In the name of the King
James Cook's journal dated 22nd August 1770 records that he landed on an island at the northern end of the Great Barrier Reef ...After landing I went to the highest hill and I now once more hoisted (поднимать) the English Colours (флаг) and in the name of His Majesty King George the Third took possession of the whole East Coast... after which we fired three volleys (залп) of small arms (ружьё) which were answered by the like manner from the ship.'
Aborigines meet the first colonists
Cook's description of the Aborigines attests to the European Enlightenment apprehension (представление) of the noble savage (благородный дикарь):
"The Natives of New Holland may appear to some to be the most wretched (бедный, несчастный) people upon Earth, but in reality they are far more happier than we Europeans; being wholly unacquainted not only with the superfluous (излишний, ненужный) but the necessary conveniences so much sought after in Europe, they are happy in not knowing the use of them. They live in a tranquility (покой) which is not disturbed by the inequality of condition; the Earth and sea furnishes (снабжать) them with all things necessary for life."
He returned to England in July 1771. During the voyage, Cook became the first ship commander to prevent an outbreak of scurvy (цынга), a disease that had long plagued (мучить) sailors.
Cook had heard reports that scurvy was caused by a lack of fresh fruits and vegetables. He served his sailors fruit and sauerkraut (кислая капуста) to help prevent the disease. Sauerkraut (or pickled cabbage) effectively prevented scurvy but to expect English sailors to eat strange food merely to keep them in good health was utopian. So Cook put sauerkraut on the menu of the officers and "gentlemen" accompanying him and within a week the crew began to resent this "favoritism" and sauerkraut became "the finest stuff in the world".
Second Pacific voyage. In July 1772, Cook left England on the Resolution in another attempt to find the southern continent. This expedition included a second ship, the Adventure.
Cook sailed farther south than any European had ever gone. He faced many hazards in the cold Antarctic waters. Mountains of ice as high as 18 meters often blocked the way. Powerful winds blew icebergs toward the ships, and blinding fog increased the danger, especially at night.
The Resolution
Cook circled Antarctica, but ice surrounded it and prevented him from sighting land. The existence of the continent remained unproven until 1840.
In 1773 and 1774, Cook became the first European to visit a number of Pacific islands, including the Cook Islands and New Caledonia.
In 1774 James Cook's expedition visited Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy. Later his assistant, Charles Clark, was buried here. He got sick in the open sea and died. But before death, he desired to be buried "in this wonderful land," as he had said about Kamchatka. His grave now is situated in the center of the town. Cook arrived back in England in July 1775 and was promoted to captain.
The final voyage. In July 1776, Cook set out with two ships, the Resolution and the Discovery, to look for the Northwest Passage, a possible northern sea route between Europe and Asia. Cook first sailed to New Zealand and other Pacific islands.
In January 1778, he became the first known European to reach the Hawaiian Islands. Cook named them the Sandwich Islands for the Earl of Sandwich, Britain's chief naval minister.
Later in 1778, Cook sailed to the northwest coast of North America. He was the first European to land on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
Cook then continued up the coast, sailed through Bering Strait, and entered the Arctic Ocean. But walls of ice blocked the expedition, and so Cook headed back to the Sandwich Islands in August.
In February 1779, an islander stole a boat from the Discovery at Kealakekua Bay. Cook tried to investigate the theft but was stabbed to death in a fight with islanders on February 14. The expedition returned to England in October 1780.
The death of Cook in Hawaii
The Memorial to Captain Cook at Great St. Andrew's Church, Cambridge reads (in part):
IN MEMORY
of CAPTAIN JAMES COOK, of the ROYAL NAVY, one of the most celebrated Navigators, that this, or former Ages can boast of; who was killed by the Natives of Owyhee, in the Pacific Ocean, on the 14th Day of February, 1779; in the 51st Year of his Age.
Choosing a name for a new continent
The first name to appear on maps of the western half of the newly discovered great southern continent was Hollandia Nova, chosen by Dutch navigators in the I7th century. The east coast received its name of New South Wales from James Cook in 1770. Both of these names continued to be used long after the start of British settlement.
Although 'Australia' (an anglicised form of Terra Australis, meaning “southern land”) was used occasionally from as early as 1770, it was Matthew Flinders who championed its adoption.
Matthew Flinders
Flinders, Matthew (1774-1814), British navigator and surveyor. In the company of George Bass, he explored the coast of New South Wales in 1795-1800, before being commissioned by the Royal Navy to circumnavigate (плавать вокруг) Australia.
Between 1801 and 1803 he charted much of the west coast of the continent for the first time, but was wrecked (потерпел крушение) on his voyage home and imprisoned by the French on Mauritius until 1810.
His Voyage to Terra Australis was written on retirement in England and appeared on his death.
In 1805 he wrote 'that the whole body of land should be designated under one general name ... Terra Australis, or Australia; which being descriptive of its situation, having antiquity to recommend it, and no reference to either of the two claiming nations...'
Charts based on Flinders' work contained the words 'Australia' and 'Australian', and in 1817 Governor Macquarie, after receiving a copy of these, made the first use of the name 'Australia' in an official document.
In a dispatch to Lord Bathurst, dated 21 December 1817, he wrote: "Lieut. King expects to be absent from Port Jackson between Eight and Nine Months, and I trust in that time will be able to make very important additions to the Geographical knowledge already acquired of the Coasts of the Continent of Australia, which I hope will be the Name given to this Country in future ..."