Third voyage of James Cook
Encyclopedia
Ostensibly James Cook
's third and final voyage was to return Omai
, a young man from Raiatea
to his homeland, but the Admiralty used this as a cover for their plan to send Cook on a voyage to discover the Northwest Passage
. HMS Resolution, to be commanded by Cook, and HMS Discovery
, commanded by Charles Clerke
, were prepared for the voyage which started from Plymouth
in 1776. The ships travelled to Cape Town
by way of Tenerif then on to New Zealand
.
Omai was returned to his homeland and the ships sailed onwards, discovering the Hawaiian Archipelago, before reaching the Pacific coast of North America
. The two charted the west coast of the continent and passed through the Bering Strait when they were stopped by ice from sailing either east or west. The vessels returned to the Pacific and called briefly at the Aleutians before retiring towards Hawaii for the winter. When the they approached Hawaii they were met with an unexpectedly warm welcome which became tumultuous as the finally landed at Kealakekua Bay
, on 'Hawaii Island'
during the Makahiki
, a Hawaiian harvest festival
of worship for the Polynesian god Lono
.
After a time during which Cook, and his crew were feted, the atmosphere changed and Cook moved away from the island to continue his quest of discovery. He soon suffered damage to his ship and had to turn back. On his return, conflict arose which resulted in Cook's death. Cook's remains were taken away by the Hawaiians but some were returned to be buried at sea by his crew. The command of the expedition was assumed by Charles Clerke
who tried in vain to find the passage before his own death. Under the command of John Gore
the crews returned to a subdued London in October 1780.
between the Atlantic and the Pacific around the top of North America. Cook's orders from the Admiralty
were driven by a 1745 Act
which, when extended in 1775, promised a £20,000 prize for whoever discovered the passage. Initially the Admiralty had wanted Charles Clerke
to lead the expedition, with Cook, who was in retirement following his exploits in the Pacific, acting as a consultant. However, Cook had researched Bering's expeditions, and the Admiralty ultimately placed their faith in the veteran explorer to lead with Clerke accompanying him. The arrangement was to make a two pronged attack, Cook moving from the Bering Strait
in the north Pacific with Richard Pickersgill in the frigate
Lyon taking the Atlantic approach. They planned to rendezvous in the summer of 1778.
In August 1773 Omai
, a young Ra'iatean
man, embarked from Huahine
, travelling to Europe on Adventure, commanded by Tobias Furneaux
who had touched at Tahiti
as part of James Cook's second voyage
of discovery in the Pacific. He arrived in London in October 1774 and was introduced into society by the naturalist Sir Joseph Banks
and became a favourite curiosity in London. Ostensibly, the third voyage was planned to return Omai
to Tahiti; this is what the general public believed.
On his last voyage, Cook once again commanded HMS Resolution. Resolution began her career as the 462 ton North Sea
collier
Marquis of Granby, launched at Whitby
in 1770, and purchased by the Royal Navy in 1771 for £4,151 and converted at a cost of £6,565. She was 111 feet (33.8 m) long and 35 feet (10.7 m) abeam. She was originally registered as HMS Drake. After she returned to Britain in 1775 she had been paid off but was then recommissioned in February 1776 for Cook's third voyage. The vessel had on board a quantity of livestock sent by George III as gifts for the South Sea Islanders. These included sheep, cattle, goats and pigs as well as the more usual poultry.
Cook also requisitioned: "100 kersey jackets, 60 kersey waistcoats, 40 pairs of kersey breeches, 120 linsey waistcoats, 140 linsey drawers, 440 checkt shirts, 100 pair checkt draws, 400 frocks, 700 pairs of trowsers, 500 pairs of stockings, 80 worsted caps, 340 Dutch caps and 800 pairs of shoes."
Captain Charles Clerke
commanded HMS Discovery
, which was a Whitby-built collier of 299 tons, originally named Diligence when she was built in 1774 by G. & N. Langborn for Mr. William Herbert from whom she was bought by the Admiralty. She was 27 feet (8.2 m) abeam with a hold depth of 11 feet (3.4 m). She cost £2,415 including alterations. Originally a brig, Cook had her changed to a full rigged ship.
, who had been round the world with him in the Endeavour and with Samuel Wallis
in HMS Dolphin
. James King was his second officer and John Williamson third. The master was William Bligh
. William Anderson
was surgeon and also acted as botanist and the painter John Webber
was the official artist. The crew included six midshipmen, a cook and a cook's mate, six quartermasters, twenty marines including a lieutenant, and forty-five able seamen.
Discovery was commanded by Charles Clerke
, who had previously served on Cook's first two expeditions and had previously sailed with Byron. His first Lieutenant was James Burney
, his second John Rickman
and among the midshipmen was George Vancouver
. She had a crew of 70: 3 officers, 55 crew, 11 marines and one civilian.
The two ships sailed in company on 1 December and on 13 December located and named the Prince Edward Islands
. Twelve days later he found the Kerguelen Islands
which he failed to find on his second voyage. Driven by strong westerly winds they reached Van Diemen's Land
on 26 January 1777 where they took on water and wood and became cursorily acquainted with the aborigines living there.
The ships sailed on, arriving at Queen Charlotte Sound
in New Zealand
on 12 February. Here the Maoris were apprehensive because they believed that Cook would take revenge for the deaths of ten men from the Discovery, commanded by Furneaux, on his second voyage. After two weeks the ships left for Tahiti but contrary winds carried them westwards to Mangaia
where land was first sighted on 29 March. In order to re-provision, the ships went with the westerly winds to the Friendly Isles
stopping en route at Palmerston Island
. They stayed in the Friendly Isles from 28 April until mid July when they set out for Tahiti, arriving on 12 August.
After returning Omai, Cook delayed his onward journey until 7 December when he travelled north and on 18 January 1778 became the first European to visit the Hawaiian Islands
. In passing and after initial landfall at Waimea
harbour, Kauai
, Cook named the archipelago
the "Sandwich Islands" after the fourth Earl of Sandwich
—the acting First Lord of the Admiralty.
They observed that the inhabitants spoke a version of the Polynesian
language familiar to them from their previous travels in the South Pacific.
From the South Pacific, he went northeast on 2 February to explore the west coast of North America north of the Spanish settlements in Alta California
. He made landfall on 6 March at approximately 44°30′ north latitude, near Cape Foulweather
on the Oregon coast, which he named. Bad weather forced his ships south to about 43° north
before they could begin their exploration of the coast northward. He unknowingly sailed past the Strait of Juan de Fuca
and soon after entered Nootka Sound
on Vancouver Island
. He anchored near the First Nations
village of Yuquot
. Cook's two ships spent about a month in Nootka Sound, from 29 March to 26 April 1778, in what Cook called Ship Cove, now Resolution Cove, at the south end of Bligh Island, about 5 miles (8 km) east across Nootka Sound from Yuquot, a Nuu-chah-nulth village (whose chief Cook did not identify but may have been Maquinna
). Relations between Cook's crew and the people of Yuquot were cordial if sometimes strained. In trading, the people of Yuquot demanded much more valuable items than the usual trinkets that had worked for Cook's crew in Hawaii. Metal objects were much desired, but the lead, pewter, and tin traded at first soon fell into disrepute. The most valuable items the British received in trade were sea otter
pelts. Over the month long stay the Yuquot "hosts" essentially controlled the trade with the British vessels, instead of vice versa. Generally the natives visited the British vessels at Resolution Cove instead of the British visiting the village of Yuquot at Friendly Cove.
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. It has been said that, in a single visit, Cook charted the majority of the North American northwest coastline on world maps for the first time, determined the extent of Alaska and closed the gaps in Russian (from the west) and Spanish (from the south) exploratory probes of the northern limits of the Pacific.
The Bering Strait proved to be impassable, although he made several attempts to sail through it. He became increasingly frustrated on this voyage, and perhaps began to suffer from a stomach ailment; it has been speculated that this led to irrational behaviour towards his crew, such as forcing them to eat walrus
meat, which they found inedible. From the Bering Strait the crews went south to Unalaska in the Aleutians where Cook put in on 2 October to again re-caulk the ship's leaking timbers. During a three week stay they met Russian traders and got to know the native population. The vessels left for the Sandwich Islands on 24 October, sighting Maui
on 26 November 1778.
The two vessels sailed around the Hawaiian Archipelago
for some eight weeks looking for a suitable anchorage, until they made landfall at Kealakekua Bay
, on 'Hawaii Island'
, the largest island in the group, on 17 January 1779. During their navigation around the islands the ships were accompanied by large numbers of gift laden canoes whose occupants came fearlessly aboard the vessels. Palea, a chief, and Koa'a, a priest came aboard and ceremoniously escorted Cook ashore where he was put through a long and peculiar ceremony before being allowed back to the ship. Unbeknown to Cook, his arrival coincided with the Makahiki
, a Hawaiian harvest festival
of worship for the Polynesian god Lono
. Coincidentally, the form of Cook's ship, HMS Resolution, or more particularly the mast formation, sails and rigging, resembled certain significant artefacts that formed part of the season of worship. Similarly, Cook's clockwise route around the island of Hawaii before making landfall resembled the processions that took place in a clockwise direction around the island during the Lono festivals. It has been argued that such coincidences were the reasons for Cook's (and to a limited extent, his crew's) initial deification
by some Hawaiians who treated Cook as an incarnation of Lono. Though this view was first suggested by members of Cook's expedition, the idea that any Hawaiians understood Cook to be Lono, and the evidence presented in support of it has been challenged.
for repairs. It has been hypothesised that the return to the islands by Cook's expedition was not just unexpected by the Hawaiians, but also unwelcome because the season of Lono had recently ended (presuming that they associated Cook with Lono and Makahiki). In any case, tensions rose and a number of quarrels broke out between the Europeans and Hawaiians. 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. Indeed, he attempted to take hostage the King of Hawaiʻi
, Kalaniʻōpuʻu. The Hawaiians prevented this, and Cook's men had to retreat to the beach. As Cook turned his back to help launch the boats, he was struck on the head by the villagers and then stabbed to death as he fell on his face in the surf. Hawaiian tradition says that he was killed by a chief named Kalanimanokahoowaha. The Hawaiians dragged his body away. Four of the Marines with Cook were also killed and two wounded in the confrontation.
The esteem in which he was nevertheless held by the Hawaiians resulted in his body being retained by their chiefs and elders. Following the practice of the time, Cook's body underwent funerary rituals similar to those reserved for the chiefs and highest elders of the society. The body was disembowelled, baked to facilitate removal of the flesh, and the bones were carefully cleaned for preservation as religious icons in a fashion somewhat reminiscent of the treatment of European saints in the Middle Ages. Some of Cook's remains, disclosing some corroborating evidence to this effect, were eventually returned to the British for a formal burial at sea
following an appeal by the crew.
, took over the expedition and sailing north, landed on the Kamchatka peninsula where the Russians helped him with supplies and to make repairs to the ships. He made a final attempt to pass beyond the Bering Strait and died on his return at Petropavlovsk on 22 August 1779. From here the ships' reports were sent overland, reaching London five months later. Following the death of Clerke, Resolution and Discovery turned for home commanded by John Gore
, a veteran of Cook's first voyage, and Captain James King. After passing down the coast of Japan
they reached Macao
, in China in the first week of December and from there followed the East India trade route
via Sunda Strait
to Cape Town.
in the Orkneys. The Resolution and Discovery arrived off Sheerness
on 4 October 1780. The news of Cook's and Clerke's deaths had already reached London so their homecoming was to a subdued welcome.
Cook's account of his third and final voyage was completed upon their return by James King. Cook's own journal ended abruptly on 17 January 1779, but those of his crew were handed to the Admiralty for editing before publication. In anticipation of the publication of his journal, Cook has spent a lot of shipboard time rewriting it.
The task of editing the account of the voyage was entrusted by the Admiralty to Dr John Douglas, Cannon of St Paul's, who had the journals in his possession by November 1780. He added the journal of the surgeon, William Anderson, to the journals of Cook and James King. The final publication, in June 1784, amounted to three volumes, 1,617 pages, with 87 plates. Public interest in the account resulted in its selling out within three days, despite the high price of .
As on the earlier voyages, unofficial accounts written by members of the crew were produced. The first to appear, in 1781, was a narrative based on the journal of John Rickman entitled Journal of Captain Cook's Last Voyage. Then in 1782 an account by William Ellis, Surgeons Mate on the Discovery was published followed in 1783 by John Ledyard
's A Journal of Captain Cook's Last Voyage published in Conneticut.
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
's third and final voyage was to return Omai
Omai
Mai , mistakenly known as Omai in Britain, was a young Ra'iatean man who became the second Pacific Islander to visit Europe, after Ahu-toru who was brought to Paris by Bougainville in 1768...
, a young man from Raiatea
Raiatea
Raiatea , is the second largest of the Society Islands, after Tahiti, in French Polynesia. The island is widely regarded as the 'center' of the eastern islands in ancient Polynesia and it is likely that the organised migrations to Hawaii, Aotearoa and other parts of East Polynesia started at...
to his homeland, but the Admiralty used this as a cover for their plan to send Cook on a voyage to discover the Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
. HMS Resolution, to be commanded by Cook, and HMS Discovery
HMS Discovery (1774)
HMS Discovery was the consort ship of James Cook's third expedition to the Pacific Ocean in 1776 - 1780. Like Cook's other ships, Discovery was a Whitby-built collier of 298 tons, originally named Diligence when she was built in 1774. Originally a brig, Cook had her changed to a full rigged ship...
, commanded by Charles Clerke
Charles Clerke
Captain Charles Clerke RN was an officer in the Royal Navy who sailed on four voyages of exploration.Clerke started studying at the Royal Naval Academy in Portsmouth when he was 13. During the Seven Years' War he served aboard HMS Dorsetshire and HMS Bellona...
, were prepared for the voyage which started from Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
in 1776. The ships travelled to Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
by way of Tenerif then on to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
Omai was returned to his homeland and the ships sailed onwards, discovering the Hawaiian Archipelago, before reaching the Pacific coast of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. The two charted the west coast of the continent and passed through the Bering Strait when they were stopped by ice from sailing either east or west. The vessels returned to the Pacific and called briefly at the Aleutians before retiring towards Hawaii for the winter. When the they approached Hawaii they were met with an unexpectedly warm welcome which became tumultuous as the finally landed at Kealakekua Bay
Kealakekua Bay
Kealakekua Bay is located on the Kona coast of the island of Hawaii about south of Kailua-Kona.Settled over a thousand years ago, the surrounding area contains many archeological and historical sites such as religious temples, and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places listings on...
, on 'Hawaii Island'
Hawaii (island)
The Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island or Hawaii Island , is a volcanic island in the North Pacific Ocean...
during the Makahiki
Makahiki
The Makahiki season was the ancient Hawaiian New Year festival, in honor of the god Lono of the Hawaiian religion.It was a holiday covering four consecutive lunar months, approximately from October or November through February or March. Thus it might be thought of as including the equivalent of...
, a Hawaiian harvest festival
Harvest festival
A Harvest Festival is an annual celebration which occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times throughout the world...
of worship for the Polynesian god Lono
Lono
In Hawaiian mythology, the deity Lono is associated with fertility, agriculture, rainfall, and music. In one of the many Hawaiian legends of Lono, he is a fertility and music god who descended to Earth on a rainbow to marry Laka. In agricultural and planting traditions, Lono was identified with...
.
After a time during which Cook, and his crew were feted, the atmosphere changed and Cook moved away from the island to continue his quest of discovery. He soon suffered damage to his ship and had to turn back. On his return, conflict arose which resulted in Cook's death. Cook's remains were taken away by the Hawaiians but some were returned to be buried at sea by his crew. The command of the expedition was assumed by Charles Clerke
Charles Clerke
Captain Charles Clerke RN was an officer in the Royal Navy who sailed on four voyages of exploration.Clerke started studying at the Royal Naval Academy in Portsmouth when he was 13. During the Seven Years' War he served aboard HMS Dorsetshire and HMS Bellona...
who tried in vain to find the passage before his own death. Under the command of John Gore
John Gore (seaman)
Captain John Gore was a British American sailor who circumnavigated the globe four times with the Royal Navy in the 18th century and accompanied Captain James Cook in his discoveries in the Pacific Ocean.-History:...
the crews returned to a subdued London in October 1780.
Conception
Principally, the purpose of the voyage was an attempt to discover the famed Northwest PassageNorthwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
between the Atlantic and the Pacific around the top of North America. Cook's orders from the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
were driven by a 1745 Act
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
which, when extended in 1775, promised a £20,000 prize for whoever discovered the passage. Initially the Admiralty had wanted Charles Clerke
Charles Clerke
Captain Charles Clerke RN was an officer in the Royal Navy who sailed on four voyages of exploration.Clerke started studying at the Royal Naval Academy in Portsmouth when he was 13. During the Seven Years' War he served aboard HMS Dorsetshire and HMS Bellona...
to lead the expedition, with Cook, who was in retirement following his exploits in the Pacific, acting as a consultant. However, Cook had researched Bering's expeditions, and the Admiralty ultimately placed their faith in the veteran explorer to lead with Clerke accompanying him. The arrangement was to make a two pronged attack, Cook moving from the Bering Strait
Bering Strait
The Bering Strait , known to natives as Imakpik, is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, USA, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65°40'N,...
in the north Pacific with Richard Pickersgill in the frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
Lyon taking the Atlantic approach. They planned to rendezvous in the summer of 1778.
In August 1773 Omai
Omai
Mai , mistakenly known as Omai in Britain, was a young Ra'iatean man who became the second Pacific Islander to visit Europe, after Ahu-toru who was brought to Paris by Bougainville in 1768...
, a young Ra'iatean
Raiatea
Raiatea , is the second largest of the Society Islands, after Tahiti, in French Polynesia. The island is widely regarded as the 'center' of the eastern islands in ancient Polynesia and it is likely that the organised migrations to Hawaii, Aotearoa and other parts of East Polynesia started at...
man, embarked from Huahine
Huahine
Huahine is an island located among the Society Islands, in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Leeward Islands group . The island has a population of about 6,000.-Geography:...
, travelling to Europe on Adventure, commanded by Tobias Furneaux
Tobias Furneaux
Captain Tobias Furneaux was an English navigator and Royal Navy officer, who accompanied James Cook on his second voyage of exploration. He was the first man to circumnavigate the world in both directions....
who had touched at Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
as part of James Cook's second voyage
Second voyage of James Cook
The second voyage of James Cook 1772–1775, commissioned by the British government with advice from the Royal Society, was designed to circumnavigate the globe as far south as possible to finally determine whether there was any great southern landmass, or Terra Australis...
of discovery in the Pacific. He arrived in London in October 1774 and was introduced into society by the naturalist Sir Joseph Banks
Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS was an English naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. He took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage . Banks is credited with the introduction to the Western world of eucalyptus, acacia, mimosa and the genus named after him,...
and became a favourite curiosity in London. Ostensibly, the third voyage was planned to return Omai
Omai
Mai , mistakenly known as Omai in Britain, was a young Ra'iatean man who became the second Pacific Islander to visit Europe, after Ahu-toru who was brought to Paris by Bougainville in 1768...
to Tahiti; this is what the general public believed.
Vessels and provisions
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
collier
Collier (ship type)
Collier is a historical term used to describe a bulk cargo ship designed to carry coal, especially for naval use by coal-fired warships. In the late 18th century a number of wooden-hulled sailing colliers gained fame after being adapted for use in voyages of exploration in the South Pacific, for...
Marquis of Granby, launched at Whitby
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a combined maritime, mineral and tourist heritage, and is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey where Caedmon, the...
in 1770, and purchased by the Royal Navy in 1771 for £4,151 and converted at a cost of £6,565. She was 111 feet (33.8 m) long and 35 feet (10.7 m) abeam. She was originally registered as HMS Drake. After she returned to Britain in 1775 she had been paid off but was then recommissioned in February 1776 for Cook's third voyage. The vessel had on board a quantity of livestock sent by George III as gifts for the South Sea Islanders. These included sheep, cattle, goats and pigs as well as the more usual poultry.
Cook also requisitioned: "100 kersey jackets, 60 kersey waistcoats, 40 pairs of kersey breeches, 120 linsey waistcoats, 140 linsey drawers, 440 checkt shirts, 100 pair checkt draws, 400 frocks, 700 pairs of trowsers, 500 pairs of stockings, 80 worsted caps, 340 Dutch caps and 800 pairs of shoes."
Captain Charles Clerke
Charles Clerke
Captain Charles Clerke RN was an officer in the Royal Navy who sailed on four voyages of exploration.Clerke started studying at the Royal Naval Academy in Portsmouth when he was 13. During the Seven Years' War he served aboard HMS Dorsetshire and HMS Bellona...
commanded HMS Discovery
HMS Discovery (1774)
HMS Discovery was the consort ship of James Cook's third expedition to the Pacific Ocean in 1776 - 1780. Like Cook's other ships, Discovery was a Whitby-built collier of 298 tons, originally named Diligence when she was built in 1774. Originally a brig, Cook had her changed to a full rigged ship...
, which was a Whitby-built collier of 299 tons, originally named Diligence when she was built in 1774 by G. & N. Langborn for Mr. William Herbert from whom she was bought by the Admiralty. She was 27 feet (8.2 m) abeam with a hold depth of 11 feet (3.4 m). She cost £2,415 including alterations. Originally a brig, Cook had her changed to a full rigged ship.
Ships' companies
As his first Lieutenant, Cook had John GoreJohn Gore (seaman)
Captain John Gore was a British American sailor who circumnavigated the globe four times with the Royal Navy in the 18th century and accompanied Captain James Cook in his discoveries in the Pacific Ocean.-History:...
, who had been round the world with him in the Endeavour and with Samuel Wallis
Samuel Wallis
Samuel Wallis was a Cornish navigator who circumnavigated the world.Wallis was born near Camelford, Cornwall. In 1766 he was given the command of HMS Dolphin to circumnavigate the world, accompanied by the Swallow under the command of Philip Carteret...
in HMS Dolphin
HMS Dolphin (1751)
HMS Dolphin was a 24-gun sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Launched in 1751, she was used as a survey ship from 1764 and made two circumnavigations of the world under the successive commands of John Byron and Samuel Wallis. She was the first ship to circumnavigate the world twice...
. James King was his second officer and John Williamson third. The master was William Bligh
William Bligh
Vice Admiral William Bligh FRS RN was an officer of the British Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. A notorious mutiny occurred during his command of HMAV Bounty in 1789; Bligh and his loyal men made a remarkable voyage to Timor, after being set adrift in the Bounty's launch by the mutineers...
. William Anderson
William Anderson (naturalist)
William Anderson was a Scottish naturalist, one of seven children of schoolmaster Robert Anderson and Jean...
was surgeon and also acted as botanist and the painter John Webber
John Webber
John Webber was an English artist best known for his images of early Alaska and Hawaii.Webber was born on 6 October 1751 in London, educated in Switzerland and studied painting at Paris....
was the official artist. The crew included six midshipmen, a cook and a cook's mate, six quartermasters, twenty marines including a lieutenant, and forty-five able seamen.
Discovery was commanded by Charles Clerke
Charles Clerke
Captain Charles Clerke RN was an officer in the Royal Navy who sailed on four voyages of exploration.Clerke started studying at the Royal Naval Academy in Portsmouth when he was 13. During the Seven Years' War he served aboard HMS Dorsetshire and HMS Bellona...
, who had previously served on Cook's first two expeditions and had previously sailed with Byron. His first Lieutenant was James Burney
James Burney
James Burney was an English rear-admiral, who accompanied Captain Cook on his last two voyages.-Family:Burney was born in London, the son of the composer and music scholar Charles Burney and his wife Esther Sleepe...
, his second John Rickman
John Rickman
John Rickman was an English government official and statistician of the early nineteenth century.He was born in Newburn, Northumberland, son of the Rev Thomas Rickman and educated at Guildford Grammar School, Magdalen Hall, Oxford and Lincoln College, Oxford...
and among the midshipmen was George Vancouver
George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...
. She had a crew of 70: 3 officers, 55 crew, 11 marines and one civilian.
Voyage
Cook sailed from Plymouth on 12 July 1776. Clerke in the Discovery was delayed in London and did not follow until 1 August. On the way to Cape Town the Resolution stopped at Tenerife to top up on supplies. The ship reached Cape Town on 17 October and Cook immediately had it re-caulked because it had been leaking very badly, especially through the main deck. When the Discovery arrived on 10 November she was also found to be in need of re-caulking.The two ships sailed in company on 1 December and on 13 December located and named the Prince Edward Islands
Prince Edward Islands
The Prince Edward Islands are two small islands in the sub-antarctic Indian Ocean that are part of South Africa. The islands, named Marion Island and Prince Edward Island, are located at ....
. Twelve days later he found the Kerguelen Islands
Kerguelen Islands
The Kerguelen Islands , also known as the Desolation Islands, are a group of islands in the southern Indian Ocean constituting the emerged part of the otherwise submerged Kerguelen Plateau. The islands, along with Adélie Land, the Crozet Islands and the Amsterdam and Saint Paul Islands are part of...
which he failed to find on his second voyage. Driven by strong westerly winds they reached Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land was the original name used by most Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to land on the shores of Tasmania...
on 26 January 1777 where they took on water and wood and became cursorily acquainted with the aborigines living there.
The ships sailed on, arriving at Queen Charlotte Sound
Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand
Queen Charlotte Sound is the easternmost of the main sounds of the Marlborough Sounds, in New Zealand's South Island. It is, like the other sounds, a drowned river valley , and like the majority of its neighbours it runs southwest to northeast before joining Cook Strait.The town of Picton, the...
in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
on 12 February. Here the Maoris were apprehensive because they believed that Cook would take revenge for the deaths of ten men from the Discovery, commanded by Furneaux, on his second voyage. After two weeks the ships left for Tahiti but contrary winds carried them westwards to Mangaia
Mangaia
Mangaia is the most southerly of the Cook Islands and the second largest, after Rarotonga.-Geography:...
where land was first sighted on 29 March. In order to re-provision, the ships went with the westerly winds to the Friendly Isles
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
stopping en route at Palmerston Island
Palmerston Island
Palmerston Island is a coral atoll in the Cook Islands in the Pacific Ocean about 500 km northwest of Rarotonga. It was discovered by James Cook on 16 June 1774.-Overview:...
. They stayed in the Friendly Isles from 28 April until mid July when they set out for Tahiti, arriving on 12 August.
After returning Omai, Cook delayed his onward journey until 7 December when he travelled north and on 18 January 1778 became the first European to visit the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
. In passing and after initial landfall at Waimea
Waimea, Kauai County, Hawaii
Waimea is a census-designated place in Kauai County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 1,787 at the 2000 census...
harbour, Kauai
Kauai
Kauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",...
, Cook named the archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
the "Sandwich Islands" after the fourth Earl of Sandwich
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, PC, FRS was a British statesman who succeeded his grandfather, Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwich, as the Earl of Sandwich in 1729, at the age of ten...
—the acting First Lord of the Admiralty.
They observed that the inhabitants spoke a version of the Polynesian
Polynesian languages
The Polynesian languages are a language family spoken in the region known as Polynesia. They are classified as part of the Austronesian family, belonging to the Oceanic branch of that family. They fall into two branches: Tongic and Nuclear Polynesian. Polynesians share many cultural traits...
language familiar to them from their previous travels in the South Pacific.
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
. He made landfall on 6 March at approximately 44°30′ north latitude, near Cape Foulweather
Cape Foulweather
Cape Foulweather is a basalt outcropping above the Pacific Ocean on the central coastline of the U.S. state Oregon in Lincoln County south of Depoe Bay. The cape is notable as the first promontory on the northwest coast of New Albion to be sighted and named by Captain James Cook, while on his...
on the Oregon coast, which he named. Bad weather forced his ships south to about 43° north
43rd parallel north
The 43rd parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 43 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean....
before they could begin their exploration of the coast northward. He unknowingly sailed past the Strait of Juan de Fuca
Strait of Juan de Fuca
The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a large body of water about long that is the Salish Sea outlet to the Pacific Ocean...
and soon after entered Nootka Sound
Nootka Sound
Nootka Sound is a complex inlet or sound of the Pacific Ocean on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Historically also known as King George's Sound, as a strait it separates Vancouver Island and Nootka Island.-History:The inlet is part of the...
on Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
. He anchored near the First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
village of Yuquot
Yuquot, British Columbia
Yuquot or Friendly Cove is a small settlement of less than 25 on Nootka Island in Nootka Sound, just west of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada...
. Cook's two ships spent about a month in Nootka Sound, from 29 March to 26 April 1778, in what Cook called Ship Cove, now Resolution Cove, at the south end of Bligh Island, about 5 miles (8 km) east across Nootka Sound from Yuquot, a Nuu-chah-nulth village (whose chief Cook did not identify but may have been Maquinna
Maquinna
Maquinna was the chief of the Nuu-chah-nulth people of Nootka Sound, during the heyday of the maritime fur trade in the 1780s and 1790s on the Pacific Northwest Coast...
). Relations between Cook's crew and the people of Yuquot were cordial if sometimes strained. In trading, the people of Yuquot demanded much more valuable items than the usual trinkets that had worked for Cook's crew in Hawaii. Metal objects were much desired, but the lead, pewter, and tin traded at first soon fell into disrepute. The most valuable items the British received in trade were sea otter
Sea Otter
The sea otter is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals...
pelts. Over the month long stay the Yuquot "hosts" essentially controlled the trade with the British vessels, instead of vice versa. Generally the natives visited the British vessels at Resolution Cove instead of the British visiting the village of Yuquot at Friendly Cove.
After leaving Nootka Sound, Cook explored and mapped the coast all the way to the Bering Strait
Bering Strait
The Bering Strait , known to natives as Imakpik, is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, USA, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65°40'N,...
, on the way identifying what came to be known as Cook Inlet
Cook Inlet
Cook Inlet stretches from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding Anchorage....
in Alaska. It has been said that, in a single visit, Cook charted the majority of the North American northwest coastline on world maps for the first time, determined the extent of Alaska and closed the gaps in Russian (from the west) and Spanish (from the south) exploratory probes of the northern limits of the Pacific.
The Bering Strait proved to be impassable, although he made several attempts to sail through it. He became increasingly frustrated on this voyage, and perhaps began to suffer from a stomach ailment; it has been speculated that this led to irrational behaviour towards his crew, such as forcing them to eat walrus
Walrus
The walrus is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and sub-Arctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the Odobenidae family and Odobenus genus. It is subdivided into three subspecies: the Atlantic...
meat, which they found inedible. From the Bering Strait the crews went south to Unalaska in the Aleutians where Cook put in on 2 October to again re-caulk the ship's leaking timbers. During a three week stay they met Russian traders and got to know the native population. The vessels left for the Sandwich Islands on 24 October, sighting Maui
Maui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
on 26 November 1778.
The two vessels sailed around the Hawaiian Archipelago
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
for some eight weeks looking for a suitable anchorage, until they made landfall at Kealakekua Bay
Kealakekua Bay
Kealakekua Bay is located on the Kona coast of the island of Hawaii about south of Kailua-Kona.Settled over a thousand years ago, the surrounding area contains many archeological and historical sites such as religious temples, and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places listings on...
, on 'Hawaii Island'
Hawaii (island)
The Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island or Hawaii Island , is a volcanic island in the North Pacific Ocean...
, the largest island in the group, on 17 January 1779. During their navigation around the islands the ships were accompanied by large numbers of gift laden canoes whose occupants came fearlessly aboard the vessels. Palea, a chief, and Koa'a, a priest came aboard and ceremoniously escorted Cook ashore where he was put through a long and peculiar ceremony before being allowed back to the ship. Unbeknown to Cook, his arrival coincided with the Makahiki
Makahiki
The Makahiki season was the ancient Hawaiian New Year festival, in honor of the god Lono of the Hawaiian religion.It was a holiday covering four consecutive lunar months, approximately from October or November through February or March. Thus it might be thought of as including the equivalent of...
, a Hawaiian harvest festival
Harvest festival
A Harvest Festival is an annual celebration which occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times throughout the world...
of worship for the Polynesian god Lono
Lono
In Hawaiian mythology, the deity Lono is associated with fertility, agriculture, rainfall, and music. In one of the many Hawaiian legends of Lono, he is a fertility and music god who descended to Earth on a rainbow to marry Laka. In agricultural and planting traditions, Lono was identified with...
. Coincidentally, the form of Cook's ship, HMS Resolution, or more particularly the mast formation, sails and rigging, resembled certain significant artefacts that formed part of the season of worship. Similarly, Cook's clockwise route around the island of Hawaii before making landfall resembled the processions that took place in a clockwise direction around the island during the Lono festivals. It has been argued that such coincidences were the reasons for Cook's (and to a limited extent, his crew's) initial deification
Apotheosis
Apotheosis is the glorification of a subject to divine level. The term has meanings in theology, where it refers to a belief, and in art, where it refers to a genre.In theology, the term apotheosis refers to the idea that an individual has been raised to godlike stature...
by some Hawaiians who treated Cook as an incarnation of Lono. Though this view was first suggested by members of Cook's expedition, the idea that any Hawaiians understood Cook to be Lono, and the evidence presented in support of it has been challenged.
Death
After a month's stay, Cook got under sail to resume his exploration of the Northern Pacific. However, shortly after leaving Hawaii Island, the foremast of the Resolution broke and the ships returned to Kealakekua BayKealakekua Bay
Kealakekua Bay is located on the Kona coast of the island of Hawaii about south of Kailua-Kona.Settled over a thousand years ago, the surrounding area contains many archeological and historical sites such as religious temples, and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places listings on...
for repairs. It has been hypothesised that the return to the islands by Cook's expedition was not just unexpected by the Hawaiians, but also unwelcome because the season of Lono had recently ended (presuming that they associated Cook with Lono and Makahiki). In any case, tensions rose and a number of quarrels broke out between the Europeans and Hawaiians. 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. Indeed, he attempted to take hostage the King of Hawaiʻi
Alii Aimoku of Hawaii
The following is a list of alii aimoku of Hawaii. "Alii aimoku" refers to the ruler of the island. alii refers to the ruling class of ancient Hawaii...
, Kalaniʻōpuʻu. The Hawaiians prevented this, and Cook's men had to retreat to the beach. As Cook turned his back to help launch the boats, he was struck on the head by the villagers and then stabbed to death as he fell on his face in the surf. Hawaiian tradition says that he was killed by a chief named Kalanimanokahoowaha. The Hawaiians dragged his body away. Four of the Marines with Cook were also killed and two wounded in the confrontation.
The esteem in which he was nevertheless held by the Hawaiians resulted in his body being retained by their chiefs and elders. Following the practice of the time, Cook's body underwent funerary rituals similar to those reserved for the chiefs and highest elders of the society. The body was disembowelled, baked to facilitate removal of the flesh, and the bones were carefully cleaned for preservation as religious icons in a fashion somewhat reminiscent of the treatment of European saints in the Middle Ages. Some of Cook's remains, disclosing some corroborating evidence to this effect, were eventually returned to the British for a formal burial at sea
Burial at sea
Burial at sea describes the procedure of disposing of human remains in the ocean, normally from a ship or boat. It is regularly performed by navies, but also can be done by private citizens in many countries.-By religion:...
following an appeal by the crew.
Homeward voyage
Clerke, who was dying of tuberculosisTuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, took over the expedition and sailing north, landed on the Kamchatka peninsula where the Russians helped him with supplies and to make repairs to the ships. He made a final attempt to pass beyond the Bering Strait and died on his return at Petropavlovsk on 22 August 1779. From here the ships' reports were sent overland, reaching London five months later. Following the death of Clerke, Resolution and Discovery turned for home commanded by John Gore
John Gore (seaman)
Captain John Gore was a British American sailor who circumnavigated the globe four times with the Royal Navy in the 18th century and accompanied Captain James Cook in his discoveries in the Pacific Ocean.-History:...
, a veteran of Cook's first voyage, and Captain James King. After passing down the coast of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
they reached Macao
Mação
Mação is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 400.0 km² and a total population of 7,763 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of eight parishes, and is located in the Santarém District....
, in China in the first week of December and from there followed the East India trade route
Trade route
A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a single trade route contains long distance arteries which may further be connected to several smaller networks of commercial...
via Sunda Strait
Sunda Strait
The Sunda Strait is the strait between the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra. It connects the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean...
to Cape Town.
Return home
An Atlantic gale blew the expedition so far north that they first made landfall at StromnessStromness
Stromness is the second-biggest town in Orkney, Scotland. It is in the south-west of Mainland Orkney. It is also a parish, with the town of Stromness as its capital.-Etymology:...
in the Orkneys. The Resolution and Discovery arrived off Sheerness
Sheerness
Sheerness is a town located beside the mouth of the River Medway on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 12,000 it is the largest town on the island....
on 4 October 1780. The news of Cook's and Clerke's deaths had already reached London so their homecoming was to a subdued welcome.
Publication of journals
The task of editing the account of the voyage was entrusted by the Admiralty to Dr John Douglas, Cannon of St Paul's, who had the journals in his possession by November 1780. He added the journal of the surgeon, William Anderson, to the journals of Cook and James King. The final publication, in June 1784, amounted to three volumes, 1,617 pages, with 87 plates. Public interest in the account resulted in its selling out within three days, despite the high price of .
As on the earlier voyages, unofficial accounts written by members of the crew were produced. The first to appear, in 1781, was a narrative based on the journal of John Rickman entitled Journal of Captain Cook's Last Voyage. Then in 1782 an account by William Ellis, Surgeons Mate on the Discovery was published followed in 1783 by John Ledyard
John Ledyard
John Ledyard was an American explorer and adventurer.-Early life:Ledyard was born in Groton, Connecticut, the oldest son of John and Abigail Ledyard and the nephew of Continental Army Colonel William Ledyard...
's A Journal of Captain Cook's Last Voyage published in Conneticut.