Biographical entry: Cook, James, Captain (1728 - 1779)
- Born
- 1728
- Died
- 1779
Summary
Journal 1768-1771. Navigator. Of principal interest here is the first of his three voyages to the Pacific. Cook was sent by the Admiralty in command of the Endeavour to observe the transit of Venus at Tahiti in 1769. This done he sailed on to New Zealand and Australia, charting the eastern coastland of the latter to Cape York, and taking British possession of the continent at Possession Island in the Torres Straits in August 1770. While negotiating the northern waters of the Great Barrier Reef, the Endeavour struck a reef, 11 June 1770, non-essential cargo was jettisoned and the vessel beached in the Endeavour River. Repairs took seven weeks, during which time the expedition naturalist Sir Joseph Banks carried out survey and collection work. Journal of the first voyage to the Pacific, 1868-1771. National Library of Australia MS.