Captain James Cook

Cook’s third voyage (1776-1779) was fraught with problems almost from the outset. In New Zealand, Cook’s expedition suffered the first serious incident of violence on any of his voyages when local people killed and ate a small group of his men. Cook found the consequences of European encounters becoming evident in both Tonga and Tahiti. European visitors to the islands depleted food supplies, creating resentment among native inhabitants and intensifying rivalries between local rulers. Increasing petty theft by native residents annoyed Cook and his crew, and Cook resorted to uncharacteristically harsh methods to control it.

After leaving Tahiti, the expedition headed north into uncharted territory. After becoming the first Europeans to sight the Hawaiian Islands (which Cook named the Sandwich Islands) in 1778, they sailed along the west coast of Canada and Alaska. Twice Cook explored inlets that offered some promise of a Northwest Passage, but to no avail. After sailing through the Bering Strait into the Arctic Sea and briefly scouting the Asian side of the strait, Cook decided to winter in the Hawaiian Islands. He intended to return to the Arctic the following summer.

The crew spent several pleasant weeks at Kealakekua Bay in Hawaii. Soon after they left, they ran into a storm that seriously damaged one of their ships, the Resolution. Upon returning to Hawaii for repairs, Cook’s crew encountered a much less friendly reception, probably because they had depleted local food supplies. When locals stole one of the ship’s boats, Cook responded by taking their chief hostage. The incident ended in violence when one of the islanders struck Cook and killed him. Cook’s companions managed to get back to their ships, and the violence did not escalate. The crew returned to the Arctic and then home. Although the expedition had failed to discover a Northwest Passage, it added detailed charts of the North Pacific to the achievements of Cook’s first two voyages.

Cook’s greatest accomplishments stemmed from his careful, thorough approach to exploration. Although he made few original discoveries, he consolidated the work of several earlier explorers, mapping much of the Pacific from the Arctic to the far south and laying to rest the myth of a habitable continent surrounding the South Pole. In the process, he and his crews collected specimens of plant and animal life and made serious efforts to understand the cultures of native peoples. They tested new methods of navigating at sea and demonstrated that proper diet could reduce the high mortality rates of sailors on long voyages. In the spirit of scientific exploration, Cook and his men documented their work, producing accurate maps and detailed descriptions of their discoveries.

Cook’s journals have been published as The Journals of Captain James Cook on His Voyages of Discovery, edited by J. C. Beaglehole (1955-1967). Other publications resulting from his voyages include The Endeavour Journal of Joseph Banks, 1768-1771, edited by J. C. Beaglehole (1962), and The Resolution Journal of Johann Reinhold Forster, 1772-1775, edited by Michael Hoare (1982).