Frank McLynn - Captain Cook: master of the seas

CAPTAIN COOK

CAPTAIN COOK

MASTER OF THE SEAS

F RANK M C L YNN

YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW HAVEN AND LONDON

Published with assistance from the Annie Burr Lewis Fund

Copyright 2011 Frank McLynn

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

McLynn, Frank.

Captain Cook/Frank McLynn.

p. cm.

ISBN 9780300114218 (cl:alk. paper)

1. Cook, James, 17281779. 2. ExplorersGreat BritainBiography. 3. Voyages around the

worldHistory18th century. 4. OceaniaDiscovery and exploration. I. Title.

G420.C65M35 2011

910.92dc22

2010036481

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Daniel and Ellen

(between pp. 172 and 173)

1 Portrait of Cook, 1759, proof by T. Major. Antipodean Books, Maps and Prints, David and Cathy Liburne.

2 Reconstruction drawing of the cottage where Cook was born. The Captain Cook Birthplace Museum/Middlesbrough Council.

3 Roseberry Topping. Photograph by Paul Kent.

4 George Cuit, Captain Cook's Father's House at Great Ayton, c.1788. Courtesy of The Hepworth Walkfield.

5 John Bird, Whitby Harbour, c.1790. Captain Cook Memorial Museum, Whitby.

6 Richard Paton, Capture of Louisburg, Quebec House, Westerham. NTPL/John Hammond.

7 Samuel Holland. Photograph by Margaret Mallett of Prince Edward Island, Canada. Public Archives and Records Office of Prince Edward Island.

8 Ship plan of the Endeavour fitted at Deptford dockyard, July 1768, National Maritime Museum. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.

9 Benjamin West, Sir Joseph Banks, 1773. Lincolnshire County Council, Usher Gallery, Lincoln, UK/The Bridgeman Art Library.

10 William Hodges, Tahiti Revisited, c.1776. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.

11 Endeavour journal, Wednesday 12 April 1769. The British Library Board (Add. MSS. 27955).

12 HMS Endeavour, Tahiti, 1769, from Captain Cook's Account of a Voyage Round the World in the Years 17681771. The Granger Collection, New York.

13 Drawings of the Transit of Venus by Captain James Cook and Charles Green. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Vol. 61, p. 410, 1771.

14 Sydney Parkinson, New Zealand War Canoe bidding defiance to the Ship, 1770. The British Library Board (Add. MSS. 23920, f.50).

15 A Maori bartering a crayfish with an English naval officer, by the Artist of the Chief Mourner, 1769, from Drawings illustrative of Captain Cook's First Voyage, 17681771. The British Library Board (Add. MSS. 15508, f.11).

16 William Byrne, A view of the Endeavour River, New Holland, with the Endeavour laid on shore, in order to repair the damage which she received on the rocks; JuneJuly 1770, engraving after Sydney Parkinson, 1773. The British Library Board (Add. MSS. 23920, f.36).

17 The Fly Catching Macaroni, published by M. Darly, 1772. National Library of Australia (an9283268).

18 The Simpling Macaroni, published by M. Darly, 1772. National Library of Australia (an9283270).

19 Marine timekeeper K1 by Larcum Kendall, London, 1769. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.

20 James Northcote, Captain Tobias Furneaux, 1776. D. Bayes/Lebrecht Music & Arts.

21 Midshipman Henry Roberts, HMS Resolution, watercolour. The Granger Collection, New York.

22 Jean Francis Rigaud, Portrait of Dr Johann Reinhold Forster and his son George Forster, 1780. National Portrait Gallery, Canberra. Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family, the Ian Potter Foundation and John Schaeffer AO 2009.

(between pp. 300 and 301)

23 George Forster, Ice islands with ice blink, 1773. Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales.

24 William Hodges, Waterfall in Dusky Bay, April 1773, 1775. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.

25 William Hodges, Otoo, King of Otaheite, 1773. National Library of Australia (an2720588).

26 William Hodges, Otago, Chief of Amsterdam, October 1773. Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales.

27 J.K. Sherwin, The landing at Tanna, one of the New Hebrides, engraving after drawing by William Hodges, 1777. National Library of Australia (an7691872).

28 J.K. Sherwin, The landing at Erramanga, one of the New Hebrides, engraving after painting by William Hodges, 1777. National Library of Australia (an7691847-1).

29 Omai's visiting card, before 1776. Collection of Mark and Carolyn Blackburn, Honolulu, Hawaii.

30 Sir Joshua Reynolds, Omai, c.1776. Photograph courtesy of Guy Morrison.

31 Thomas Gainsborough, Montagu, 171892, 4th Earl of Sandwich, 1st Lord of the Admiralty, 1783. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.

32 John Webber, Portrait of Captain James Cook RN, 1782. National Portrait Gallery, Canberra. Purchased 2000 by the Commonwealth Government with the generous assistance of Robert Oatley and John Schaeffer.

33 Nathaniel Dance, Captain Charles Clerke, 1776. Photograph by Mark Coote. Permission: Government House New Zealand.

34 Midshipman William Bligh. Print Collection, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach, Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lennox and Tilden Foundations.

35 William Sharp, Poulaho, King of the Friendly Islands, drinking kava, engraving after John Webber, 1784. National Library of Australia (an10562593).

36 William Sharp, A night dance by women in Hapaee, engraving after John Webber, 1784. National Library of Australia (an10562591).

37 John Webber, A human sacrifice at Otaheite, 1777. The British Library Board (Add. MSS. 15513, No.16).

38 Cloak made of olona fibre netting, feathers ('i'iwi, o'o, mamo), eighteenth-century. The Trustees of the British Museum.

39 John Webber, Nootka Sound, watercolour, 1778. The Trustees of the British Museum.

40 John Webber, A party from His Majesty's ship Resolution shooting sea-horses 1778, 1784. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.

41 Thomas Edgar, Master, Kealakekua Bay, drawn to illustrate the log of HMS Discovery for 5 August 1778 to June 1779. The National Archives.

42 Hawaiian Peoples, Standing Male Figure, New Orleans Museum of Art. Bequest of Victor K. Kiam. 77.149.

43 J. Hall, An offering before Captain Cook, in the Sandwich Islands, engraving after John Webber, 1784. National Library of Australia (an9186267).

44 John Webber, The Death of Cook, 1779. Dixson Galleries, State Library of New South Wales/The Bridgeman Art Library.

45 W. Henderson, Mrs Elizth Cook. Aged 81 years, 1830. Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales.