Cook, James

Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)

James (1728-1779), an English navigator. He was born in an inland part of Yorkshire, but went to sea when a boy. He entered the royal navy in 1755. Four years later he commanded a ship in the squadron sent to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and distinguished himself in the operations against Quebec. His seamanlike qualities and his diligence so commended him that he was given the command of three important scientific expeditions. In 1768 his ship conveyed a scientific party sent out to the Pacific Ocean to observe the transit of Venus, June 3, 1769. Cook and his party took advantage of the opportunity to visit New Zealand and explore the eastern coast of Australia. This is the basis of the large territorial possessions of England in that quarter. Interest in the Antarctic region having been aroused by the published accounts of the voyage, Captain Cook was sent with two ships and a second party to coast the great ice barrier described in the article under ANTARCTIC CONTINENT . His investigations of ship's scurvy, the great pest of long sea voyages, and the use of vegetables as an antidote for salt diet, procured his admission to the Royal Scientific Society of which his fellow travelers, scientific men, were members. Captain Cook's third voyage was made for the purpose of ascertaining whether a passage existed between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans by way of the Arctic regions . He set out in 1776, the year of American independence, showing that, in the British mind, the American war was but an incident, not an engrossing struggle. He commanded his old ship, the Resolution, and a second ship, the Discovery. On his way he discovered the Sandwich Islands , and explored the western coast of North America , then unknown, as far as Kamchatka. The winter of 1778 was passed at Hawaii. When on the point of leaving, February 14, 1779, Captain Cook went ashore and attempted to seize the person of the king to hold him as a hostage for the return of a stolen boat. The natives, ordinarily inoffensive, became exasperated, and attacked the small party of Englishmen, killing the distinguished navigator before he could regain the protection of his boats. Cook's journal, supplemented by the accounts of his scientific associates, are among the most entertaining annals of discovery and scientific investigation. They are excellent reading. The expeditions he led reflect credit on the British name. The name of Cook is of frequent occurrence in any atlas of the Pacific and Antarctic regions. See Hawaii