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| James Cook |
Biography of Captain James Cook, first European to reach Hawaii and New Zealand
Captain James
Cook was born in 1728 on a farm in northern England. At the age of 18, he went
to work for a shipping company. In 1755, Captain James Cook joined the British
Royal Navy. His ship was sent to Canada, to make maps of land that Britain had
conquered from France.
In 1768, Captain
James Cook sailed to the South Pacific Ocean, with artists and scientists.
Officially, their task was to observe the planet Venus. But Britain also hoped
that Captain James Cook would find a mysterious “Southern Continent” that some
sailors claimed to have seen. Captain James Cook wanted to take control of it
for the British king.
Captain James
Cook reached New Zealand in 1770. No other European had been there. He sailed
around New Zealand and then explored eastern Australia.
A scientific
sailor
Captain James
Cook drew many detailed maps and kept careful records of all he had seen on his
voyage. He described native peoples of the South Pacific and their cultures.
His artists sketched wildlife, and his scientists collected unusual plants and
animals to take back.
Captain James
Cook’s careful work caused a sensation when he arrived home in Britain in 1771.
No other expedition had gathered so much information, so thoroughly and
scientifically.
Captain James
Cook also won fame for keeping his sailors healthy. He wondered if a lack of
fresh fruits and vegetables caused scurvy, a very bad disease common among
sailors on long voyages. He stocked his ship with pickled cabbage (sauerkraut)
and forced his crew to eat it. During stops at port, he ordered his crew to eat
fresh foods. As a result, few of his sailors became seriously ill.
Second voyage
to the pacific
From 1772 to
1775, Captain James Cook made a second voyage to the South Pacific Ocean. This
time, he sailed farther south than anyone before him. He saw penguins and
icebergs. He sailed all the way around Antarctica. But he found no land where
people might live.
Final journey
In 1776, Captain
James Cook set off on a third voyage. This time, Captain James Cook wanted to
look for the Northwest Passage. This was a possible sea route north of Canada
linking Europe and Asia. Before sailing north, he explored several islands in
the Pacific. He landed in Hawaii in 1778, becoming the first European to do so.
From Hawaii, Captain
James Cook sailed to North America. He was the first European to set foot on
Vancouver Island off the coast of British Columbia. Throughout 1778 he explored
the northwest coast of North America, but he failed to find the Northwest
Passage. In 1779, Captain James Cook returned to Hawaii, where he was killed in
a quarrel with natives over a stolen boat.
Captain James Captain
James Cook was one of the world’s greatest explorers. He sailed around the
world twice. He was the first European to reach Hawaii and New Zealand, and he
sailed farther south than any European had ever gone. People marvelled over the
places, people, and things Captain James Cook described. Before Captain James
Cook, nobody in Europe knew about penguins or kangaroos.
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