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James Cook
British explorer and naval officer (1728–1779) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Captain James Cook (7 November 1728[a] – 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 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 HMS Endeavour 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.
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Early life
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James Cook was born on 7 November 1728[a] in the village of Marton, located in the North Riding of Yorkshire, approximately 8 miles (13 km) from the sea.[1][2] He was the second of eight children of James Cook, a Scottish farm labourer from Ednam in Roxburghshire, and his wife, Grace Pace, from Thornaby-on-Tees.[1][3] 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.[4] In 1741, after five years of schooling, he began work for his father who had been promoted to farm manager.[5]
In 1745, when he was 16, Cook moved 20 miles (32 km) to the fishing village of Staithes to be apprenticed as a shopboy to grocer and haberdasher William Sanderson.[1] 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.[6]
Cook was taken on as a merchant navy apprentice in the Walker's 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.[7]
Upon completing his three-year apprenticeship, Cook began working on merchant ships in the Baltic Sea. After obtaining his mariner license in 1752, he was promoted to the rank of master's mate and began serving on the collier brig Friendship.[8] 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.[9]
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Royal Navy
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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.[10]
Cook's first posting was with HMS Eagle, serving as able seaman and master's mate under Captain Joseph Hamar for his first year aboard, and Captain Hugh Palliser thereafter.[11] 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.[10] His first temporary command was in March 1756 when he was briefly master of Cruizer, a small cutter attached to Eagle while on patrol.[10][12] 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.[13] He then joined the sixth-rate frigate HMS Solebay as master under Captain Robert Craig.[14][b]
Canada
During the Seven Years' War, Cook served in North America as master aboard the fourth-rate Navy vessel HMS Pembroke.[16] With others in Pembroke'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.[17]
The day after the fall of Louisbourg, Cook met an army officer, Samuel Holland, who was using a plane table to survey the area.[18] 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.[19] The integration of Holland’s land-surveying techniques with Cook’s hydrographic expertise enabled Cook, from that point forward, to produce nautical charts of coastal regions that significantly exceeded the accuracy of contemporary Admiralty charts.[20][21]
As Major-General James Wolfe's advance on Quebec progressed in 1759, Cook and other ship's masters took soundings, marked shoals, and updated charts – particularly 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.[22][23]
As the Seven Years' War came to a close, Cook was given the task of charting the rugged coast of Newfoundland.[25] He was appointed master of HMS Grenville, and spent five seasons producing charts.[26][c] 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.[28] Cook employed local pilots to point out the rocks and hidden dangers.[28][d]
Cook severely injured his right hand in August 1764 when a powder horn he was carrying exploded.[29][30][e] In July 1765, Cook experienced the first of several groundings he would face during his career, when Grenville struck an uncharted rock; cargo had to be unloaded before she could be refloated.[32]
While in Newfoundland, Cook also conducted astronomical observations, notably of a solar eclipse on 5 August 1766.[33] He precisely recorded the start and end times of the eclipse and sent the results to John Bevis in England, who compared them with data from a known location and calculated the longitude of the observation site in Newfoundland.[33][34] The results were communicated to the Royal Society in 1767.[34]
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. An anchor cable snapped, causing the ship to run aground on a shoal. Despite efforts to refloat her, Cook and his crew were forced to abandon ship. They returned when the storm abated; lightened and re-rigged the ship, and continued into Deptford.[35][36][37]
The charts compiled by Cook were of such quality and accuracy – some were printed at a scale of one inch to one league[38] – that they were still in use by the Royal Navy one hundred years later.[39] His reputation for accuracy and precision would later be a significant factor in his selection to lead the first Pacific voyage.[40]
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First voyage (1768–1771)
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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.[43][f] The publicly stated goal was to observe the 1769 transit of Venus from the vantage point of Tahiti.[44] Additional objectives – outlined in sealed orders not to be opened until Cook reached Tahiti – were searching for the postulated Terra Australis Incognita (undiscovered southern land) and claiming lands for Britain.[45][46][g][h]
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.[53][54][i] On 5 May 1768 – based on the recommendation of Hugh Palliser – Cook, age 39, was selected by the Admiralty to lead the voyage.[56][j] The next day, he took his examination for the rank of lieutenant – a rank that was required for the captain of a ship armed with the number of guns planned for Endeavour.[56][57][k]
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.[58][59] 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."[59] When selecting ships for his second voyage in 1772, Cook chose the same type of ship, from the same shipbuilder.[60]
The Admiralty authorised a ship's company of 73 sailors and 12 Royal Marines.[61] 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.[62][63] Also on the ship were astronomer Charles Green and 25-year-old naturalist Joseph Banks.[64] Banks provided funding for seven others to join the journey, including two naturalists, two artists, a secretary, and two servants.[65][l]
Tahiti
The expedition departed England on 26 August 1768.[66] Cook and his crew rounded Cape Horn[m] and continued westward across the Pacific, arriving at Tahiti on 13 April 1769, where the observations of the transit were made.[68][n] 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.[71] In May, Cook and some of his crew observed Tahitians surfing – becoming the first Europeans to witness the practice.[70]
In June, two incidents occurred that would be repeated, in various forms, many times during Cook's voyages: Tahitians were offended when some of his crew took rocks – to use as ship's ballast – from a sacred marae without permission.[72] In a separate event, Tahitians took various items from the crew, prompting Cook to seize 22 canoes – many of which did not belong to the individuals responsible – as ransom until the stolen property was returned.[72]
In July, 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.[74]
New Zealand
From Tahiti, Cook sailed to New Zealand and – in October 1769 – landed in Poverty Bay near the Tūranganui River.[75] With the aid of Tupaia, a Tahitian priest who had joined the expedition, Cook was the first European to communicate with the Māori.[76] 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.[75][77][78] 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.[79]
Cook then sailed around both of New Zealand's main islands, mapping the complete coastline.[80][81] 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.[82][83]
Australia
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The expedition continued west and, on 19 April 1770, they sighted Point Hicks and became the first Europeans to encounter Australia's eastern coastline.[87][88][p] Endeavour continued northwards along the coastline, keeping the land in sight, while Cook charted and named landmarks along the way.[89] On 23 April, Cook saw Aboriginal Australians for the first time at Brush Island near Bawley Point.[90][q]
On 29 April, they made their first landfall on the continent in Botany Bay, at the east end of Silver Beach.[91][r] In the expedition's first direct encounter with Aboriginal Australians, two Gweagal men of the Dharawal and Eora nation opposed the landing. Cook fired a warning shot toward the Gweagal men, who responded by throwing spears and stones at the crew. Cook ordered his men to open fire, wounding one of the Gweagal.[86][94][95] Cook and his crew stayed at Botany Bay for a week, exploring the surrounding area and collecting water, timber, fodder, and botanical specimens.[96] Cook attempted to establish relations with the Aboriginal people, but – since his translator Tupaia could not speak their language – they were unable to communicate.[97][98][s] 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.[102] 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.[102]
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After departing Botany Bay, they continued northwards, hugging the coast and charting it.[104][105] They stopped at Bustard Bay on 23 May 1770, then proceeded north through the shallow and extremely dangerous Great Barrier Reef.[106][107][108] On 11 June Endeavour ran aground on the reef at high tide.[109][110] 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.[111] The ship was leaking badly, so the crew fothered the damage (hauling a spare sail under the ship to cover and slow the leak).[110] Cook then careened the ship on a beach at the mouth of the Endeavour River for seven weeks while repairs were undertaken.[103][112]
While repairs were underway, the crew had the opportunity to explore the surrounding area, where Cook observed a kangaroo for the first time. Lieutenant John Gore killed a specimen, and the species was documented by Banks.[113][u] Cook noted the tranquility of the nearby Guugu Yimithirr peoples, observing that they showed little interest in material possessions and often declined gifts, such as clothing, offered by the crew.[115]
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.[116][117] The expedition then turned west and continued homeward through the shallow and dangerous waters of the Torres Strait.[118]
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.[119] After departing Batavia in late December 1770, they sailed to the Cape of Good Hope, then to the island of Saint Helena, arriving on 30 April 1771.[120]
The stay in Batavia marked the onset of the most severe outbreak of illness and death encountered during any of Cook's voyages: seven crew members died while in Batavia, and a further 23 perished on the return journey to England.[121][122][123] The majority of the deaths were caused by dysentery (with some attributed to tuberculosis and possibly typhoid fever) often worsened by malaria.[121][122][123][v]
The ship finally returned to England on 12 July 1771, anchoring in the Downs.[124] Shortly after his return, Cook was promoted in August 1771 to the rank of commander.[125][126] A book about the voyage, based on the journals of Cook and Banks, was published in 1773.[127][128][w]
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Second voyage (1772–1775)
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In 1772, Cook was commissioned to lead a second scientific expedition on behalf of the Royal Society, with the objective of determining the existence of the hypothetical continent Terra Australis.[130][131] Cook created a plan to probe southward in the southern summer, then retreat to more northerly, warmer, regions in the frigid southern winter.[132]
This voyage would have two ships and, unlike the first voyage, Cook selected them himself: HMS Resolution commanded by Cook, and HMS Adventure, commanded by Tobias Furneaux.[133][131] 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.[134]
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.[135] Banks was replaced by the German naturalists Johann Reinhold Forster and his son, Georg Forster.[136][137] The crew also included astronomer William Wales (responsible for the new K1 chronometer carried on Resolution), lieutenant Charles Clerke, and artist William Hodges.[138][137]
Search for Terra Australis
After departing England, the ships travelled south to South Africa and stopped at Cape Town in November 1772.[140] From there they sailed eastward, planning to circumnavigate the globe roughly between 50°S and 70°S latitude.[141][140][x] In late November 1772, the ships sighted their first icebergs and Cook performed an experiment: his crew retrieved blocks of ice and melted them on board the ships, producing good quality fresh water, proving that drinking water could be obtained from sea ice.[139][y] On 17 January 1773 the crews became the first recorded Europeans to cross the Antarctic Circle.[145] Despite his mission to find Terra Australis, Cook never sighted Antarctica in any of his voyages; but on 18 January – unbeknownst to him – the ships approached within 75 miles (121 km) of that continent.[139]
In February 1773, in dense Antarctic fog, Resolution and Adventure became separated.[146] Furneaux made his way – via Tasmania[z] – to a pre-arranged rendezvous point to be used in the event of separation: Queen Charlotte Sound in New Zealand. Cook joined Furneaux there in May.[148] The crews traded with the Māori people, and in his journal, Cook expressed concern that Europeans might be transmitting diseases to the Māori people and encouraging prostitution.[149]
Tahiti and New Zealand
In June, the ships departed New Zealand – in the southern winter – to resume their eastward search for Terra Australis.[150] About a month after leaving New Zealand, twenty crewmen aboard Adventure contracted scurvy – one of whom died – because Furneaux had failed to follow Cook's dietary instructions.[151][152][aa] The ships proceeded in a small anti-clockwise loop, visiting Tahiti and Tonga, planning to return to New Zealand together.[154] Before reaching New Zealand, in the night of 29–30 October, the ships became separated for a second time – this time due to a storm.[155][156] Cook proceeded to the rendezvous point, and waited three weeks, then departed to continue the voyage alone.[156]
Delayed by storms, Furneaux arrived at the designated rendezvous point in Queen Charlotte Sound five weeks after they separated, missing Cook by four days.[156] In December 1773, while ten members of 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.[157][158] Furneaux later discovered the bodies of the crew members, partially burned in preparation for cannibalism.[156][158] Many members of 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 returned to Britain without Cook.[159][160][ab] When learning about the deaths much later,[ac] 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".[164]
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.[166] In the first stretch of this large loop, Resolution continued her search for Terra Australis by heading southeast, reaching her most southern latitude of 71°10′S in January 1774.[167][168] 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..."[169]
In early 1774, Cook experienced a severe gastrointestinal illness, marked by prolonged abdominal pain and constipation. By February, his condition had worsened to the point where he became bedridden, causing considerable distress among the crew. The ship was out of fresh provisions and meat, so the Forsters offered their pet dog to be made into a soup for Cook's benefit. His bowels finally started functioning in late February, but he remained weak for another month.[170][171][172]
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 declined – consistent with his usual conduct – to engage in sexual relations with a young woman who had been offered to him.[173] Cook was the first European to set foot on New Caledonia, in September 1774, and he claimed the land in the name of his king.[174] While there, Cook – despite warnings from Georg Forster – ate the liver of a poisonous pufferfish, and became numb and unable to walk without assistance; he recovered after taking emetics.[174][175][176]
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 Adventure had visited the area approximately eleven months earlier, but he remained unaware of the violent encounter that had led to the deaths of ten of its crew.[177][178][ac]
Return to England
Leaving New Zealand, 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.[180][181] From there, they continued eastward and discovered the South Sandwich Islands,[182] then a stop in South Africa, and – finally – north back to Britain.[183]
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°.[184][185][ad] Two books were published in 1777 about the expedition: one by Cook, and another by the Forsters.[186]
Cook was promoted to the rank of post-captain and given an honorary retirement from the Royal Navy, with a posting as an officer of the Greenwich Hospital.[187][188] He reluctantly accepted, insisting that he be allowed to quit the post if an opportunity for active duty should arise.[189] 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.[190] 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".[13]
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Third voyage (1776–1779)
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The primary objective of Cook's third expedition was to search for a Northwest Passage connecting the north Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic.[191][192] Simultaneously, the Admiralty was organising a second expedition – commanded by Richard Pickersgill, who had accompanied Cook on his first two voyages – to search for the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic side.[193] 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.[194][192][ae]
On this voyage, Cook again commanded Resolution, while Captain Charles Clerke commanded HMS Discovery.[197][af] Cook's lieutenants included John Gore and James King.[197] William Bligh was the master.[197][ag] 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.[197] Among the midshipmen was George Vancouver.[197][ah] Welshman David Samwell served as the surgeon's mate.[203][ai]
Tahiti and Hawaii
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.[205] 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.[206] Continuing eastward to New Zealand, they anchored in February 1777 near the location where ten crew members of 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's failure to take revenge.[207]
The expedition then completed the first part of its mission by returning Mai to his homeland of Tahiti.[208][aj] While on Tahiti, Cook was allowed to observe a multi-day ritual involving a human sacrifice.[210][205] 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.[211][212]
They continued northward and – after a brief stop at Kiritimati Atoll – became the first recorded Europeans to see the Hawaiian Islands, on 18 January 1778.[213][ak] 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.[215][216] When he first stepped ashore, the Hawaiians prostrated themselves in front of Cook.[217] One of Cook's crew, John Williamson, shot and killed a Hawaiian man while ashore collecting provisions, infuriating Cook.[218] On Niihau, Cook left a pair of pigs for breeding, and pumpkin, melon, and onion seeds – continuing a practice he had followed on various islands throughout his voyages.[219] Cook observed remarkable similarities between the cultures of Hawaii and Tahiti, including language, marae structures, religion, and treatment of the dead.[215] He named the archipelago the "Sandwich Islands" after the fourth Earl of Sandwich – the First Lord of the Admiralty.[220]
North America
From Hawaii, Cook sailed northeast to reach the west coast of North America and begin his search for a Northwest Passage.[222] 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.[222] He unwittingly sailed past the Strait of Juan de Fuca and soon after entered Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island.[223] 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.[223][224][al] 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.[226]
By the second week of August 1778, Cook had sailed through the Bering Strait, crossed the Arctic Circle, and sailed into the Chukchi Sea.[227] He headed northeast up the coast of Alaska until he was blocked by sea ice at a latitude of 70°41′ north.[228][229] Cook then sailed west to the Siberian coast, and then southeast down the Siberian coast back to the Bering Strait.[230] 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 Pacific: Russian from the west, and Spanish from the south.[13] By early September 1778, he was back in the Bering Sea on his way to return to Hawaii.[231]
Cook became increasingly tired, harsh and volatile during his final voyage.[232][233] 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.[232][233][234][am]
Return to Hawaii
Cook returned to Hawaii in late November 1778, stopping first in Maui.[236][237][an] The ships sailed around the western portion of the archipelago for seven weeks, surveying and trading.[241] Cook made landfall at Kealakekua Bay on Hawaiʻi Island – the largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago – where the ships were met by 10,000 Hawaiians and 1,000 canoes.[236][242] 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 names, and the king presented Cook with a feathered cloak.[243][244][245] Several members of the expedition speculated that the Hawaiians thought Cook was a deity.[246] Later scholars confirmed the suspicions, and concluded that the Hawaiians thought Cook was the Polynesian god Lono.[247][246][248] Cook's arrival coincided with the Makahiki, a Hawaiian harvest festival of worship for Lono.[249][250] Some scholars believe that the form of HMS Resolution – specifically, the mast formation, sails and rigging – resembled certain significant artefacts that formed part of the season of worship.[251][252][ao][ap]
Death
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 Resolution's foremast to break, so the ships returned to Kealakekua Bay for repairs.[257][258] Relations between the crew and the Hawaiians were already strained before the departure, and they grew worse when the ship returned for repairs.[259][260][aq] Numerous quarrels broke out and petty thefts were common.[259] On 13 February 1779, a group of Hawaiians stole one of Cook's cutters.[262][263][264]
The following day, Cook attempted to recover the cutter by kidnapping and ransoming the king, Kalaniʻōpuʻu.[264][265][266] Cook and a small party marched through the village to retrieve the king.[267][268] 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.[269][265] 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.[270][271][272][273] Hawaiian warriors confronted the landing party and threatened them with stones, clubs and daggers.[265][273] Cook fired a warning shot, then shot one of the Hawaiians dead.[274][265] The Hawaiians continued to attack and the British fired more shots before retreating to the boats.[265][273] Cook and four marines were killed in the affray and left on the shore.[265][275][276] Seventeen Hawaiians were killed.[277][ar]
Aftermath
The bodies of Cook and the marines were taken inland to a village by Hawaiians.[280][as] 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.[283] Some crewmen returned to the shore to collect water, and skirmishes broke out, resulting in the death of several Hawaiians.[284][280] On 19 February, a truce was arranged, and some of Cook's remains were returned to Resolution, including several bones, the skull, some charred flesh, and the hands with the skin still attached.[284][285][at] A large scar on the right hand – from his 1764 powder horn injury – confirmed that the remains belonged to Cook.[287][288] The crew placed the remains in a weighted box, and buried their captain at sea.[288][280]
Clerke had assumed leadership of the expedition[289]and the ships left the bay on 23 February 1779. They spent five weeks charting the coasts of the islands – in accordance with a plan set out by Cook before his death.[288] They travelled through the archipelago, stopping at Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, and Kauai.[288] On 1 April, they departed the Hawaiian islands and sailed north to again try to locate the Northwest Passage.[290][291] 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.[292][293] Behm had the package delivered, overland, from Siberia to England.[293] The Admiralty, and all of England, learned of Cook's death when the package arrived in London – eleven months after he died; the package had arrived in England before the surviving crew.[292][294][au]
Continuing north, the expedition made it to the Bering Strait, but was again blocked by pack ice, and unable to discover a Northwest Passage.[292][295] Clerke died of tuberculosis on 22 August 1779 and John Gore, a veteran of Cook's first voyage, took command of Resolution and the expedition. Lieutenant James King replaced Gore in command of Discovery.[296] The ships returned home, reaching England on 4 October 1780.[297]
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Health and disease
Cook was a pioneer in the prevention of scurvy and implemented several successful strategies, including regular replenishment of fresh food.[298][299][av] During his first circumnavigation of the globe, he achieved the remarkable feat of not losing a single crew member to the disease – an uncommon outcome at the time.[301][300][302] In addition to diet, Cook also promoted general hygiene by having the crew wash themselves frequently and air-out their bedding, clothes, and quarters.[303][304] In recognition of his contributions to medical and naval science, he was awarded the prestigious Copley Medal by the Royal Society in 1776 for his paper on scurvy prevention.[190][305]
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Navigation and science
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Perspective
Cook's three voyages to the Pacific Ocean vastly expanded Europeans' knowledge of the area.[307] 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.[308][309]
On his second and third voyages, Cook carried Larcum Kendall's K1 chronometer – a copy of John Harrison's H4 – to test if it could accurately keep time for extended periods while withstanding the violent motions of a ship and the temperature changes of different climates.[aw] It performed well and thus made a key contribution to solving the longitude problem that had plagued mariners for centuries.[311] Cook praised the timepiece profusely.[312][ax]
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.[314][215][315] 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;[316] 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.[317]
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Indigenous peoples
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Conflict and cooperation
In his three Pacific voyages, Cook encountered numerous indigenous peoples, many of which had had little or no previous contact with Europeans.[318] Cook's instructions from the Admiralty required him to cultivate friendships with indigenous peoples, treat them with civility, trade with them for provisions, and to report on the natural products of their lands and the "genius, temper, disposition and number" of the people.[319][320] Before the first voyage, the Royal Society advised Cook that he should avoid violence against indigenous people, relying on non-lethal demonstrations of the superiority of British arms when necessary.[321][322]
Upon initial contact with an indigenous people, Cook usually sought to establish amicable relations by engaging in local friendship rituals such as gift-giving, exchanging names,[324][325][326] presenting green boughs[327] and rubbing noses (hongi).[328][329] He also relied on his Polynesian ship guests—Tupaia, Mahine (Hitihiti) and Mai (Omai)—to act as interpreters, advisers and cultural ambassadors.[330]
Thomas argues that despite Cook's peaceful intentions, violence was always possible when indigenous people resisted contact by the British.[331] Following a violent encounter in 1774, Cook wrote, "we attempt to land in a peaceable manner, if this succeeds its well, if not we land nevertheless and mentain the footing we thus got by the Superiority of our fire arms, in what other light can they than at first look upon us but as invaders of their Country [sic]".[332]
When conflict was likely, Cook implemented measures to minimise harm, such as instructing his crew to first fire warning shots and load their firearms with small shot, which was generally non-lethal. When Cook was not present, his crew sometimes disobeyed his orders and changed their weapons to use more fatal musket balls.[333][334][335][ay]
The level of violence fluctuated throughout the three voyages. Many encounters were almost entirely peaceful while in other cases generally friendly relations were punctuated by sporadic violence.[337] Overall, at least 45 indigenous people were killed by Cook's crew, including two killed by Cook.[az] Fifteen of the crew were killed by indigenous people, including Cook himself[ba]. The worst lethal violence occurred in New Zealand during the first and second voyage and in Hawaii over a few days in 1779.[344]
The British often resorted to violence when they felt threatened or believed that indigenous people were engaging in theft or dishonest trade.[345][346] Cook generally overlooked minor thefts, but punished thefts of official property, especially essential equipment, more severely.[347] In order to avoid excessive bloodshed, he usually responded to thefts with warning shots, floggings, the seizure of canoes or by holding indigenous leaders hostage until the stolen items were returned.[348]
Cook was criticised by various crew members for being too lenient in his punishment of indigenous people for violence, theft and defiance.[350][351] In some cases, local indigenous people and Cook's Polynesian advisers also encouraged him to punish commoners and other indigenous groups severely.[352][353] These advisers were dismayed when he refused to punish the Māori group that killed 10 crew members of Adventure because he believed that the crew members had provoked the violence.[354] Cook's handling of the incident also caused resentment among crew members.[355][356] Afterwards, he increasingly used more severe non-lethal punishments against indigenous people, including the destruction of their canoes and homes,[211][357] extreme floggings and cropping their ears, which some crew members considered excessive.[358][359]
Cook's ceremonial friendships with Polynesian high chiefs sometimes also caused tensions. While they brought Cook prestige among the local population and a place in their culture, they involved cultural obligations--such as generous gift-giving, defending local customs, avenging insults, and acting as an ally against the chief's enemies—which Cook did not always fully understand and which embroiled him in internal politics.[360] Cook's need to gather supplies of food, water and timber during his stays caused tension with the local population when he arrived during seasonal scarcity, or in areas ravaged by wars, or when chiefs withheld supplies for political reasons.[361]
Cook and his crew caused offence when they inadvertently or deliberately violated customs involving rituals, shrines, high chiefs and sacred wildlife.[362] Cook's actions in taking high chiefs hostage for the return of stolen goods caused particular offence and almost resulted in violence in Tonga and Tahiti before the deadly violence in Hawaii.[363][364]
Cook as chief or deity
Throughout Polynesia, many chiefs greeted Cook and they engaged in ritual ceremonies of name-exchange and gift-giving.[365] The ceremonies typically involved exchanging genealogies, names, and insignia (for example, a weapon), and also represented the exchange of life force (mana).[366]
Cook was considered by some indigenous peoples to be a high chief (ariki), and therefore the embodiment of the powers and attributes of particular Polynesian gods (atua or akua).[367][368][bb][bc] Cook's status as a ariki in much of Polynesia was due to his leadership in making contact with indigenous people, the deference crew members displayed towards him, the power of the weapons he commanded, and the respect he gained by becoming ceremonial friends with local chiefs.[372] In Hawaii, Cook's status as an akua (the Hawaiian version of atua) was associated with the time and manner of his arrival, particularly on his second visit in late 1778. Many Hawaiians thought Cook was an embodiment of the Polynesian god Lono.[247][246][248][bd]
Trading and commerce
Cook's orders instructed him to barter with indigenous peoples to replenish his ship's provisions.[376][377] During the bartering, Cook primarily received food from the indigenous peoples, including fish, pigs, plantains, bananas, coconuts, and breadfruit.[378] In return Cook a gave items such as iron nails, beads, copper, knives, and cloth.[379] The crew also bartered individually with indigenous peoples, often to purchase "curiosities", hatchets, and other souvenirs, and also for sex.[380][381]
Cook carried a wide variety of livestock on his ships including pigs, goats, cattle, horses, rabbits, turkeys, and sheep.[382][383][384] The ships also carried cats and dogs as pets.[385] The livestock were used for a variety of purposes: for consumption by the crew, to place onto lands they visited to establish breeding pairs, and to give to indigenous individuals as gifts.[382][386][384]
Cook also brought plants and seeds on his ships, and planted gardens on several islands. The plants included wheat, carrots, peas, mustard, cabbages, strawberry, parsley potatoes, oranges, lemons, pomelo, limes, watermelons, turnips, onions, beans, and parsnip.[387][388] The crops were intended for the benefit of the indigenous peoples, and also to feed future European visitors.[387][388] The crew also planted some plants that they obtained from the islands, such as pineapple and grapes (using cuttings taken from vines planted earlier by Spaniards).[389]
Health and sexual relations
Many European explorers – including members of Cook's crews – carried communicable diseases such as syphilis,[be] gonorrhea, tuberculosis, malaria, dysentery, smallpox, influenza, and hepatitis.[391] These diseases caused a significant decline in some local populations, who often had no natural resistance.[392] Cook's crews transmitted some of these diseases to indigenous peoples in Tahiti, Hawaii, British Columbia, and New Zealand.[393] In Hawaii, Cook's crews were the first Europeans to introduce some diseases to the local population.[394][bf]
Sexual relations between European crews and indigenous persons was widespread in nearly every place visited.[397][398] Sexual mores differed greatly between Europe and the places visited by Cook; of Hawaii, anthropologist Marshall Sahlins wrote "We can see why Hawaiians are so interested in sex. Sex was everything: rank, power, wealth, land, and the security of all these."[399] Most sexual encounters were consensual, but they often involved payment in the form of trinkets, feathers, or iron nails.[400][398] In Hawaii, some women believed that sex with white men would increase their mana (spiritual power).[400] In some situations, particularly in New Zealand during the second voyage, Māori men forced women to have sex with the crewmen.[401][402]
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.[394] 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.[238][394][240]
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Personal life and character
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On 21 December 1762, Cook married Elizabeth Batts, the daughter of Samuel Batts – keeper of the Bell Inn in Wapping and one of Cook's mentors – at St Margaret's Church, Barking, Essex.[404][405] The couple had six children:[406][407] James (1763–1794),[bg] Nathaniel (1764–1780),[bh] Elizabeth (1767–1771), Joseph (1768–1768), George (1772–1772), and Hugh (1776–1793).[bi] Cook has no direct descendants – all of his children died before having children of their own.[407] When not at sea, Cook lived in the East End of London and attended St Paul's Church, Shadwell.[407][408]
Six years after Cook's death, his widow petitioned for a coat of arms to preserve the memory of her late husband and to be placed on monuments and memorials.[403] The coat of arms was granted on 3 September 1785 and is the only known example of a posthumously granted coat of arms.[409][bj]
The historian John Beaglehole characterises Cook as profoundly competent, a man of action, obedient, patient, persistent, ambitious (but not overly so), and hot tempered when confronted with incompetence or disobedience. Cook did not often confide in fellow officers about his private thoughts or plans; nor did he make major decisions by consensus. Cook was not religious or mystical; and not romantic or dramatic.[411] The anthropologist Anne Salmond, based on the journals of Heinrich Zimmermann, describes Cook as chaste (with regard to women), strict, and frugal. He did not swear or get drunk, and did not tolerate priests aboard his ships. He was fearless and calm in times of danger.[412] The anthropologist Nicholas Thomas writes that Cook could demonstrate self-denial when needed, he practiced celibacy on voyages, and was often secretive about his long-term plans. He could be obstinate, even when flexibility was called for; and he could sense the mood of his crew.[413]
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Legacy
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Commemorations
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.[415][416][bk] 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.[419] There are statues of Cook in Hyde Park in Sydney, and at St Kilda in Melbourne.[420]
Cook has appeared on many stamps and coins: Over four hundred stamps have been issued in his honour.[421][422] Dozens of coins have been issued with Cook's image, including the 1928 US Hawaii Sesquicentennial half-dollar, which carries Cook's image.[423][424]
The Royal Research Ship RRS James Cook was built in 2006, and serves in the UK's Royal Research Fleet.[425] NASA named several craft after Cook's ships, including the Apollo 15 Command/Service Module Endeavour, the Space Shuttle Endeavour, and the Space Shuttle Discovery.[426][427][428]
Since 1959, there has been an annual re-enactment of Cook's 1770 landing at the site near modern Cooktown, with the support and participation of many of the local Guugu Yimithirr people.[429] The reenactments celebrate an act of reconciliation when a local elder presented Cook with a broken-tipped spear as a peace offering, after a conflict over sharing green turtles which Cook's men had taken in violation of local custom.[430][429][431]
Many buildings and institutions are named after him, including James Cook University, which opened in Townsville, Australia, in 1970,[432] and James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, England – a major teaching hospital which opened in 2003, near the James Cook railway station.[433]
In the years surrounding the 250th anniversary of Cook's first voyage of exploration, various memorials to Cook in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Hawaii were vandalised, and there were public calls for their removal or modification due to their perceived association with colonialism.[434][435][436][437][bl]
Ethnographic collections
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.[442][443] The largest collection of artefacts from Cook's voyages is the Cook-Forster Collection held at the University of Göttingen.[444]
Indigenous people have campaigned for the return of indigenous artefacts taken during Cook's voyages.[445][bm] 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.[447]
Reputation in the 21st century
Cook is widely regarded as one of the greatest sea explorers.[448][449][450] While he is often considered a founding figure of modern Australia and New Zealand,[451][452] many indigenous people of the lands he visited view him as a violent invader[453] and he has become a symbol for the adverse consequences of European contact and colonisation.[454] Robert Tombs, Thomas, Williams and others have variously argued that although Cook claimed some indigenous lands for Britain without the informed consent of the local people, and that his expeditions sometimes resulted in violence and the spread of exotic diseases, he should not be blamed for the consequences of colonialist policies that were initiated after his death.[455][456][450]
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References
Further reading
External links
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