The Explorers

EXPLORER: Captain James Cook (1728-1779)

FROM: England

SAILED WITH: Charles Clerke (1741-1779), commander of the Discovery; Tobias Furneaux (1735-1781), commander of the Adventure

IMPORTANT DATES: in 1776 the Resolution set sail; reached Pacific Northwest in 1778

VOYAGE: sea

VESSELS: refitted colliers Resolution and Discovery; Cook sailed the Endeavour on his first expedition and commanded the Resolution and the Adventure on his second expedition

POTENTIAL PURPOSE: the search for the Northwest Passage; search for resources; collection of scientific and ethnographic data

James Cook was born on October 27, 1728, in the village of Marton-in-Cleveland, Yorkshire. His father was an agricultural day-labourer, and Cook received basic village schooling, which was paid for by his father’s employer. He entered an apprenticeship to a grocer at the age of 17, but left to take up another apprenticeship, this time to a coal shipper in Whitby. He began sailing in the North Sea as part of the coal trade, learning quickly in the rough waters. Cook’s future expedition vessels would be colliers built in Whitby, demonstrating his confidence in the ships of the coal trade.

In 1755, Cook volunteered for naval service as an able seaman and became a master’s mate after just one month. He continued to serve in the Royal Navy throughout the Seven Years War, which was fought in Europe and in North America; Cook was at the siege of Louisburg and surveyed the St. Lawrence River. He continued to develop his mathematical and astronomical knowledge to use in hydrographic survey, and he worked along the coasts of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Labrador. In 1766, Cook came to the attention of the Royal Society and the Admiralty after he followed a solar eclipse and recorded his observations, helping to determine Newfoundland’s longitude.

In 1768, Cook was selected to command the Endeavour on a scientific and exploratory expedition to the South Pacific. Upon his return, he was promoted to the naval rank of commander, a promotion both on the ships and in on-shore society. He led his second expedition to the southern hemisphere in 1772, tested a model of the chronometer (an instrument used to determine longitude) in long-distance sea trials, and was promoted to post-captain. He retired, taking an appointment at the Greenwich Hospital for Mariners, and was unanimously elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in February of 1776. Anxious to be back at sea, he left retirement, his wife and six children and launched his final voyage in 1776. He was killed on February 14, 1779 while on expedition. His writings and the expedition charts were published posthumously.

This excerpt is dated to April 23-26, 1778. Cook was writing of his visit to Nootka Sound. It reveals the encyclopaedic approach to making observations while on expedition and the process of preparing to put out to sea.

“Mr. Webber, who had attended me thither, made drawings of every thing that was curious, both within and without doors. I also had the opportunity of inspecting more narrowly the construction of the houses, household furniture and utensils, and the striking peculiarities of the customs and modes of living of the inhabitants. … When we had completed all our operations at this village [in Nootka Sound], the natives and we parted very good friends, and we got back to the ships in the afternoon.

The three following days were employed in getting ready to put to sea, the sails were bent, the observatories and instruments, brewing vessels, and other things were moved from the shore; some small spars for different uses, and pieces of timber which might be occasionally sawn into boards, were prepared and put on board, and both ships were cleaned and put into a sailing condition.

Every thing being now ready in the morning of the 26th, I intended to have put to sea, but both wind and tide being against us, was obliged to wait till noon, when the S.W. wind was succeeded by a calm; and the tide turning in our favour, we cast off the moorings, and with our boats towed the ships out of the cove. … The mercury in the barometer fell unusually low; and we had every other fore-runner of an approaching storm, which we had reason to expect would be from the southward; this made me hesitate a little, as night was at hand, whether I should venture to sail or wait till the next morning. But my anxious impatience to proceed upon the voyage, and the fear of losing this opportunity of getting out of the sound, making a greater impression on my mind than any apprehension of immediate danger, I determined to put out to sea at all events.”

James Cook was part of survey expeditions to eastern Canada in the late 1750s, and a hydrographic survey of Newfoundland in 1766. He commanded three “Voyages of Discovery.” The first departed in 1768. Cook commanded the bark Endeavour, which sailed to Tahiti to observe and record the transit of the planet Venus in the hope that the information would be of value to navigators. His survey of the islands of New Zealand lasted until April of 1770, after which he headed west, reaching New South Wales, Australia. He encountered the Great Barrier Reef, which nearly ended the expedition by damaging the hull of the Endeavour. Cook returned to Britain on July 12, 1771.

The second “Voyage of Discovery” began almost exactly a year later, embarking from Plymouth on July 13, 1772. It was decided that Cook would sail a new vessel, similar to the Endeavour, and that a consort would accompany his command ship for safety reasons. Two vessels sturdily built for the coal trade were selected: the Resolution, sailed by Cook, and the Adventure, commanded by Tobias Furneaux. George Vancouver was part of the crew working aboard the Resolution. The second voyage also focused on the southern hemisphere, with the ultimate intent of searching for the theoretical geography of a vast southern continent. They surveyed numerous islands in the South Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea and crossed the Antarctic Circle, sailing to the ice flows of the southern pole. They returned to Britain on July 30, 1775, after three years and eighteen days.

The third “Voyage of Discovery” was launched on July 12, 1776 by the Resolution. Charles Clerke, commanding the new ship Discovery, departed in August and they rendezvoused in Capetown, on Africa’s southern coast, in November. Tasmania, New Zealand, Tonga, and the Sandwich or Hawaiian Islands were used as rest and refuelling points, for the destination was the Pacific Northwest. Vancouver sailed again under Cook’s command as a midshipman aboard the Discovery. In March of 1777, they spotted what Sir Francis Drake had called “New Albion,” the Pacific Northwest along the Oregon coastline. They sailed north, pulling in at Nootka Sound and continuing to the Aleutians and Unalaska in their search for a Northwest Passage. Ice halted their progress through the Bering Strait at a point they named Icy Cape. In late October, they sailed back to the Sandwich Islands, intending to winter there.

After Cook’s death in Hawaii, Clerke, the second in command, took the expedition north to the Kamchatka Peninsula and into Bering Strait. Captain Clerke died on August 22, 1779, likely from tuberculosis. Captain Gore, who had been the first lieutenant on the Resolution, took command, making a trading stop in Macao in December before sailing the Indian Ocean and rounding the African cape. They arrived home on October 4, 1780.

According to the Admiralty publication released in 1784, Captain Cook’s third expedition was “undertaken, by the command of his Majesty, for making discoveries in the northern hemisphere to determine the position and extent of the west side of North America; its distance from Asia; and the practicability of a northern passage to Europe.” The expedition sighted the coastline between 44’ and 45’ North latitude, off of what is now Oregon State, on March 7, 1777, and turned north to search for the Northwest Passage. The Resolution and the Discovery sailed into what they named King George’s Sound in April of 1778. Soon known as Nootka Sound, it proved to be a protected inlet, with welcoming people interested in trade. They exchanged sea otter and other animal skins as well as carved work, for iron and other metal objects. Cook and his crew kept notes and made drawings of the Mowachaht people and the local landscape.

In late April, rested and supplied, the Resolution and Discovery set off on their northward course, paying little attention to the latitudes between 50’ and 55’ and concentrating on their mission to look for a Northwest Passage. Cook consulted Russian charts with information from the Kamchatka Expeditions. In mid-May, the expedition landed on what Bering had named St. Elias Island. They entered Prince William Sound late in the month, surveyed the Aleutian Islands along their southern coast, and sailed to Unalaska, making notes on the Russian presence in the area. The expedition then turned into Bering Strait and sailed past 70’ North latitude, until the ice made it impossible to go any further. On October 26, 1778, Cook turned his ships south.

Cook is looked upon as a competent, accurate navigator. He was able to provide a general outline of what are now Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, and even parts of the Siberian coastline, and his expedition returned to the north Pacific after his death to continue in the Bering Strait. Although they did not discover a Northwest Passage, Cook’s expedition was able to provide the British, and later the other European maritime powers, with working charts of the Pacific Northwest.

Some expeditions of exploration are known as much for their tragedies as for their successes. Sailing for years at a time through harsh conditions and unknown lands and cultures resulted in surprisingly few casualties to the men under Cook’s command. It was Captain Cook himself who died in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, on the other side of the globe from his birthplace.

Cook had been in the Sandwich Islands, known today as the Hawaiian Islands, on his way to the Pacific Northwest. The volcanic island chain was a convenient stop in the middle of the vast Pacific, and Cook decided to return to rest and refuel there after surveying in Unalaska and the Aleutian chain. The Resolution and the Discovery anchored in Kealakekua Bay, on the largest island of Hawaii, on January 17, 1779. They stayed for two weeks, attempting to set out again in February. Gale winds slowed their departure and damaged the foremast of the Resolution, forcing them back into the protection of the harbour. On February 14, 1779, Cook went ashore and was stabbed in the back. He died of his terrible wound.

Many people are still curious about the death of Cook, which happened so long ago. Cook was viewed as a powerful naval commander and intellectual, and was reportedly respectful in his relations with the people he encountered on his expeditions; yet, he met a violent end among the Hawaiians, whom he considered to be friendly. That raises many questions. Some historians have suggested that Cook, suffering from poor health, was behaving strangely and may have offended the Hawaiians. Others note that, in spite of controls and punishments, Cook’s crew continued to engage in sexual relations during stops in their voyage, infecting the local populations with venereal diseases along the way.
Cook’s Hawaiian hosts had been generous with their scarce provisions, giving him water, produce, and a large number of pigs. When the vessels returned mere days after their departure, they were not welcome – there was nothing left to share. The Discovery’s cutter was stolen, and Cook, unable to find the thief, planned to take local chief Kalei’opu’u as a hostage until its return. Tensions heightened, shots were fired at canoes in the bay, and Cook was stabbed and drowned at the shore. The Hawaiian priests prepared his bones in a manner befitting an honoured person, and Captain Clerke sailed away in an attempt to complete the expedition.