Free CANNIBALS (True Crime) by Ray Black

Nearer My God to Thee

Captain Cook
    Captain Cook and his crew knew little or nothing of the cultures they were about to encounter, and the islanders knew even less of them

     
    james cook was born on October 27, 1728 in Moreton-in-Cleveland, Yorkshire, the son of a simple farm labourer. It is quite amazing that a man from such humble beginnings became such a prominent character in our history books.
    James always had a real yearning for the sea and began an apprenticeship with a ship owner in a nearby fishing village of Whitby. While under this apprenticeship he used his time wisely and studied navigation and mathematics, to help him along his way to one day becoming a captain on his own ship. In 1755, when he was 27, James was offered the command of a north sea trader, but he decided to decline this offer in favour of joining the Navy. He enlisted as an able seaman and within a very short period of time he had earned his Master’s Warrant.
    James married Elizabeth Batts in 1762 and together they had six children. James Cook was not to spend much time with his family during his lifetime, because throughout the years 1759 to 1767 James was sent by the Navy to chart parts of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and the St. Lawrence river. The Admiralty were so impressed by the accuracy of his charts that they gave him what was to become one of the most well known voyages in history.
     
    T HE  F IRST  V OYAGE
     
    The first voyage that Captain James Cook undertook was primarily of a scientific nature. Under his command the Endeavour sailed to Tahiti in order to observe the path of the planet Venus so that they could calculate the Earth’s distance from the Sun. The ship itself was a Whitby Coal ship which weighed around 368 tons, and they set sail in August 1768. Accompanying him on his voyage were Charles Green, an astronomer from the Royal Society, and Joseph Banks, leading a party of botanists.
    Cook and his party landed on the South Pacific island in April 1769 and by June of that year they had successfully completed their astronomical observations. Another purpose of this visit was to explore the South Seas to see if there was an inhabitable continent in the mid-latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere.
    On leaving Tahiti Captain Cook and the Endeavour headed south and reached the coast of New Zealand on October 7, 1769. He made a detailed survey of the coast and established that New Zealand was not part of the Southern Continent.
    Cook decided his best route home would be to sail along the then unknown eastern side of Australia (which Cook was to name New South Wales), and they reached the coast of Australia on April 19, 1770. Next the expedition headed north and, despite nearly being shipwrecked twice, they managed to explore the inner shoals of the Great Barrier Reef. As a result of Captain Cook’s surveys, both Australia and New Zealand were later annexed by Great Britain. James Cook and the Endeavour returned to England in July 1771 with a relatively healthy crew, which was quite an amazing achievement at the time. The combination of his accomplishments brought Cook notoriety and promotion, and he was promoted to Commander, which gave him the opportunity to lead further expeditions.
    In 1772 James Cook set sail once more in search of the southern continent. This time his vessel was another coal ship which had been renamed the Resolution. On this voyage he was accompanied by Captain Tobias Furneaux in his ship the Adventurer. They headed south from the coast of Africa and actually sailed further south than anyone had ever been. They managed to get as far as land known as Enderby Land, but were forced back by solid ice. Cook, who had become separated from the Adventurer along the way, returned to New Zealand where he and his crew rested for a couple of months. It was here that he met up again with Captain Furneaux and once more the two ships headed out to sea, this time northwards to Tahiti and