with the Māori.Template:Sfn In spite of the translator, encounters with the Māori on the first two days were violent: a Māori was shot and killed on each of the days.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Cook's approach to interactions with the Māori was to offer greetings and exchange gifts, in an attempt to establish friendly relations. But if his crew was threatened, he often ordered a quick and decisive use of force, despite his instructions from the Royal Society.Template:Sfn

Cook then sailed around both of New Zealand's main islands, mapping the complete coastline.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn While doing so, in January 1770, Cook came upon Māori eating the flesh of enemies they had recently killed, which confirmed stories of cannibalism they had heard in Poverty Bay.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Australia

Cook in a small boat, approaching a shore, where two Australian Aborigines are standing

Cook's first landing in Australia, at Botany Bay, was opposed by Aboriginal Australians.

The expedition continued west and, on 19 April 1770,Template:Efn they sighted Point Hicks and became the first recorded Europeans to encounter Australia's eastern coastline.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn Endeavour continued northwards along the coastline, keeping the land in sight, while Cook charted and named landmarks along the way.Template:Sfn On 23 April, Cook saw Aboriginal Australians for the first time at Brush Island near Bawley Point.Template:Efn

On 29 April, they made their first landfall on the continent in Botany Bay, at the east end of Silver Beach.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn In the expedition's first direct encounter with Aboriginal Australians, two Gweagal men of the Dharawal and Eora nation opposed the landing, and one of them was shot and wounded by Cook's crew.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Cook and his crew stayed at Botany Bay for a week, exploring the surrounding area and collecting water, timber, fodder, and botanical specimens.Template:Sfn Cook attempted to establish relations with the Aboriginal people, butTemplate:Sndsince his translator Tupaia could not speak their languageTemplate:Sndthey were unable to communicate.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn In his journal, Cook affirmed the humanity of Aboriginal peoples, responding to accounts by explorer William Dampier whose descriptions of their appearance had led some Europeans to speculate on a supposed close relation to black Africans. At the time, apologists for slavery often argued that people of African descent were not of the same species as white Europeans, using such claims to justify the slave trade.Template:Sfn

A large wooden ship, resting on its side on a beach

Cook deliberately beached the Endeavour to repair damage received when running aground on the Great Barrier Reef in 1770. Drawing by ship artist Sydney Parkinson.

After departing Botany Bay, they continued northwards, hugging the coast and charting it.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn They stopped at Bustard Bay on 23 May 1770, then proceeded north through the shallow and extremely dangerous Great Barrier Reef.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn On 11 June Endeavour ran aground on the reef at high tide.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The ship was stuck fast, so Cook ordered all excess weight thrown overboard, including six cannons and some of the ship's ballast. She was eventually hauled off after 27 hours, on the second high tide after the grounding.Template:Sfn The ship was leaking badly, so the crew fothered the damage (hauling a spare sail under the ship to cover and slow the leak).Template:Sfn Cook then careened the ship on a beach at the mouth of the Endeavour River for seven weeks while repairs were undertaken.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

During the course of the repairs, the crew had the opportunity to explore the surrounding area, during which Cook observed a kangaroo for the first time. Lieutenant John Gore killed a specimen, and the species was documented by Banks.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn Cook remarked on the tranquillity of the Aboriginal peoples, who did not covet material possessions, and would decline gifts, such as clothing, offered by the crew.Template:Sfn

The voyage continued northward until they reached the northeast tip of Australia: Cape York. Searching for a vantage point to look for a route forward, Cook saw a hill on a nearby island. On 22 August 1770, he stood atop the island and claimed the entire Australian coast that he had surveyed as British territory, and named the island Possession Island.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The expedition then turned west and continued homeward through the shallow and dangerous waters of the Torres Strait.Template:Sfn

Return to England

In October 1770, Cook stopped in Batavia (modern Jakarta, Indonesia), where the Dutch dockyard facilities were used to inspect and repair the damage from running aground on the Great Barrier Reef.Template:Sfn While in Batavia, seven of his crew died from dysentery, and 40 were sickened.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn From Batavia, he sailed to the Cape of Good Hope, then to the island of Saint Helena, arriving on 30 April 1771. The ship finally returned to England on 12 July 1771, anchoring in the Downs.

Shortly after his return, Cook was promoted in August 1771 to the rank of commander. A book based on the journals of Cook and Banks of the voyage was published in 1773.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn

Second voyage (1772–1775)

File:James Cook's portrait by William Hodges.jpg

Portrait of James Cook c. 1775, painted by William Hodges, who accompanied Cook on the second voyage.

In 1772, Cook was commissioned to lead another scientific expedition on behalf of the Royal Society, with the objective of determining the existence of the hypothetical continent Terra Australis.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Cook created a plan to probe southward in the southern summer, then retreat to more northerly, warmer, regions in the frigid southern winter.Template:Sfn

This voyage would have two ships and, unlike the first voyage, Cook selected them himself: Template:HMS commanded by Cook, and Template:HMS, commanded by Tobias Furneaux.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Resolution began her career as the North Sea collier Marquis of Granby, launched at Whitby in 1770. She was fitted out at Deptford with the most advanced navigational aids of the day, including an azimuth compass, ice anchors, and an apparatus for distilling fresh water from sea water.

Banks planned to travel with Cook in the second voyage, but his excessive demands for modifications to the ship conflicted with the Admiralty's constraints, so he removed himself from the voyage before it departed.Template:Sfn Banks was replaced by German naturalists Johann Reinhold Forster and his son, Georg Forster.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The crew also included astronomer William Wales (responsible for the new K1 chronometer carried on the Resolution), lieutenant Charles Clerke, and artist William Hodges.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Search for Terra Australis

Two large wooden ships at rest in the ocean, next to icebergs

The Resolution and Adventure retrieved ice to melt for drinking water. Watercolour by expedition artist William Hodges, 1773.

After departing England, the ships travelled south to South Africa and stopped at Cape Town in November 1772.Template:Sfn From there they sailed eastward, planning to circumnavigate the globe roughly between 50°S and 70°S latitude.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn In late November 1772, the ships sighted their first icebergs and Cook performed an experiment: his crew retrieved blocks of ice and melted them onboard the ships, producing good quality fresh water, proving that drinking water could be obtained from sea ice.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn On 17 January 1773 the crews became the first recorded Europeans to cross the Antarctic Circle.Template:Sfn Despite his mission to find Terra Australis, Cook never sighted Antarctica in any of his voyages; but on 18 JanuaryTemplate:Sndunbeknownst to himTemplate:Sndthe ships approached within Template:Convert of Antarctica.Template:Sfn

In February 1773, in dense Antarctic fog, Resolution and Adventure became separated.Template:Sfn Furneaux made his wayTemplate:Sndvia TasmaniaTemplate:EfnTemplate:Sndto a pre-arranged rendezvous point to be used in the event of separation: Queen Charlotte Sound in New Zealand. Cook joined Furneaux in New Zealand in May.Template:Sfn The crews traded with the Māori people, and in his journal, Cook lamented the fact that Europeans were possibly transmitting diseases to the Māori people and encouraging prostitution.Template:Sfn

Tahiti and New Zealand

A Māori man and an English man, trading a crayfish for a piece of cloth.

Polynesian inerpreter Tupaia drew this illustration of a Māori man and Joseph Banks trading a crayfish and cloth; during the first voyage, c. 1769.Template:Sfn

In June, the ships departed New ZealandTemplate:Snd in the southern winterTemplate:Sndto resume their eastward search for Terra Australis.Template:Sfn About a month after leaving New Zealand, twenty crewmen aboard the Adventure contracted scurvyTemplate:Sndone of whom diedTemplate:Sndbecause Furneaux had failed to follow Cook's dietary instructions.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn The ships proceeded in a small anti-clockwise loop, visiting Tahiti and Tonga, planning to return to New Zealand together.Template:Sfn Before reaching New Zealand, in the night of 29–30 October, the ships became separated for a second timeTemplate:Sndthis time caused by a storm.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Cook proceeded to the rendezvous point, and waited three weeks, then departed to continue the voyage alone.Template:Sfn

Delayed by storms, Furneaux arrived at the designated rendezvous point in Queen Charlotte Sound five weeks after they separated, missing Cook by four days.Template:Sfn While eleven members of the Adventure’s crew were ashore gathering provisions, a violent altercation occurred with a group of Māori, resulting in the deaths of all the crewmen and two Māori.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Furneaux later discovered the bodies of the crew members, partially burned in preparation for cannibalism.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Many members of the Adventure's crew wanted to exact revenge on the Māori, but Furneaux thought it prudent to avoid additional violence, so they left New Zealand and quickly returned to Britain, without Cook.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn When learning about the deaths much later,Template:Efn Cook wondered if Furneaux's crew was at fault, writing "I must ... observe in favour of the New Zealanders that I have always found them of a brave, noble, open and benevolent disposition".Template:Sfn

Circuit around the South Pacific

After the missed rendezvous, Resolution made a large anti-clockwise loop in the south Pacific: heading far south, then visiting Easter Island, Tonga, and finally returning to New Zealand.Template:Sfn In the first stretch of the large loop, the Resolution continued her search for Terra Australis by heading southeast, reaching her most southern latitude of 71°10′S in January 1774.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn At this point, the ship's progress was blocked by impenetrable pack ice, and Cook wrote in his private diary: "I will not say it was impossible anywhere to get in among this Ice, but I will assert that the bare attempting of it would be a very dangerous enterprise and what I believe no man in my situation would have thought of. I whose ambition leads me not only farther than any other man has been before me, but as far as I think it possible for man to go..."Template:Sfn

In June 1774, the ship stopped to resupply at the island of Nomuka in Tonga, where most of the crew engaged in intimate relations with women. Cook was berated by an older woman after he declinedTemplate:Sndconsistent with his usual conductTemplate:Sndto engage in sexual relations with a young woman who had been offered to him.Template:Sfn When Cook completed the large anti-clockwise circuit and returned to Queen Charlotte Sound, the Māori welcomed his arrival. In conversations with them, Cook heard confusing stories about a conflict with Europeans. Upon making inquiries, Cook learned that the Adventure had visited the area approximately eleven months earlier, but he remained unaware of the violent encounter that had led to the deaths of eleven of its crew.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn

Return to England

File:Cook-1777.PNG

This south-up map of South Georgia was prepared in 1777 by Cook. The track of the Resolution is visible as straight line segments around the islands.

Leaving New Zealand, the Resolution proceeded home, sailing south of Tierra del Fuego, and stopping at South Georgia Island in January 1775, where Cook charted the coast and claimed the island group in the name of his king.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn From there, they continued eastward and discovered the South Sandwich Islands,Template:Sfn then a stop in South Africa, andTemplate:SndfinallyTemplate:Sndnorth back to Britain.Template:Sfn

The primary objective of the second voyage was to determine if the hypothesised continent Terra Australis existed. After the trip, the general consensus was that the landmass did not exist, because it was imagined to extend into the temperate latitudes, and Cook had demonstrated that no polar landmass reached beyond about 50°.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn Two books were published in 1777 about the expedition: one by Cook, and another by the Forsters.Template:Sfn

Cook was promoted to the rank of post-captain and given an honourary retirement from the Royal Navy, with a posting as an officer of the Greenwich Hospital.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He reluctantly accepted, insisting that he be allowed to quit the post if an opportunity for active duty should arise. His fame extended beyond the Admiralty: he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society and awarded the Copley Gold Medal for completing his second voyage without losing a man to scurvy. Nathaniel Dance-Holland painted his portrait; he dined with James Boswell; and he was described in the House of Lords as "the first navigator in Europe".

Third voyage (1776–1779)

Two large wooden ships entering a bay near a tropical island, surrounded by several Tahitians in canoes

Expediton artist William Hodges painted the Resolution and Adventure in Tahiti, c. 1776.

The primary objective of Cook's third expedition was to search for a Northwest Passage connecting the north Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Simultaneously, the Admiralty was organizing a second expeditionTemplate:Sndcommanded by Richard Pickersgill, who had accompanied Cook on his first two voyagesTemplate:Sndto search for the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic side.Template:Sfn To keep the goal of the mission secret, the Admiralty publicly declared that its aim was to return Polynesian native Mai to his home in Tahiti.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn

On this voyage, Cook again commanded the Resolution, while Captain Charles Clerke commanded Template:HMS.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn Cook's lieutenants included John Gore and James King.Template:Sfn William Bligh was the master.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn William Anderson was the surgeon (and also served as the voyage's botanist), William Bayly was the astronomer, and the official artist was John Webber.Template:Sfn Among the midshipmen was George Vancouver.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn Welshman David Samwell served as the surgeon's mate.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn

Tahiti and Hawaii

Two large wooden ships in a bay of Tahiti, with several Tahitian canoes

HMS Resolution and Discovery in Matavai Bay, Tahiti, painted by John Cleveley the Younger.

The third voyage began by sailing south from England, around South Africa into the Indian Ocean, where they stopped, in December 1776, at the desolate Kerguelen Island.Template:Sfn Walking on its beach, a seaman discovered a bottle containing a note written in Latin. The message had been left in January 1774 by the French explorer Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec. Cook instructed one of his officers to append an addendum to the note, identifying his own vessels and recording the date. He then proceeded to raise the British flag.Template:Sfn Continuing eastward to New Zealand, they anchored in February 1777 near the location where eleven crew members of the Adventure had been killed during the second voyage. Despite knowledge of the deaths, Cook treated the Māori with respect, even inviting them into his cabin. Some members of Cook's crew were confused and angered by their leader' failure to take revenge.Template:Sfn

The expedition then completed the first part of its mission by returning Mai to his homeland of Tahiti.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn While on Tahiti, Cook was allowed to observe a multi-day ritual involving a human sacrifice.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In October 1777, on the Tahitian island of Mo'orea, a goat belonging to the expedition was stolen by a local inhabitant. Cook organised a large search party and spent two days conducting an intensive search, destroying a large number of canoes and huts, until the goat was returned. Although several members of his crew considered the retaliation excessive, Cook did not record his reasoning for the destruction.Template:Sfn

Cook continued northward andTemplate:Sndafter a brief stop at Kiritimati AtollTemplate:Sndbecame the first recorded European to see the Hawaiian Islands, on 18 January 1778.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn During this first visit to Hawaii, they made landfall at two locations: Waimea harbour on the island of Kauai, and the nearby island of Niihau.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn When he first stepped ashore, the Hawaiians prostrated themselves in front of Cook.Template:Sfn One of Cook's crew, John Williamson, shot and killed a Hawaiian man while ashore collecting provisions, infuriating Cook.Template:Sfn On Niihau, Cook left a pair of pigs for breeding, and pumpkin, melon, and onion seedsTemplate:Sndcontinuing a practice he had followed on various islands throughout his voyages.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn Cook observed remarkable similarities between the cultures of Hawaii and Tahiti, including language, marae structures, religion, and treatment of the dead.Template:Sfn He named the archipelago the "Sandwich Islands" after the fourth Earl of SandwichTemplate:Sndthe First Lord of the Admiralty.Template:Sfn

North America

From Hawaii, Cook sailed northeast to reach the west coast of North America and begin his search for a Northwest Passage.Template:Sfn He sighted the Oregon coast at approximately 44°30′ north latitude, naming it Cape Foulweather, after the bad weather which forced his ships south to about 43° before they could begin their exploration of the coast northward.Template:Sfn He unwittingly sailed past the Strait of Juan de Fuca and soon after entered Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island.Template:Sfn Cook's two ships remained in Nootka Sound from 29 March to 26 April 1778, in a cove at the south end of Bligh Island.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn After leaving Nootka Sound, Cook explored and mapped the coast all the way to the Bering Strait, on the way identifying what came to be known as Cook Inlet in Alaska.Template:Sfn

By the second week of August 1778, Cook had sailed through the Bering Strait, crossed the Arctic Circle, and sailed into the Chukchi Sea.Template:Sfn He headed northeast up the coast of Alaska until he was blocked by sea ice at a latitude of 70°44′ north.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Cook then sailed west to the Siberian coast, and then southeast down the Siberian coast back to the Bering Strait.Template:Sfn During this voyage, Cook charted the majority of the North American northwest coastline for the first time, determined the extent of Alaska, and closed the gap between earlier explorations of the north PacificTemplate:Snd the Russian (from the west) and the Spanish (from the south). By early September 1778, he was back in the Bering Sea on his way to return to Hawaii.

Cook became increasingly tired, harsh and volatile during his final voyage.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Tensions between Cook and his crew increased, his reprisals against crew members and indigenous people were more severe, and some officers began to question his judgement.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn

Return to Hawaii

Cook returned to Hawaii in late November 1778.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The ships sailed throughout the archipelago for eight weeks, surveying and trading.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn After stops in Maui and Kauai, Cook made landfall at Kealakekua Bay on Hawaiʻi Island, the largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago.Template:Sfn On Hawaiʻi Island, Cook met with the Hawaiian king Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who treated Cook with respect, and invited him to participate in several ceremonies. The king and Cook exchanged gifts, and the king presented Cook with a feathered cloak.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Several members of the expedition speculated that the Hawaiians thought Cook was a deity.Template:Sfn Later scholars confirmed the suspicions, and concluded that the Hawaiians thought Cook was the Polynesian god Lono.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Cook's arrival coincided with the Makahiki, a Hawaiian harvest festival of worship for Lono. Some scholars believe that the form of HMS ResolutionTemplate:Sndspecifically, the mast formation, sails and riggingTemplate:Sndresembled certain significant artefacts that formed part of the season of worship.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:EfnTemplate:Efn

Death

A beach with a dozen Maori warriors fighting against Cook and several of his marines

The Death of Captain Cook by Johan Zoffany (c. 1795) is one of several paintings of this event.

After a month on Hawaiʻi Island, Cook set sail to resume his exploration of the northern Pacific, but shortly after departure a strong gale caused ResolutionTemplate:'s foremast to break, so the ships returned to Kealakekua Bay for repairs.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Relations between the crew and the Hawaiians were already strained before the departure, and they grew worse when the ship returned for repairs.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn Numerous quarrels broke out and petty thefts were common.Template:Sfn On 13 February 1779, a group of Hawaiians stole one of Cook's cutters.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

The following day, Cook attempted to recover the cutter by kidnapping and ransoming the king, Kalaniʻōpuʻu.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Cook and a small party marched through the village to retrieve the king.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Cook led Kalaniʻōpuʻu away; as they got to the boats, one of Kalaniʻōpuʻu's favourite wives, Kānekapōlei, and two chiefs approached the group. They pleaded with the king not to go and a large crowd began to form at the shore.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn News reached the Hawaiians that high-ranking Hawaiian chief Kalimu had been shot (on the other side of the bay) while trying to break through a British blockade – this exacerbated the already tense situation.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Hawaiian warriors confronted the landing party and threatened them with stones, clubs and daggers.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Cook fired a warning shot, then shot one of the Hawaiians dead.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Hawaiians continued to attack and the British fired more shots before retreating to the boats.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Cook and four marines were killed in the affray and left on the shore.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Seventeen Hawaiians were killed.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn

Aftermath

Plaque reading "Near this spot Captain James Cook met his death, February 14, 1799"

A marker was placed at the shoreline of Kealakekua Bay, near the spot where Captain Cook was slain.

The bodies of Cook and the marines were taken inland to a village by Hawaiians.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn James King took a boat to the opposite side of the bay, and was approached by a priest who offered to intercede and ask for Cook's remains to be returned; King consented.Template:Sfn Some crewmen returned to the shore to collect water, and skirmishes broke out, resulting in the death of several Hawaiians.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn On 19 February, a truce was arranged, and some of Cook's remains were returned to the Resolution, including several bones, the skull, some charred flesh, and the hands with the skin still attached.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The crew placed the remains in a weighted box, and buried their captain at sea.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Clerke had assumed leadership of the expeditionTemplate:Sfnand the ships left the bay on 23 February 1779. They spent five weeks charting the coasts of the islandsTemplate:Sndin accordance with a plan set out by Cook before his death.Template:Sfn They travelled through the archipelago, stopping at Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, and Kauai.Template:Sfn On 1 April, they departed the Hawaiian islands and sailed north to again try to locate the Northwest Passage.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Clerke stopped in Kamchatka and entrusted Cook's journal, with a cover letter describing Cook's death, to the local military commander, Magnus von Behm.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Behm had the package delivered, overland, from Siberia to England.Template:Sfn The Admiralty, and all of England, learned of Cook's death when the package arrived in LondonTemplate:Sndeleven months after he died; the package had arrived in England before the surviving crew.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn

Continuing north, the expedition made it to the Bering Strait, but was again blocked by pack ice, and unable to discover a Northwest Passage.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Clerke died of tuberculosis on 22 August 1779 and John Gore, a veteran of Cook's first voyage, took command of the Resolution and the expedition. Lieutenant James King replaced Gore in command of Discovery.Template:Sfn The ships returned home, reaching England on 4 October 1780.

Personal life

File:Elizabeth Batts Cook.jpg

Elizabeth Cook, wife (16 years) and widow (56 years) of James Cook, painted by William Henderson, 1830.

On 21 December 1762, Cook married Elizabeth Batts, the daughter of Samuel BattsTemplate:Sndkeeper of the Bell Inn in Wapping and one of Cook's mentorsTemplate:Sndat St Margaret's Church, Barking, Essex. The couple had six children:Template:Sfn James (1763–1794),Template:Efn Nathaniel (1764–1780),Template:Efn Elizabeth (1767–1771), Joseph (1768–1768), George (1772–1772), and Hugh (1776–1793).Template:Efn Cook has no direct descendants – all of his children died before having children of their own. When not at sea, Cook lived in the East End of London and attended St Paul's Church, Shadwell.Template:Sfn

Legacy

Health and disease

Cook was a pioneer in the prevention of scurvy and implemented several successful strategies, including regular replenishment of fresh food.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn During his first circumnavigation of the globe, he achieved the remarkable feat of not losing a single crew member to the diseaseTemplate:Sndan uncommon outcome at the time.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn In addition to diet, Cook also promoted general hygiene by having the crew wash themselves frequently and air-out their bedding, clothes, and quarters.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In recognition of his contributions to medical and naval science, he was awarded the prestigious Copley Medal by the Royal Society in 1776, following his presentation on scurvy prevention.Template:Sfn

Many European explorersTemplate:Sndincluding members of Cook’s crewsTemplate:Sndcarried communicable diseases such as syphilis, gonorrhoea, tuberculosis, malaria, dysentery, smallpox, influenza, and hepatitis.Template:Sfn These diseases caused a significant decline in population in some local populations, who often had no natural resistance.Template:Sfn Cook's crews transmitted some of these diseases to indigenous peoples in Tahiti, Hawaii, British Columbia, and New Zealand.Template:Sfn In Hawaii, Cook’s crews were the first Europeans to introduce some diseases to the local population.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn

Cook took measures to mitigate the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including issuing orders that prohibited women from boarding his ships and instructing his crew to refrain from sexual relations with indigenous women.Template:Sfn In Hawaii, he specifically ordered that "no woman was to board either of the ships" and that any crew member known to have an STD was strictly forbidden from engaging in sexual activity, stating these directives were intended "to prevent as much as possible the communicating [of] this fatal disease to a set of innocent people". Despite these efforts, Cook’s orders were frequently disregarded by members of his crew.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Based on the journals of Cook and his crew, Cook never engaged in sexual relations with indigenous women during his voyages.Template:Sfn

Navigation and science

A large pocket watch, about 13 centimeters in diameter

The accuracy of the K1 chronometer enabled accurate computation of longitude on the second and third voyages. The cost was £500, Template:Inflation.Template:Sfn

Cook's three voyages to the Pacific Ocean vastly expanded Europeans' knowledge of the area.Template:Sfn Several islands, including the Hawaiian group, were encountered for the first time by Europeans, and his accurate navigational charting of large areas of the Pacific contributed to the fields of hydrographic and geographic knowledge.Template:Sfn

On his second and third voyages, Cook carried Larcum Kendall's K1 chronometerTemplate:Snda copy of John Harrison's H4Template:Sndto test if it could accurately keep time for extended periods while withstanding the violent motions of a ship. It performed well and thus made a key contribution to solving the longitude problem that had plagued mariners for centuries.Template:Sfn Cook praised the timepiece profusely.Template:Sfn

Cook and Banks were among the first Europeans to have extensive contact with a large number of peoples in the Pacific. They identified similarities between cultures and languages across many Pacific Islands, leading them to suggest that the populations shared a common origin in Asia.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Significant observations and discoveries were made by the scientists that Cook carried on each his voyages: naturalists on the first voyage collected over 3,000 plant species; and those on the second voyage published Observations Made During a Voyage Round the World, one of the first works which utilised a modern, interdisciplinary approach to geography.Template:Sfn

Commemorations

A bronze statue of Cook, mounted atop a large granite base

This Statue of James Cook in Hyde Park, Sydney, has an inscription which reads: "Discovered this territory, 1770".

Cook has been commemorated internationally, primarily in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Numerous statues and monuments have been erected in his honour. One of the earliest such memorials in the United Kingdom is located at The Vache, erected in 1780 by Hugh Palliser, a friend of Cook.Template:Efn There is a monument to Cook in the church of St Andrew the Great, St Andrew's Street, Cambridge, where his wife and two of his sons are buried. There are statues of Cook in Hyde Park in Sydney, and at St Kilda in Melbourne.

Cook has appeared on many stamps and coins: Over four hundred stamps have been issued in his honour. Dozens of coins have been issued with Cook's image, including the 1928 U. S. Hawaii Sesquicentennial half-dollar, which carries Cook's image.

The Royal Research Ship RRS James Cook was built in 2006, and serves in the UK's Royal Research Fleet. NASA named several craft after Cook's ships, including the Apollo 15 Command/Service Module Endeavour, the , and the .

An annual re-enactment of Cook's 1770 landing at the site of modern Cooktown, Australia, has taken place since 1959, with the support and participation of many of the local Guugu Yimithirr people. They celebrate the first act of reconciliation between Indigenous Australians and non-indigenous people, when a Guugu Yimithirr elder stepped in after some of Cook's men had violated custom by taking green turtles from the river and not sharing with the local people. He presented Cook with a broken-tipped spear as a peace offering, thus preventing possible bloodshed.Template:Sfn

Many buildings and institutions are named after him, including James Cook University, which opened in Townsville, Australia in 1970, and James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, England Template:Emdash a major teaching hospital which opened in 2003, near the James Cook railway station.

Ethnographic collections

File:H000104- Feather Cape.jpg

The Australian Museum holds a collection of artefacts from Cook's voyages, including this Hawaiian ʻAhu ʻula (feather cloak).

The Australian Museum in Sydney holds over 250 objects associated with Cook's voyages. The objects are mostly from Polynesia, although there are also artefacts from the Solomon Islands, North America and South America. Many of the artefacts were collected during first contact between Europeans and indigenous peoples of the Pacific. The largest collection of artefacts from Cook's voyages is the Cook-Forster Collection held at the University of Göttingen.

Controversy

Cook is a controversial figure due several violent encounters with indigenous peoples, and allegations that he facilitated British colonialism. Cook and his crew killed an estimated 45 indigenous people during the three voyages, including nine Māori and thirty Hawaiians.Template:Efn

Scholars continue to debate the extent to which Cook can be held responsible for the subsequent European colonisation of the Pacific. A number of commentators argue that Cook enabled British imperialism and colonialism in the Pacific.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn Some historians note that the Admiralty's instructions to Cook for his first voyage directed him to seek the consent of indigenous peoples before claiming territory on behalf of Britain. However, Cook did not always obtain informed consent.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn

The historian Robert Tombs defends Cook against accusations that he initiated British imperialism in the Pacific, arguing that European influence in the region was inevitable, and that Cook was more humane and enlightened than most of his contemporaries. Tombs states that blaming Cook for 21st century racism and inequities is facile and avoids addressing the underlying social issues.

The period 2018 to 2021 marked the 250th anniversary of Cook's first voyage of exploration. Several countries, including Australia and New Zealand, arranged official events to commemorate the voyage, leading to widespread public debate about Cook's legacy and the violence associated with his contacts with indigenous peoples. In the lead-up to the commemorations, various memorials to Cook in Australia and New Zealand were vandalised, and there were public calls for their removal or modification due to their alleged promotion of colonialist narratives. Attacks on public monuments to Cook have occurred in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Hawaii.

Indigenous people have campaigned for the return of indigenous artefacts taken during Cook's voyages.Template:Efn The art historian Alice Proctor argues that the controversies over public representations of Cook and the display of indigenous artefacts from his voyages are part of a broader debate over resistance to colonialist narratives and the decolonisation of museums and public spaces.Template:Sfn

See also

Template:Div col

• Death of CookTemplate:SndPaintings depicting Cook's death
• European and American voyages of scientific exploration

References

Sources

• Sometimes titled The Journals of Captain James Cook on His Voyages of Discovery Vol. IV: The Life of Captain James Cook.

• Originally published in 1992, with a new Afterword (pp. 197–250) called "De-Sahlinization" added in the 1997 reprint, which discusses the Sahlins controversy.

• The original journal of David Samwell, written during the third voyage.

• Book about the third voyage, written several years after the expedition.

Further reading

• Reprinted in 2017 by Taylor & Francis.

• Reprinted in 2017 by Taylor & Francis.

• Two volumes: Volume 1, Volume 2

• A picture book with a wide variety of works by artists that accompanied Cook.

• First published in 1777 as A Voyage round the World in His Britannic Majesty's Sloop Resolution, Commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the Years, 1772, 3, 4, and 5

• Volume I; Volume II–III.

External links

• Template:Internet Archive author - Digitised books and documents
• – Digitised books and documents
• Template:Librivox author

Journals

• Journal from Cook's second voyage – High-resolution digitised version at the Cambridge Digital Library
• Searchable version of the Endeavour journal = Held by the National Library of Australia
• The South Seas Project – Maps and online copies of journals, including Banks' journal. Includes John Hawkesworth's account of Cook's first voyage.

Collections and museums

• American Geographical Society Library – Collection of maps made by Cook
• Template:UK National Archives ID
• Captain Cook Birthplace Museum Marton
• Captain Cook Memorial Museum Whitby
• Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa – Collection of items related to Cook
• National Museum of Australia – Cook-Forster – Artefacts collected during the voyages of Cook