James Cook:Exploratory Voyages

The Three Voyages

1. 1768-71 Voyage to observe the transit of Venus across the sky. Red

2. 1772-75 Voyage to discover the mythological Terra Australis. (the southern continent) Green

3. 1776-79 Voyage to land on Hawaii and explore the (northwest passage) As well as his death in Hawaii. Blue

The 1st VoyageCook’s first Voyage was to observe the transit of Venus across the sky, in order to measure the distance from the Sun to the Earth. While the measurements he obtained in Tahiti were not useful enough for measuring the distance, it still was useful because Cook and the naturalists with him explored islands such as New Zealand, Australia, and Tahiti..

The 2nd VoyageCook’s Second

voyage was to find the mythological Terra Australis. While much evidence disproved the existence of an 8th Continent below Australia and yet above Antarctica, the notion was so compelling and popular that the Royal British Navy sent Cook on an expedition. Of course, Cook’s voyage disproved the existence of the continent; but it allowed him to map the island of Georgia.

The 3rd VoyageCook’s third and final voyage was to explore the fabled northwest strait, a route that could bring goods from one side of the world to the other without rounding Cape Horn. After exploring in the Arctic, Cook turned around and landed in Hawaii. .On 14 February at Kealakekua Bay, some Hawaiians took one of Cook's small boats. Normally, as thefts were quite common in Tahiti and the other islands, Cook would have taken hostages until the stolen articles were returned. Instead he tried to retrieve the boats. In the resulting fight Cook was hit in the head, and then stabbed to death. Four of the marines accompanying him were likewise killed.

The Ships• The Endeavour,

Formerly The Earl of Pembroke, was used by Cook in the 1st and 3rd voyages. Top

• The HMS Resolution was used by cook in his second voyage. Bottom

• The ships are featured in pictures on the first 2 voyage slides

The Black GloveMost people do not know

that James Cook always wore a black glove over his right hand because of scars on the hand which were due to an explosion off the coast of Quebec.

The QuartermasterOn Cook’s third voyage, in

the middle of the Bering strait, the quartermaster lowered the anchor, but his ponytail snagged on the anchor’s rope and he was pulled under the icy water.

The Aborigines•New Zealand : The Aborigines of New

Zealand (The Maori) were very friendly. At least they were friendly enough to come on the ship, and trade fish and other such items with Cook and his men.

•Australia: The Aborigines in Australia were very hostile. In the beginning they just tried to watch everything the crew did from the bushes but later the became hostile, and threw stones.

•Hawaii: At first the islanders thought the newcomers were gods, but when they inevitably figured out they weren’t, they became angry.

ScurvyIt was captain Cook and his crew

that originally discovered the cure for scurvy— Vitamin C.

Cook discovered this in New Zealand when some of his men with scurvy ate meadow cress, celery and other vegetables, and were cured of scurvy.

LegacyMany modern

scholars have a desire to turn Captain Cook into some type of marauding invader that just sailed around and killed people. This is not really true. Despite the turbulent times in which he lived, Captain Cook was a very happy, religious man. He was known as an uncommonly kind and just leader to his men. When not at sea James Cook lived on the east side of London with his wife and six children. I am his descendent on my father’s side, so I have a special appreciation for him.

ConclusionCaptain James Cook was a great

explorer, and without him Western civilization would not have found out many important facts until much later.He served his country well, and despite his untimely death, his legacy lives on.