Captain+Cook

CAPTAIN JAMES COOK James Cook: I nformation on James Cook:

The English navigator James Cook, possibly the greatest explorer of the 18th century, is known for his voyages to the Pacific Ocean and his application of scientific methods to exploration and to cartography. Born on Oct. 27, 1728, he was the son of a poor Scotsman who had settled in Yorkshire as an agricultural labourer. After a short time in a haberdasher's shop at Stainthes, he became a bound apprentice to a Whitby ship owner, and spent several years in coasting and Baltic trade. He joined the Royal Navy in 1755 as an able-bodied seaman, soon became a mate, and within four years became a master. In 1759, during the Seven Years' War, Cook was given command of the Mercury, sailing to Canada and up the St. Lawrence River, where he helped to survey the river channel. He was responsible for the successful piloting of the fleet, which took Quebec. After the war ended in 1763, Cook, commanding the schooner Grenville, spent four years surveying the coasts of Labrador, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia. He also studied mathematics in order to master the science of navigation. His charts of the coasts, considered both important and accurate, were published. Cook had observed a solar eclipse in 1766 and used it to determine the longitude of Newfoundland; these findings were published in the Transactions of the Royal Society. After his return to England in 1767, Cook was commissioned a lieutenant in the Royal Navy.

Voyage of the Endeavour
In 1768 the Royal Society requested the Admiralty's aid in observing the transit of Venus at Tahiti, to occur in June 1769, and Cook was given command of the expedition. Secret instructions made clear that Cook also was to search for terra australis incognita, the "unknown southern land." Cook and the Endeavour left Plymouth on Aug. 26, 1768. In addition to its crew the Endeavour carried an astronomer, two botanists, Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, and artists. The Endeavour travelled by way of the Madeira, Canary, and Cape Verde islands and Rio de Janeiro and rounded Cape Horn into the Pacific. Cook carried good provisions and citrus products and thus avoided the plague of scurvy. The ship reached Tahiti in April 1769. During their three months there the scientists examined the island thoroughly and observed the transit of Venus on June 3. They sailed west with a Tahitian guide through the Society Islands and then southward, finally reaching land on Oct. 7, 1769.