Captain James Cook

[John Arton]

On BBC 4 last night there was a great Timewatch program " James Cook, the man behind the legend", showing how a farmer's son rose to become not only a great explorer but also the greatest cartographer of his era. His charts of Newfoundland and Gaspe bay are almost identical to modern day satellite images. He was meticulous in his planning for his voyages to the South Seas, inspecting every part of the ship prior to departure and taking care to ensure his crew were well cared for. On his first three voyages he never lost a man to scurvy, using sauerkraut to prevent it. On discovering Polynesia he made friends with and used a Polynesian navigator to assist him to map the islands. He went on to discover and accurately map New Zealand, before going on to land in Botany Bay. His first encounter with the Maoris did not go well as greeting him with a haka he misunderstood it's meaning and shot the chief dead. He went on to map the east coast of Australia but ran aground on the barrier reef, beached and careened his ship in order to repair it. He made it to Batavia where he completed repairs , took on stores and water and set sail for home. Unfortunately the water was bad and he lost men on the way home.
On his final voyage he was tasked with discovering the North West passage and was given a Russian map of Alaska to aid him. By this time he was a changed man, possibly suffering from stress. He failed to inspect his two ships prior to departure and started treating his crew early. He did however discover and map Antarctica and brought home the first painting of the ice shelf. Going onto map parts of the west coast of the USA and Alaska he eventually realised his russian map was useless and set sail for home. Discovering and mapping Hawaii, he anchored his ships in a bay where he was greeted by hundreds of natives in canoe's and individuals swimming out to the ships. He had positioned his ships to guard the entrance to the bay but discipline had broken down on board and his sailors were cavorting with the bare breasted native women. On going ashore he was greeted by a huge crowd of natives and the chief came forward to give him a traditional Hawaiian greeting. For some unknown reason one of the captain's of the ships, a certain Captain Bligh ( yes that one), opened fire on the natives whereupon the natives set upon Cook and his landing party and hacked them to death. So ended the life of the greatest explorer and cartographer of his time, all down to the actions of a man who later came to fame over a mutiny.
Rgds
J.A.

[cappy]

###a truly great seaman and navigator....but if you thought getting logged and a double DR was nasty ..old cooky cut your ear of if you transgressed....perhaps old captain bligh who sailed with him learned his trade off cookie.......hard times .....cappy

[John Arton]

###a truly great seaman and navigator....but if you thought getting logged and a double DR was nasty ..old cooky cut your ear of if you transgressed....perhaps old captain bligh who sailed with him learned his trade off cookie.......hard times .....cappy

Yes cappy, that's true but it only occurred on his last voyage when, as I said, he appeared to be a changed man with the assumption with hindsight that he was suffering from stress induced by the responsibility placed upon him when leading his previous voyages.
Rgds
J.A.

[Keith Tindell]

I missed the program, but will try to get it on Iplayer, kt

[John Arton]

KT
If you manage to get it on BBC iPlayer, try and watch the program immediately following it, cannot remember it's actual name but it was all about a book in the national library that contains all the written histories of the Tudor explorers.
Rgds
J.A.

[Rodney Mills]

Interesting to know that sauerkraut was used against scurvy. I always thought that it was limes or concentrated lime juice, we live and learn. thanks.

The thought did cross my mind though that it was a good job the Yank troops, who called Brits 'Limeys' were not aware of it, or Captain Kong would have been called a 'Kraut" as he passed through the States on the way to greener pastures.

[Captain Kong]

NO!!!
Not a Kraut, OMG
I would jump over the wall first.
Now I will not be able to sleep tonight, always some one who wants to spoil your day.
iMAGINE...., CAPTAIN KRAUT.
doesn't have the same ring does it.

[happy daze john in oz]

Jimmy Cook was indeed a great navigator, without his voyages it could well be that Australia as we now know it could be speaking a different language to English, though at times visitors do question some of what we say.

Interesting fact, when the first fleet arrived thy had supplies for some two years by all accounts, close to the end of that time supplies were very low and food had to be foraged where ever it could.
There were no farmers on the first fleet only convicts who had no idea how to grow any thing, a big mistake by the organizers as Cook had given them enough information about the land.

Bligh may have been a bit of a barsteward, maybe that is why he ended up as governor of NSW after the Bounty event.

- - - Updated - - -

Interesting to know that sauerkraut was used against scurvy. I always thought that it was limes or concentrated lime juice, we live and learn. thanks.

The thought did cross my mind though that it was a good job the Yank troops, who called Brits 'Limeys' were not aware of it, or Captain Kong would have been called a 'Kraut" as he passed through the States on the way to greener pastures.

Limes at the time of Cook coming to Oz may not have been known of to British seamen, but the concept of vitamin C was known then to be in vegetable matter.

[j.sabourn]

When you have worked most of your life using Admiralty Charts you realize the massive successes the hydrographers such as Cook and others in such a massive scale .Even today those who still use charts should peruse the left hand corner and see the initial surveys and and by whom and the year. On most you will see memorable names like Cook and others who sounded the likes of the coast of Australia which even today has not been completed. Even with today’s aids it still hasn’t all been surveyed. British Admiralty charts are usually all soundings are shown as depths to Mean Low Water Spring Tides , just think of the time and tenacity of these seamen doing these soundings in a small open boat with a hand lead line. Also at the correct time diurnaly , it doesn’t bear thinking about . And yet you get the muffin heads degrading the statues of these same people shoreside. Shows the ignorance and sloth they show , they are not fit to tread in any of these long ago seamens footsteps , who left us with such legacy’s still in use today. JS

[happy daze john in oz]

There has also been a new series commentated on by Neil, Kiwi actor.
In four parts it tells the story of his many voyages from first finding Oz, which was not actually lost, up to his death in Hiawai.
Very well presented program giving many facts that most are not aware of.