In the long-standing geography of humanity, James Cook was the most contributor after Magellan. He made three voyages in the Pacific Ocean and conducted extensive investigations to make people understand the truth about New Zealand and Australia. The addition of more than 8,000 kilometers of coastline on the world map has greatly impacted the rumor that “the southern hemisphere is a land”. In addition, he also discovered the Society Islands, the Hawaiian Islands and so on. Cook’s voyage is accompanied by great discoveries, accompanied by legends, mysteries, excitement, thrills, tribulations and death.
The first voyage returned smoothly
In 1768, the Royal Society predicted that there would be a rare astronomical phenomenon in the second year – Venus through the surface of the sun (the transit of Venus). King George III of the United Kingdom accepted the proposal of the Royal Society and promised to form an expedition with the destination of Tahiti in the Pacific Ocean. Of course, observing the operation of Venus is only a kind of truth for this voyage. The real purpose and main goal of this voyage is to discover the southern continent and then merge this new continent into the British Empire.
The captain of this expedition was eventually selected as Cook. At this time, Cook has grown into a young and powerful captain with rich experience in navigation, mastered nautical skills, studied astronomical observations, and is a hydrogeographer and topographic surveyor. And his cool-headed, observant and analytical personality also indicates that he will be included in the annals of history as a great discoverer.
On August 26, 1768, the port of Plymouth, England, was illuminated by the bright sunshine. The port was filled with golden waves. An unobtrusive sailboat quietly moored in the harbor, waiting for the upcoming great expedition. The ship carries 18 months of food and 94 crew members and is equipped with two-door cannons. The ship sailed south out of the estuary of the Thames in the rumble of guns and passed through the Cape Verde Islands. On October 25, 1768, Cook first crossed the equator line and headed south through Rio de Janeiro.
On January 14, 1769, during the mid-summer season in the southern hemisphere, Cook encountered a violent attack by a strong storm at the southeastern corner of Tierra del Fuego. They had to hide in a small bay near the refuge in the storm, and Cook and his companions boarded the coast. Here, they met the people of Tierra del Fuego for the first time. At that time, the residents of Tierra del Fuego were completely unaffected by European civilization. Cook and his party elaborated on the appearance characteristics, living habits and behaviors of the islanders, and even Draw a graph and collect a lot of objects. These records provide an important basis for future ethnographic research and are of great significance.
The storm finally stopped, and Cook drove out of the harbor of refuge, bypassing Cape Horn and driving into the Pacific Ocean. On April 13, the ship was moored in Tahiti. On June 3, during the transit of Venus, scientists and naval officers and men cooperated and successfully completed the observing task. On July 13th, under the guidance of an excellent guide and translator, Cook visited four small islands near Tahiti Island. Cook named the island “Social Islands” and declared the islands in this area. Both belong to the British king.
Cook continued to sail west, not to enter a large coral reef on the east coast of Australia. This is a famous reef area, known as the “Great Barrier Reef.” It was a voyage like a thin ice, and although Cook was careful, he still had trouble. With a loud bang, the keel of the ship hit a raised reef, so the hull was not damaged, but in the next few weeks, the ship could only move slowly. More unfortunately, however, due to the ebb tide of the sea, the ship ran aground and the crew panicked. Cook calmly commanded the crew to throw the cannon and ballast stones into the sea to reduce the weight of the ship.
The six cannons, the iron and stones of the ballast were thrown into the sea, but the ship still showed no signs of floating. It was helpless, only waiting for the high tide. The tide finally rose, but the boat tilted to the starboard side and the cabin began to enter the water. Cook quickly ordered the crew to pump with the pump, when a crew member exclaimed: “God! There is a hole in the bottom of the levy, the water is getting more and more, not good, the water has already passed the pump.”
At the beginning of the millennium, Cook decided: “All the anchors!” The hull finally floated slowly, and the crew cheered in unison. At this time, a crew member came to Cook and said: “Reporting the captain, it may be that the anchor is too hard, and the anchor cable hooked up a coral stone, which just blocked the hole.”
“The miracle is a miracle. God saved us.”
The ship finally set sail, passed the Torres Strait, and was connected to the route opened by Torres. Another important result of this voyage was that after reaching the coast of New Zealand at the end of the year, around the two islands of the week, a coastline of approximately 3,840 kilometers was correctly drawn on the nautical chart. On this voyage, he completed a long-distance voyage in the shape of an “8” with a total range of more than 4,000 kilometers, and this voyage fully proved that Cook was a talented navigator.
10 crew members who were taken to the sea twice were eaten
The first voyage expedition for nearly three years brought a great honor to Cook. But is there a mainland somewhere in the southern tip of Antarctica? Will the southern continent be located in the waters south of the Netherlands and New Zealand? With these questions, Cook’s maritime expedition set off again, and another ship with him was directed by Firno.
The two ships sailed south by wind and waves. On January 17, 1773, Cook’s ship crossed the Vietnamese circle on the sea near 39°35′ east longitude. This is the first time in human history to cross the Antarctic circle.
During the voyage, the attack of huge wind and waves caused the two ships to break away several times. On the way to New Zealand, it was once again dispersed. After that, there was no meeting. Cook had to go straight to the Antarctic ice area. In order to inform Ferno of his plan, Cook wrote a letter and put it in the bottle. After arriving at the meeting place, Firno saw a few words on a tree: “Look at the bottom.” They dug the bottle under the tree and learned about Cook’s whereabouts.
When the preparations for the ferry departure were about to be completed, he sent a trainee sailor to lead several people to go ashore to buy fresh vegetables. Can wait for the left and right, and they will not return to the ship. The next day, the Fernos assistant led 10 people to go ashore to find the whereabouts of the unregistered people yesterday. The crew searched for a long time on the island and finally found clues on a small canoe on the far shore. These people’s shoes, socks, and clothes were piled on one side, and some were cut into pieces of arms and Legs, and even chest and intestines with internal organs. The assistants were shocked by the cruel and shocking scene, and some of the crew shed tears but could not help but vomit.
Everyone came back to God for a long time, and stumbled and ran back to the ship and said to Ferno: “God! We can’t believe it. We found more than 20 baskets woven with string on the shore. The basket has a lid inside. With roasted meat and bracken roots, this is the meat of the people we went out yesterday. The indigenous people killed our 10 people and ate them.”
“We flipped through the basket and found a few shoes and a hand on the bottom. The back of the hand was engraved with ‘T·X, which is the hand of Thomas Sheila.”
“When we returned, we saw smoke from the houses where the indigenous people lived nearby. We didn’t find the boat they took when they left yesterday, only the few paddles that were broken and inserted on the ground.”
Firno listened to the crew’s screaming statement and became more and more surprised. At this time, another crew member who came back said: “The head, heart and limbs of our crew are thrown on the ground. It is terrible, no. In the distance, a group of dogs shouted and smashed the bloody corpses on the ground with their claws.”
Ferno and the other crew members heard the creeps and just wanted to leave this terrible place as soon as possible. According to Ferno, the tragedy was caused by a quarrel. Later, when Cook came to the harbor again, it proved that this speculation was correct. And it is the British themselves who first provoke the conflict. These people publicly beat a Maori in front of a large group of Maori people. They thought that he had stolen a few pieces of sugar and a few fish. So there was a quarrel. The British crew first shot Maori in the quarrel and killed two on the spot. A Maori, angry Maori, when the crew had not had time to install the bullets and fired again, they rushed together and killed them all.
Cook’s second round-the-world voyage has many new discoveries, and his arduous voyage in the Antarctic has led him to the conclusion that he does not believe that someone will risk his life to do more discoveries in Antarctica than he does. . He said arrogantly: “I have traveled farther south than any previous navigator and have reached the final limit that humans may reach. Because I can no longer travel south, I decided to return north.”
Of course, Cook has a deep understanding of the rigorous voyage of the South Pole, but this hardship has never stopped the pace of human exploration, and people’s discovery of the Antarctic is evidence.
At this point, it would be easy for Cook to move towards Cape Horn and then return to the UK, but with the enthusiastic support of the subordinates, Cook decided to turn north to find more islands, but in the next few days, Cook was Abnormal bile secretion caused abdominal pain, and once fell into a coma, the doctor on board after the rescue and careful care, Cook turned to safety, and after a period of nursed back, he gradually improved. In July, the ship sailed to the islands that Kilos and Budwell had discovered. Here, Cook discovered many new islands, and he named them the archipelago of New Hebrides. Cook marks all the locations of these islands in the nautical chart, and also carefully describes the differences between the islands. He believes that the Melanesians of Marek Island are the ugliest of the indigenous people we have ever seen. The indigenous people of Eromanga have a better look, but they are hostile to the expedition members.”
On December 17, Cook discovered the disa in the western end of South America and passed a small island in the ocean face of Tierra del Fuego. They spent a happy Christmas together with the indigenous people. The crew ate goose meat, drank local wine, and danced with the indigenous people.
After Christmas, the ship bypassed Cape Horn and entered the South Atlantic Ocean. So far, the myths and legends about the Southland have long been completely unraveled. Cook said in his diary: “I have investigated this high-latitude zone in detail, but found that there is nothing but ice and fog.”
In August 1773, Cook’s second voyage returned to England after more than three years. This voyage made him famous and promoted to the first class captain. It is worth mentioning that during this voyage, no crew members died on scurvy, and in many previous adventures, especially in navigation and exploration, scurvy has been plaguing explorers and voyagers. . The reason is that Cook puts the crew on the boat with fresh meat and pickled vegetables, and uses drugs that prevent scurvy (wild celery) and lime juice as a food therapy. In addition, the main reason is that Cook pays attention to the health of the ship. Cook’s experience is of great significance to later explorers and voyagers. Cook was awarded the medal of the Royal Society and was elected as a member of the Royal Society.
The third time sailing Cook died
Not long after, in July 1776, Cook set off again, and the third voyage was considered by Cook to be “the moment of maritime discovery.” He found nine coral islands in the sea beyond the equator line and named it the Christmas Islands, and found the islands that were not found on the first voyage, the Hawaiian Islands.
In the Hawaiian Islands, as soon as Cook landed, there were about 1,500 canoes surrounding them. The local indigenous people regarded Cook as a god who brought harvest and happiness, and greeted the chieftain. Come and welcome them. They went to the shore, and countless people bowed to him and then crawled behind him. The priests also solemnly led Cook into the temple and introduced him to other idol gods. Cook kissed the idol god according to local etiquette, agreed to the local indigenous people to give him a fragrant scented oil, and put on a hat woven with flowers. Cook accepted this service with ease and asked the Aboriginal to provide more tributes and supplies to feed his crew. But soon, Cook found that the attitude of the local indigenous people was no longer so friendly and enthusiastic. Cook decided to leave, but at the sea they encountered a storm, the front of the ship was blown off, they had to return to the island, when the island chieftain’s attitude was relatively cold, and the relationship between the crew and the indigenous people gradually deteriorated. .
One night, the lifeboat on board was stolen. The next morning, Cook came down to the shore with the guards of 10 Marines and clashed with the local natives. In the midst of the conflict, a British soldier slammed into the head of a chieftain with a paddle, and the groups of Hawaiian aborigines immediately surrounded them, some with weapons in their hands. When the two sides were in a deadlock, suddenly there was news that a chieftain was killed. The indigenous people were extremely angry. Many people began to cast stones on the British. The British had to use gun butts and bayonets to resist and prepare to retreat to the shore. At this moment, Cook made a wrong move – he first shot and killed an indigenous, then a British officer killed the second person with a butt. The British on the shore boat also began shooting at the indigenous people. In the chaos, Cook made a loud order to the crew, and suddenly he was tripped to the ground, and the indigenous guns immediately stabbed. In the end, only a few crew members fled back to the ship. Local indigenous people killed 30 crew members, and Cook was stabbed and corpses, and the bodies were cut into several pieces and distributed to the island chiefs.
A few days later, the agent commanded Cook’s head, several joints and several bones from the local indigenous. This great navigator, like his predecessor, Magellan, died in a meaningless conflict.
