Hello friends. Today in the section "interesting stories for children" we will talk about James Cook! Why did I suddenly remember him? The fact is that somehow my daughter was given the task at school to prepare an essay about James Cook, about what he discovered and how he died. You know that famous saying that "the aborigines ate Cook"? Even Vysotsky has such a song)

So it was necessary to tell what his last days really were, and in general what kind of person he was. In general, a short story from the life of a great navigator.

So I thought: what if someone also needs such information? And I decided to post this story on the blog. In fact, this is quite interesting, for example, until the matter touched the abstract, I did not even know about these facts.

James Cook was born on October 27, 1728. The biography of Captain Cook is actually quite interesting. During his life he made many geographical discoveries. What did James Cook discover? Among his discoveries were Australia, New Zealand, the islands of New Caledonia and so on. You can see in more detail and clearly what lands Cook discovered in the video at the bottom of the article.

In the life of Captain Cook, there was everything: heroism, inspiration, the joy of learning something new. But that's not all. What else? You will learn about this from the story of James Cook. Let's try to remember the whole truth about the glorious captain, about how he died and is it true that "the natives ate Cook." So let's go...

The Hawaiian Islands are rightly called the Islands of Eternal Spring. And so, one fine day, English ships under the names "Resolution" and "Discovery" anchored near these green shores. Everything was quiet and calm on the islands, which promised a pleasant stay. And it all happened in 1779.

Captain James Cook was surprised by the reaction of the islanders to their arrival. The fact is that the Hawaiians greeted the ships not just with joy, but with real delight. What happened? The local high priest boarded the ship on a diplomatic mission, so to speak. Surprised by the merriment of the Hawaiians, Captain Cook asked the priest what were these cheerful half-naked people shouting?

- Oh, Rono! - the inhabitants of the island were noisy, and the old high priest, just like them, nods his head importantly with the words: - O-Rono!

And what do you think that would mean? The fact is that the natives mistook Cook for their local god! Behind the ancient Hawaiian legends, O-Rono is the one who left his homeland in hoary antiquity, promising to return and bring happiness and wealth to his native people. So they thought that it was he who appeared, the god O-Rono, and even brought his retinue behind him! For them it was a good sign, a very good sign!

After a while, James Cook realized that acting as the divine O-Rono was not so pleasant as it might seem at first glance. The food supplies on the ships began to run out, and the Hawaiians began to carry pigs on ships for their god, tropical fruits, birds. After all, in their opinion, O-Rono should eat as well as possible. And the fact that for the captain all the time, as if, but a shadow, the high priest walks, shouting some incomprehensible words, just nonsense.

However, the natives were not so naive, and slowly began to doubt the deity of the arriving guest. After all, O-Rono had been visiting the island for the third day, and the desired wealth somehow still did not appear. But O-Rono was collecting food on his ship and, and it began to seem to the locals that he was going to repeat his own feat, which he once carried out, namely, to escape again to distant lands, giving the islanders only generous promises.

Then the local king came to Cook and directly asked him how long O-Rono was going to stay on the hospitable island? Cook promised that very soon his ships would sail. Glad at least for this, the king wished the deity a happy journey.

Before sailing, Cook remembered that he also needed firewood. As you remember, a lot of trees grew on the island that could be used for firewood. But there was no time to prepare firewood, as it was time to raise the anchor and move on. Therefore, in order not to waste time on trees, Cook ordered the piles that protected the O-Rono temple to be pulled out of the ground. And the temple stood a hundred yards from the bay. The Hawaiians were sure that the divine O-Rono would not break the fence of his own temple, so they were very indignant at this.

- To hell! Cook said. “Give them two iron axes for those pieces of wood!”

"Discovery" and "Resolution" went to sea under the silent and stern eyes of the Hawaiians.

And then, fate played an unkind joke with James Cook: the ships got into a storm and the main mast of the Resolution was damaged. And since there were no other islands nearby, Cook had to return to the same island, where not so long ago he behaved rather badly and not politely.

At first, it seemed that during the week that had passed, the Hawaiians had completely forgotten about the greed of O-Rono and were ready to help the guests again, only now not as divine creatures, but simply as guests. However, the behavior of the locals was somehow strange.

And suddenly an unfortunate incident occurred: one of the islanders stole pincers from the deck of the ship, jumped into the sea and swam. The sailors began to shoot at him, but did not hit. They didn’t even have to catch him, since the Hawaiians themselves caught the thief and brought him to the trial of Captain Cook.

The boatswain decided to intervene in this process, who demanded that the thief be shot immediately. But shooting for stolen ticks was, by any law, too severe a punishment. Therefore, a fight ensued, but one of the older natives ordered the violence to stop.

James Cook was very angry at this:
“We need to take more decisive action against these savages!”

The next morning, the captain was informed that a lifeboat had disappeared from the Discovery. As it turned out much later, the loss happened due to the fact that the watchman fell asleep, and the carelessly fixed boat broke off and swam with the flow. But Cook did not conduct any investigation about the boat. Instead, the captain landed on the shore with a detachment of armed sailors and went straight to the local king. Cook very persistently began to invite the king to stay a little with him on the ships.

The king realized that something was wrong here, but, seeing the gloomy faces of the English sailors and the weapons in their hands, he was forced to agree.
The hostage was led along the shore to the bay where the "Resolutions" and "Discovery" were stationed. Suddenly, the king's wife came running and began to beg Cook to let her husband go. At the sound of these loud cries, many Hawaiians flocked.

- To hell! - Cook repeated his saying, and these words, unfortunately, turned out to be the last in the life of the glorious captain.

Cook jerked the hostage by the shoulder to get him into the boat faster.

Suddenly a stone flew through the air, the captain staggered back, turned around and fired. However, for some reason, the timid natives did not run away this time. The islanders brandished their spears, driving the strangers to the water, to the boats and trying to free their king. At first, the captain thought to give the order and start firing. But there were several dozen times more Hawaiians, and the bow guns of the ships were not even loaded ...

Cook turned to give the command to get into the boats, and at that moment one of the most daring islanders hit the captain on the head with a stick.

Cook let go of the pistol, took a few steps and fell, then got up again, extended his hand to the Discovery and the Resolutions, which were swaying in warm waves a mere three hundred yards away. Frightened sailors froze watching what was happening.

At that moment, a spear flashed, and the life of Captain Cook, the divine O-Rono, was cut short. With shouts of triumph, the Hawaiians dragged the captain's body into the depths of the island.

So, as a result of a misunderstanding, a quarrel, a blow of a spear, England lost her best navigator. What was this one? Tragedy? Coincidence?

Suffice it to recall how Cook treated the native population. Not very polite, right? It was still possible to accept gifts, but it was clearly unnecessary to tear out the piles that protected the temple from the ground, and, moreover, to take the local king hostage.

In general, almost all European sailors behaved on the lands they discovered as occupiers in the newly captured territory.

Why did this happen? Because in those days there was an erroneous point of view that all natives are savages who need to be subjugated and taught how to live correctly. But the fact that the same Hawaiians were carriers of a very old and mysterious culture, a separate people, no one wanted to understand. And even today, in our time, very often representatives of the so-called civilized peoples behave worse than savages in distant lands, especially if they have weapons.

After the death of Captain Cook, Captain Charles Clerk, who was Cook's first deputy, took command of the expedition.

And the fact that supposedly “natives ate Cook” is just a legend. Hawaiians have never been in the habit of eating people. The very next day, the expedition command agreed with the Hawaiian priests, and the body of James Cook was taken aboard the Resolution. And soon, under the thunder of a cannon salute, the coffin with the body of a glorious navigator, following the maritime custom, was lowered into the depths of the bay.

This is the real truth about Captain Cook and last days his life. I hope you were interested)

From the beginning of the eighteenth century, the British Empire diligently got rid of criminals, exiling them to colonies. North America. However, after the Revolutionary War, she was forced to recognize the United States as a separate state. Then, as a makeshift colony, it was decided to use Australia and the nearby islands.

These areas were poorly explored, so they decided to send experienced sailors and cartographers there. Thus, the talented English military captain James Cook became a pioneer and geographer. Everyone knows that in the end he was vilely killed by the inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands. But how exactly this happened is unknown, because the man was famous for his extremely good-natured attitude towards the natives. Let's figure out together what kind of person he was, and how his difficult fate developed.

Mr. James Cook: a short biography of a talented self-taught

Britain, wanting to continue its naval expansion, felt the loss of the American colonies quite acutely. The criminals were not the only reason for the unrest of the crown. At this time, Canada was conquered, and brave pioneers tried to open the northern route around the American continent and Eurasia in order to find an even easier way to the land of spices. It was during this period at the English court that everyone learned who James Cook was - a navigator and ascetic, a talented cartographer and just a brave person. It was decided to send him to the shores of distant and unknown Australia.

The existence of land at the South Pole has been of concern to navigators since the very moment people first became aware of such an area covered with ice. In the middle of the eighteenth century, an expedition was organized to Australia to find out the exact cartographic data. In 1768, James Cook opened the way to the "Southern Land", but did not find any solid ground there. As a result, thick fogs and many meters of ice stopped his fragile wooden boats, and the sailor had to return. He decided that there was no land at this pole. Only at the beginning of the next century, a Russian expedition led by Thaddeus Bellingshausen would refute this delusion.

Activity of the discoverer

To understand what contribution the navigator James Cook made to science, it is not enough just to get acquainted superficially with the scheme of his travels. He made a huge number of discoveries in geographical science, while achieving everything on pure enthusiasm. On his account, not only Australia, but also the Great Barrier Reef, partly the coast of Alaska, Cook Bay, Norton, Prince William, Bristol and the infamous Hawaiian Islands, where he found his last refuge.

The navigator marked on the maps of the world part of the coast of Canada near the St. Lawrence River, noted the outlines of Newfoundland. With his usual scrupulousness and responsibility, the cartographer explored Tahiti and the Community Islands, the east coast of Australia and New Zealand. A little later, he returned to southern waters again. Pacific Ocean, visited New Caledonia and the Hybrids, Micronesia and Polynesia, the Sandwich and Marquesas Islands. Captain James Cook is the first person on the planet who, in early 1773, crossed the Antarctic Circle and discovered Antarctica.

The first years of the future navigator

A simple laborer from a village called Marton (Scotland), in the county of South Yorkshire, could not even imagine that his offspring would become famous throughout the world, and descendants would remember him even three hundred years after his death. The family already had three children when, on October 27, 1728, the wife of a hired worker gave birth to a baby who in the future would become one of the greatest navigators in the world. infancy and early years James Cook lived his life on a farm, he helped his parents with sheep from childhood.

When the boy was eight, the family moved to the larger town of Great Ayton. The smart tomboy was sent to a school that has survived to this day and now bears his name. While Jamie was studying, his father got promoted and became a manager. After five years of study, the guy returned home to help his parents, but such work did not bring him joy. Even then, the young man understood that he could not see any prospects on the farm, like his own ears.

Becoming a famous traveler

He simply could not endure the routine for a long time, therefore, immediately after coming of age, he was hired as a cabin boy on the brig of the brothers John and Henry Hecker, called Hercules, designed to transport coal. The collier was running between London and Newcastle, and James wanted something more. He diligently fulfilled all his duties. Two years later, he was transferred to another ship owned by the Walker Coal Company - the Three Brothers.

Cook already understood then: having no knowledge, he would forever remain on the hateful coal miner with eternally black hands and face. Because everything free time he followed the books. He was keenly interested in sea voyages, dangerous expeditions, studied mathematics, geography, navigation, cartography and other sciences useful for a sailor. After that, he went to the Baltic, where he spent two long years. At the request of the Walkers, he returned, but already as an assistant captain on the ship "Friendship". Everyone around him always believed in him and in him, everyone liked the character of James Cook: sociable, sociable, courageous and always doing his job perfectly.

In the fifty-fifth, impressed by the talents and achievements of the young man, the Walkers even predicted the post of captain for him, but he refused. In mid-summer, he joined the Royal Navy and received the order to the ship "Eagle" with sixty guns on board. Many wonder why James did not want to become a captain, but went to the army as an ordinary sailor. He probably just saw the prospect and real growth, since he did not want to carry coal along the coast all his life. In two or three months the guy was already a boatswain.

In the 56th, the Seven Years' War broke out and the Eagle was forced to take part in the blockade of the French coast. The following year, along with the crew of his ship, Cook gets into a rather serious naval battle, after which the ship even had to be sent home for repairs. According to the maritime laws of that time, after two years of practice, one could expect an increase. James successfully passed the Sailing Master exam. Soon he received a new appointment on a ship called the Solebey.

During the war, James Cook became famous for his endurance, courage, as well as the complaisant and kind disposition of a man on whom you can rely. His subordinates adored him, his superiors treated him with respect. In 1958, on the Pembroke, after an operation in the Bay of Biscay, he was sent to the distant and uncharted shores of North America. There he took part in the Battle of Quebec, one of the decisive battles of the French and Indian War. His task was not just to get to the desired point, but first of all to map the coast and mark with buoys the navigable fairway (deep waters) of the St. Lawrence River.

James did not take part in the battle, but he “clicked” the cards like seeds. He was transferred as a foreman to the Northumberland, as part of whose team he continued to explore the banks of the river and put their outlines on the map. Admiral Colville was amazed at the accuracy of Cook's charts, so at his request and recommendation they were added to the North American Pilot of the same year. After returning from a campaign, he met Elizabeth Butts and immediately married. His wife gave birth to six children, whose fate remains unclear.

The first expedition to find Terra Incognita

The great story of James Cook begins in 1768, when the British government, according to the official version, sent an expedition to study an amazing natural phenomenon - the passage of Venus across the disk of the Sun. But the secret directives were as follows: immediately after completing the observation of a dark spot on the solar disk, which will last only a few hours, the ship should turn around and go in search of Terra Incognita - the southern mainland, which, according to legend, is located at the pole.

Since James was a military man, the scientific expedition had to be led by someone else. The choice of the Admiralty fell on another eminent specialist, Alexander Dalrymple, geographer and first hydrographer. He firmly believed that the southern lands really exist and are densely populated. On the ship "Endeavor", ironically - again a coal miner, the expedition set off, having on board, in addition to sailors, an astronomer, a botanist, an artist, a doctor and just a wealthy person who wants to go on a trip.

In August 1976, the ship left Plymouth and reached Tahiti in early April. The discoverer James Cook had clear instructions from his superiors - to enter into only friendly relations with the natives, to indulge and help them in every possible way, to fulfill all requirements and requests. This was a very strange indication, because England preferred to solve any issues with guns and muskets. The captain established the strictest rules on board, which imposed very severe punishment even for harmless misconduct. This made it possible to quickly make friends with the natives and win their trust. Therefore, they could observe Venus without hindrance, and replenish supplies for trinkets and jewelry.

Having made all the necessary observations, the ship, taking on board several natives who know these waters, set off for the shores of New Zealand. Despite the politeness of the Europeans, the natives received them with hostility, unlike the Tahitians. Stopping in one of the bays and climbing high cliffs, James discovered that the island was divided in half by the strait, which was later called Cook. In the seventieth "Endeavour" approached Australia, where, due to the abundance of various unfamiliar vegetation, the captain gave the area the name Botanical. In the middle of summer, the ship ran aground, and a huge hole formed in its side. To close it, I had to look for a suitable bay. Having coped with the problem, people were about to go out to the open sea again, but found that they were cut off from the ocean by the Great Barrier Reef - a strip of shallows and rocks.

It took a long time to go around the reef, but it turned out to find the coveted strait between Australia and New Guinea. Scurvy began among the team, people began to die. They headed for Jakarta, where malaria also fell on the unfortunate sailors, to which dysentery was added on the way home. Only twelve travelers managed to see their native shores, among whom, fortunately, our hero turned out to be. After returning, the sailor received the rank of captain of the first rank, despite the fact that the southern mainland could not be opened.

The search for the Great Land during the second expedition

To characterize what James Cook was like, his own diary, which has survived to this day, helps. In 1722, it was decided to send a new expedition in search of the Southern lands. On this occasion, the captain wrote that he was obliged to go to new territories, while keeping to the highest possible latitudes, and he was going to do just that. This time the expedition was not one, but two ships - "Resolution" (Captain Cook) and "Adventure" (Tobias Furno). The research team again included an astronomer, a botanist, an artist, and two naturalists, Johann Reinhold and Georg Forster.

From Plymouth, the travelers went south, wanting to find the island that they supposedly had seen earlier, but they did not find anything. In January of the seventy-third year, for the first time in the world, man-made ships crossed the Arctic Circle. The storm that broke out scattered the travelers, who could not find each other. Therefore, Cook himself went towards New Zealand, where an emergency meeting place was appointed in Charlotte Bay. Furneaux headed for Tasmania, but deciding that it was only part of Australia and it would not be possible to go around it, he also turned to the designated bay. In the middle of summer, both ships left this convenient place to explore Pacific Ocean in the area adjacent to Zeeland.

Interesting

In 1773, a terrible scurvy fell on the Adventure ship due to an improperly organized diet. There was nothing to do: in order not to lose the team, having shown character, James Cook went to friendly Tahiti. There, they managed to replenish the stocks of vegetables and fruits and cure almost all scurvy. So an ordinary sailor managed to find out that vitamins of plant origin have a beneficial effect on the body and stop all the symptoms of this terrible disease.

Further events developed, as if in a real horror movie. Nothing foreshadowed trouble: on the island of Huahine, they managed to acquire three or four hundred heads of pigs. Ulletea, Eua and Tongatabu seemed to the captain a true paradise, and the inhabitants - angels.

Near New Zealand, the storm again scattered the ships. There was no Adventure in Charlotte Bay, and Cook waited. During a forced three-week stay, the sailors discovered that the locals were practicing cannibalism with might and main. James decides to leave a note and move on. Only seven days later the second ship returned to the bay. On the seventeenth of December, eight sailors and two boatswains landed ashore for fruit, but they themselves became dinner for the natives. This made such a strong impression on Captain Furneau that he sent the ship to Cape Town, and then home, leaving a detailed account of the incident to the expedition leader.

Meanwhile, "Resolution" visits Easter Island, the Marquesas Islands and again Tahiti, sailors go to Hua Hin and Raiatea, and even get into trouble in Fiji - the natives are belligerent and unfriendly here. In September, Cook opens New Caledonia, and a little later, New Georgia. But in Charlotte Bay, Adventure never finds it. It is only in Cape Town that James receives a note from Furno and promptly directs the ship back to England.

Finding the Northwest Passage in the third expedition

The third expedition of James Cook was aimed at finding a water passage in the north connecting Pacific and Atlantic Ocean s. The first ship remained the remarkable collier "Resolution". Instead of "Adventure" it was decided to send another ship - "Discovery" with Captain Charles Clerk on board. Both sailed from Plymouth, heading for Cape Town, where the docks were overhauled a couple of weeks later. Through Kerguelen and Tasmania, they arrived in Tahiti, and then crossed the equator and discovered Christmas Island. In January 1778, the Hawaiian Islands, which no one had previously known anything about, were discovered and mapped.

On the coast of Canada, the ships were in a terrible storm, but still continued to move. They passed through the Bering Strait, crossed the Arctic Circle and were going to bypass the mainland along the Chukchi Sea. However, they ran into a huge snow-white desert. It was stupid to even dream of breaking the centuries-old ice, I had to return. On the Aleutian Islands, the sailors were lucky to meet Russian hunters and trappers who had already heard about James Cook. They gave him a map of the famous Bering, surprisingly accurate and detailed.

At the end of November of the seventy-eighth year, the ships reached the Hawaiian Islands, but they did not find a normal parking lot until January of the following year. The natives showed extreme friendliness, massively concentrated around travelers, were interested in everything and stuck their nose everywhere. At first, James was mistaken for one of their deities, but soon the relationship began to deteriorate catastrophically. The natives began to steal and even attack people from the expedition.

Who really ate the explorer

Contrary to the well-known song of Vysotsky, who knew exactly what James Cook did and how his fateful trip to Hawaii ended, no one knows for sure what really happened to the navigator's body. But let's not get ahead of ourselves and deal with the details. A fatal skirmish happened when the captain with the sailors wanted to take away the longboat from the natives, which had been dragged from the ship the day before. He invited the leader on board, he agreed, but at the very edge of the water he changed his mind. The traveler tried to persuade him, but the people gathered on the shore behaved threateningly, they began to throw spears and shoot arrows at the Europeans.

On February 14, 1779, in a terrible turmoil, among the wild cries of an angry crowd of many thousands, the fifty-year-old explorer James Cook was killed, probably by a spear in the back of the head. Seeing that the captain fell lifeless, the sailors quickly retreated to the ship. The clerk, in his report on the incident, claimed that it was a fatal accident. The savages were not going to go so far and even began to form a living corridor to let the travelers out. The captain of the Discovery for several days unsuccessfully sought to peacefully release the body of the deceased, but no one wanted to listen to those who had hopelessly lost the status of gods.

Frustrated and angry, Charles Clerk ordered the ruthless burning of all coastal settlements. Frightened, driven deep into the island, the natives agreed to his terms and on February 22 delivered a basket of meat to the ship. There was also a half-decomposed human head, which was missing the lower jaw. These remains were on the same day betrayed to the abyss, as it should be for sailors. To this day, no one knows for sure whether they belonged to the captain, and whether the natives ate his meat. Clerk himself soon died of tuberculosis and never made it to England.

An English captain's legacy for geography: in memory of Cook

Thereby amazing person, his natural abilities and pedantic attitude to work, unique cards were obtained. They turned out to be so accurate and reliable that their use was accepted until the end of the nineteenth century. At that time, no one else had similar cartographic works, except perhaps Bering, only he explored a completely different area.

The character of James Cook has always been tolerant, but this did not help him escape from trouble. Despite this, his memory lives on in the hearts of his descendants. In addition to the strait, a large archipelago in the Pacific Ocean is named after him. In honor of the name of the ship on which the captain went, they named the command module of the Apollo 15 spacecraft. In addition, there is even a crater on the bright (visible) side of the Moon, bearing the name of James Cook.

On February 14, 1779, Captain James Cook (1728-1779), one of the greatest discoverers of new lands who lived in the 18th century, was killed on the island of Hawaii during an unexpected skirmish with the natives. No one knows what really happened that morning at Kealakekua Bay. It is known, however, that the Hawaiians did not eat Cook, contrary to the well-known song of Vysotsky: it was customary for the natives to bury especially important people in a special way. The bones were buried in a secret place, and the meat was returned to the "relatives" of the captain. Historians argue whether the Hawaiians considered Cook a god (more precisely, the incarnation of the deity of abundance and agriculture, Lono) or simply a presumptuous stranger.

But we will talk about something else: how did the team even allow the death of their captain? How did envy, anger, pride, thieves, cowardice and passivity lead to a tragic set of circumstances? Fortunately (and unfortunately), more than 40 conflicting accounts of Cook's death have survived: this does not unequivocally clarify the course of events, but it details the motives and motivations of the team. About how the death of one captain blew up the ship's microcosm of the heroic navigators of the 18th century - in the historical investigation of Lenta.ru.

Clash with the Hawaiians

The backstory is this: the third circumnavigation Cook began in 1776. On the ships Resolution and Discovery, the British were to find the Northwest Passage: a waterway north of Canada connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. rounding South Africa, the sailors sailed to New Zealand and from there headed north, discovering the Hawaiian Islands along the way (in January 1778). Having regained strength, the expedition went to Alaska and Chukotka, but solid ice and the approach of winter forced Cook to return to Hawaii to the parking lot (December-January 1779).

The Hawaiians greeted the British sailors very cordially. However, over time, the free treatment of local women and too active replenishment of water and food caused discontent, and on February 4, Cook decided to prudently set sail. Alas, on the same night, a storm damaged the foremast of the Resolution, and the ships returned to Kealakekua Bay. Openly hostile Hawaiians stole pincers from one of the ships: in retaliation, the British stole a canoe, which they refused to return as a result of negotiations.

Then on February 14, the longboat disappeared from the Resolution: and then Cook armed himself with a gun and, together with a detachment of ten marines (led by Lieutenant Molesworth Phillips), demanded one of the local leaders to come on the ship (either as a hostage, or, more likely to negotiate in a more relaxed atmosphere).
At first the leader agreed, then, yielding to the entreaties of his wife, refused to go. Meanwhile, thousands of armed Hawaiians gathered on the shore and pushed Cook to the shore. For some unknown reason, the crowd went into action, and in the ensuing turmoil, someone hit Cook on the back with a stick. The captain fired in retaliation, but did not kill the Hawaiian - and then the natives rushed at the British from all sides.

Already in the water, Cook was hit in the back with a spear or a throwing dagger, and the captain (along with several sailors) died. Cooke's body was dragged ashore, while the British retreated in disorder to the ships.

After another fight, negotiations took place that ended in peace: the Hawaiians solemnly returned Cook's body (in the form of pieces of meat), which infuriated the team. An error in intercultural communication (the British did not understand that the locals buried the captain with maximum dignity) caused a punitive raid: the coastal settlement was burned, the Hawaiians were killed, and as a result, the islanders returned the remaining parts of Cook's body, buried at sea on February 21. The position of expedition leader passed to Discovery's captain Charles Clerk, and when he died of tuberculosis off Kamchatka, to Resolution's second mate James King.

Who is guilty?

But what really happened that morning at Kealakekua Bay? How was the fight in which Cook died?

Here is what First Officer James Burney writes: “Through binoculars we saw Captain Cook get hit with a club and fall off a cliff into the water.” Bernie was most likely standing on the deck of the Discovery. And here is what the captain of the ship Clark said about the death of Cook: “It was exactly 8 o'clock when we were alarmed by a gun salvo, given by people Captain Cook, and there were strong cries of the Indians. Through the spyglass, I clearly saw that our people were running towards the boats, but I could not see exactly who was running in the confused crowd.

The ships of the 18th century were not very spacious: the Clerk was hardly far from Burney, but he did not see individual people. What's the matter? The members of the Cook expedition left behind a huge number of texts: historians count 45 manuscripts of diaries, ship logs and notes, as well as 7 books printed back in the 18th century.

But that's not all: the logbook of James King (the author of the official history of the third expedition) was accidentally found in government archives in the 1970s. And not all texts were written by members of the wardroom: the captivating memoirs of the German Hans Zimmermann speak about the life of sailors, and historians learned a lot from the complete plagiarism of the book of a half-educated student John Ledyard, Corporal of the Marines.

So, 45 memoirs tell about the events of the morning of February 14, and the differences between them are not pure coincidence, the result of gaps in the memory of sailors trying to recreate the terrible events. What the British “saw with their own eyes” is dictated by complex relationships on the ship: envy, patronage and loyalty, personal ambitions, rumors and slander.

The memoirs themselves were written not only out of a desire to bask in the glory of Captain Cook or make money: the texts of the team members are replete with insinuations, irritated hints at hiding the truth, and, in general, do not look like old friends' memories of a wonderful trip.

The tension in the team had been accumulating for a long time: it was inevitable during the long voyage on cramped ships, the abundance of orders, the reasonableness of which was obvious only to the captain and his inner circle, and the expectation of inevitable hardships during the coming search for the Northwest Passage in subpolar waters. However, the conflicts poured into an open form one and only time - with the participation of two heroes of the future drama in Kealakekua Bay: a duel took place in Tahiti between Marine Lieutenant Phillips and Resolution's third assistant John Williamson. All that is known about the duel is that three bullets passed over the heads of its participants without harming them.

The character of both Irishmen was not sugar. Phillips, heroically injured by Hawaiian weapons (he was wounded while retreating to the boats), ended his life as a London bum, playing cards on trifles and beating his wife. Williamson, on the other hand, was disliked by many officers. “This is a scoundrel who was hated and feared by subordinates, hated by equals and despised by superiors,” one of the midshipmen wrote in his diary.

But the hatred of the team hit Williamson only after Cook's death: all eyewitnesses agree that at the very beginning of the collision, the captain gave some kind of signal to Williamson's people who were in boats off the coast. What Cook wanted to express with this unknown gesture will forever remain a mystery. The lieutenant stated that he understood him as "Save yourself, swim away!" and gave the appropriate command.

Unfortunately for him, the rest of the officers were sure that Cook was desperately calling for help. The sailors could provide fire support, drag the captain into the boat, or at least recapture the corpse from the Hawaiians ... Williamson was opposed by a dozen officers and marines from both ships. Phillips, according to Ledyard's recollection, was even ready to shoot the lieutenant on the spot.

Clark (the new captain) was immediately required to investigate. However, the main witnesses (we do not know who they are - most likely the chiefs on the pinnass and skiff, who were also under the shore under Williamson's command) withdrew their testimony and accusations against the third mate. Did they do it sincerely, not wanting to ruin an officer who got into a difficult and ambiguous situation? Or were they pressured by the authorities? We are unlikely to know this - the sources are very scarce. In 1779, while on his deathbed, Captain Clark destroyed all papers related to the investigation.

There is only the fact that the leaders of the expedition (King and Clark) decided not to blame Williamson for the death of Cook. However, rumors immediately circulated on the ships that Williamson had stolen documents from Clark's locker after the captain's death, or even earlier issued brandy to all Marines and sailors to keep them quiet about the lieutenant's cowardice upon their return to England.

The truth of these rumors cannot be confirmed: but it is important that they went for the reason that Williamson not only avoided the tribunal, but also succeeded in every possible way. Already in 1779 he was promoted to the second, and then to the first assistant to the captain. His successful career in the navy was interrupted only by an incident in 1797: as captain of the Agincourt, in the battle of Camperdown, he once again misinterpreted a signal (this time by sea), evaded an attack on enemy ships and went to court for dereliction of duty. He died a year later.

In his diary, Clark describes what happened to Cook on the shore according to Philips: the whole story boils down to the misadventures of a wounded marine, and not a word is said about the behavior of other team members. James King also showed favor to Williamson: in the official history of the voyage, Cook's gesture was described as a act of philanthropy: the captain tried to keep his people from brutally shooting the unfortunate Hawaiians. Moreover, King places the blame for the tragic collision on Lieutenant of the Marine Corps Rickman, who shot the Hawaiian on the other side of the bay (which infuriated the natives).

It would seem that everything is clear: the authorities are covering up the obvious culprit in Cook's death - for some reason of their own. And then, using his connections, he makes a stunning career. However, the situation is not so clear cut. It is curious that the team was divided into haters and defenders of Williamson approximately equally - and the composition of each group deserves close attention.

British navy: hopes and disappointments

The officers of the Resolution and Discovery were not at all pleased with the great scientific significance of the expedition: for the most part they were ambitious young people who were not at all eager to spend best years on the sidelines in cramped cabins. In the 18th century, promotion was mainly given by wars: at the beginning of each conflict, the "demand" for officers increased - assistants were promoted to captains, midshipmen - to assistants. It is not surprising that the members of the crew sailed longingly from Plymouth in 1776: literally before their eyes, conflict with the American colonists flared up, and they had to “rot” for four years in the dubious search for the Northwest Passage.

British navy by standards XVIII century was a relatively democratic institution: people who were far from power, wealth and noble blood could serve and rise to commanding heights. To go far for examples, one can recall Cook himself, the son of a Scottish farm laborer, who began his maritime biography as a cabin boy on a coal-burning brig.

However, one should not think that the system automatically selected the most worthy: the price for relative democracy “at the entrance” was the leading role of patronage. All officers built networks of support, looked for loyal patrons in the team and in the Admiralty, earning a reputation for themselves. That is why the death of Cook and Clark meant that all contacts and agreements reached with the captains during the voyage went to dust.

Having reached Canton, the officers learned that the war with the rebellious colonies was in full swing, and all the ships were already completed. But before the disastrous (the Northwest Passage was not found, Cook died) geographical expedition, no one really cares. “The crew felt how much they would lose in rank and wealth, also deprived of the consolation that they were being led home by an old commander whose known merits could help the deeds of the last voyage be heard and appreciated even in those troubled times,” writes King in his journal (December 1779). In the 1780s, the war with Napoleon was still far away, and only a few were promoted. Many junior officers followed the example of midshipman James Trevenen and went to serve in the Russian fleet (which, we recall, fought against the Swedes and Turks in the 1780s).

In this regard, it is curious that midshipmen and master's assistants, who were at the very beginning of their careers in the Navy, spoke out loudest of all against Williamson. They missed their luck (the war with the American colonies), and even a single vacancy was a valuable enough prize. The rank of Williamson (third mate) did not yet give him great opportunities to take revenge on his accusers, and his trial would create an excellent opportunity to remove a competitor. Combined with a personal dislike of Williamson, this more than explains why he was reviled and called the main villain who killed Cook. Meanwhile, many senior members of the team (Bernie, although he was a close friend of Phillips, draftsman William Ellis, Resolution's first assistant John Gore, Discovery master Thomas Edgar) did not find anything reprehensible in Williamson's actions.

For approximately the same reasons (career future), in the end, part of the blame was shifted to Rickman: he was much older than most of the members of the wardroom, began serving as early as 1760, "missed" the start of the Seven Years' War and did not receive a promotion in 16 years. That is, he did not have strong patrons in the fleet, and his age did not allow him to make friends with a company of young officers. As a result, Rickman turned out to be almost the only member of the team who did not receive any more titles at all.

In addition, by attacking Williamson, many officers, of course, tried to avoid uncomfortable questions: on the morning of February 14, many of them were on the island or in boats and could act more proactively, having heard the shots, and retreat to the ships without trying to recapture the bodies of the dead as well looks suspicious. The future captain of the Bounty, William Bly (master on the Resolution), directly accused the Phillips Marines of fleeing the battlefield. The fact that 11 of the 17 Marines on the Resolution were subjected to corporal punishment during the voyage (on Cook's personal order) also makes one wonder how willing they were to sacrifice their lives for the captain.

None of the surviving members of the team was supposed to become a scapegoat, guilty of the tragic death of the great captain: circumstances were to blame, vile natives and (as is read between the lines of memoirs) the arrogance and recklessness of Cook himself, who hoped almost single-handedly to take the local hostage leader. “There is good reason to believe that the natives would not have gone so far if, unfortunately, Captain Cook had not fired at them: a few minutes before this they began to clear the way for the soldiers so that the latter could reach that place on the shore , against which the boats stood (I already mentioned this), thus giving Captain Cook the opportunity to get away from them, ”the Clerk’s diaries say.

Now it becomes clearer why Clerk and Bernie saw such different scenes through their telescopes. This was determined by the place in the complex system of "checks and balances", the status hierarchy and the struggle for a place under the sun, which was going on board the ships of the scientific expedition. What prevented the Clerk from seeing (or talking about) the captain's death was not so much the "confused crowd" as the officer's desire to remain above the fray and ignore the evidence of the guilt of individual members of the team (many of whom were his protégés, and others were the protégés of his London superiors).

What is the meaning of what happened?

History is not just objective events that happened or didn't happen. We know about the past only from the stories of the participants in these events, stories that are often fragmentary, confused and contradict each other. However, one should not draw a conclusion from this about the fundamental incompatibility of individual points of view, which allegedly represent autonomous and incompatible pictures of the world. Scientists, if not able to authoritatively state how "it really was," they can find probable causes, common interests and other solid layers of reality behind the apparent chaos of "testimony".

This is what we tried to do - to unravel a little the network of motives, to discern the elements of the system that forced the team members to act, see and remember in this way and not otherwise.

Personal relationships, career interests. But there is another layer: the national-ethnic level. Cook's ships were a cross-section of imperial society: representatives of the peoples and, most importantly, regions, to varying degrees removed from the metropolis (London), sailed there, in which all the main issues were resolved and the process of "civilizing" the British took place. Cornish and Scots, natives of the American colonies and the West Indies, Northern England and Ireland, Germans and Welsh ... Their relationship during and after the voyage, the influence of prejudices and stereotypes on what is happening, scientists have yet to understand.

But history is not a criminal investigation either: the last thing I wanted to do was to finally identify the person responsible for the death of Captain Cook: be it the “coward” Williamson, the “uninitiative” sailors and marines on the shore, the “evil” natives, or the “arrogant” navigator himself.

It would be naive to consider Cook's team a detachment of science heroes, "white people" in identical uniforms. it a complex system personal and official relations, with their crises and conflict situations, passions and prudent actions. And by chance this structure in dynamics explodes with an event. The death of Cook confused all the maps of the expedition members, but made them burst into passionate, emotional notes and memoirs, and thus shed light on relationships and patterns that, with a more favorable outcome of the voyage, would have remained in the darkness of obscurity.

But the death of Captain Cook can also be a useful lesson in the 21st century: often only similar emergency events (accident, death, explosion, escape, leak) can manifest internal organization and the modus operandi of secret (or at least non-public) organizations, be it a submarine crew or a diplomatic corps.

The future navigator James Cook was born in 1728 in England, in the family of a former farm laborer. After he received his education, the young man got a job as a cabin boy on his first ship.

Beginning of service in the Navy

Even in his early youth, Cook decided that he would devote his life to the sea. In his free time from swimming, he studied related sciences - geography, astronomy and the history of exploration of new lands. In 1755, the Royal Navy took on a new sailor. It was James Cook. The brief biography of the man included career growth from a simple sailor to a boatswain in just a month of service.

At this time began against France and her allies. Cook participated in the battles on the ship "Eagle" and the blockade of the enemy coast. In 1758 he was sent to North America, where the struggle for colonies and resources continued between the two great maritime powers. At that time, Cook was the master - assistant to the captain. He, as a specialist in cartography, was instructed to explore the channel and the fairway. On its banks there was an important one that the British wanted to capture.

The master successfully coped with his task, thanks to which the assault and capture of an important fortress took place. The Royal Navy was vital to such specialists as James Cook, whose brief biography received a new round. After returning to his homeland, he began to prepare for his first trip around the world.

First expedition

The government provided Cook with a small ship, the Endeavor. On it, an experienced sailor had to explore south seas to find an unknown mainland, which was supposedly located in those extreme latitudes. The team also included experienced specialists - botanists and astronomers. This team was to be led by James Cook, whose brief biography still attracts numerous readers today.

In 1768 he left the port of Plymouth to be in Tahiti. The captain was distinguished by the fact that he introduced on the ship strict discipline regarding the attitude towards the natives. The team was ordered not to come into conflict with the savages in any case, but, on the contrary, to try to build peaceful relations. This went against the habitual practice of the colonialists, when the local population was massively massacred or enslaved. Traveler James Cook opposed this. The brief biography of the captain does not contain the facts that he ever initiated a conflict with the natives.

New Zealand and Australia

Tahiti was followed by New Zealand, which was carefully explored by James Cook. The short biography of the navigator in each textbook includes a detailed description of his activities as a cartographer. He described in detail each coast that he sailed past. His cards were used for another hundred years. On the Endeavour, he discovered a bay, which he named Queen Charlotte Bay. The name of the captain was given to the strait that separates the two islands of New Zealand.

The east coast of Australia met the team with unprecedented plant species. Because of this, the bay in this region was named Botanical. Europeans were amazed at the local fauna, including the wild kangaroo. On June 11, 1770, the ship received a serious hole on the reef, which greatly slowed down the expedition.

When the leak was sealed, Endeavor went to Indonesia. There the sailors contracted malaria. The sanitary conditions of those voyages favored the spread of epidemics. However, Cook, thanks to the observance of hygiene rules and a change in diet, managed to overcome scurvy, the scourge of many sailors. But against malaria and dysentery there were no effective remedies yet. Therefore, when the Endeavor finally ended up in Cape Town, only 12 people remained on board, including Cook.

The first expedition proved that New Zealand is two islands. The main target (the southern mainland) was never found. The east coast of Australia was drawn in detail on the map.

Second expedition

In 1772, a new expedition was launched, led by James Cook. A short biography for children contains many fascinating details of the journey that will attract young readers. Basically, these are descriptions of amazing plants and animals of the tropical fauna.

Cook's first target was Bouvet Island, which had previously been seen from a distance by a Norwegian expedition. However, the desired piece of land was never found, after which the team went further south. In January 1773, Resolution and Adventure crossed the Antarctic Circle for the first time in the history of exploration. Due to heavy weather conditions the two ships even briefly lost sight of each other.

After a long voyage, the expedition headed to Tahiti and Huahine. There, the British encountered the aggressive behavior of the natives and even cannibalism. Subsequently, Cook headed due east, discovering New Caledonia and South Georgia. However, he never managed to reach the shores of Antarctica. That's where James Cook was heading. Biography, the summary of which captivates bright adventures has been the subject of research by numerous historians.

Last expedition

In 1776, a new one began - the last journey, led by James Cook. The biography, a summary of which is in all geography textbooks, includes such an interesting chapter. This time the captain received two ships - "Resolution" and "Discovery".

On December 24, 1777, the expedition opened the so-called in honor of the upcoming holiday. Here the sailors managed to see the solar eclipse with their own eyes. James Cook knew about his coming, whose brief biography included long days of studying astronomy.

Doom

Already in January, Europeans first saw the Hawaiian Islands. Here they rested, after which they went to the shores of Alaska and the Chukchi Sea. On the way the ships crossed On Cook met with n explorers and industrialists.

From the polar seas, the team returned to Hawaii. She was greeted by a crowd of natives numbering about a thousand. Conflicts constantly arose with the locals, because of which they attacked the British. During one of the attacks on February 14, 1779, James Cook was killed. A very brief biography of this navigator should be known to any educated and erudite person. The captain became national hero Great Britain.

The era of great geographical discoveries and the continuation of ocean research.

18. Study of the Southern Ocean.

© Vladimir Kalanov,
"Knowledge is power".

The Southern Ocean refers to the body of water that forms around Antarctica the southern regions of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.

And one more clarification. It is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of Antarctica and Antarctica. Antarctica is the southern continent. Antarctica is the south polar region, including Antarctica with its adjacent islands and the southern regions of the oceans up to about 50-60 degrees south latitude.

Antarctica was discovered much later than other continents. The idea of ​​the existence of a continent in the high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere was expressed by ancient scientists. On the maps of the 16th century, the unknown, supposed Terra Australis(Southern Land) was located almost a few miles from the Patagonian coast of America and no further than 20 latitude degrees from Java and the Cape of Good Hope.

It was not until the early 19th century that it became clear that the Antarctic continent was much smaller than the geographers of the 16th century imagined, and that the oceans stretched from the northern continents to Antarctica for thousands of miles, except where the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula approaches Cape Gory at a distance of about 10 latitude degrees.

The first voyages to the Southern Ocean were made in the first decades of the 17th century by the Spanish navigators Diego de Prado and Luis Voes de Torres, as well as the Dutchman Abel Tasman. But their travels did not clarify anything about the southern continent and the seas surrounding the South Pole.

The famous English navigator James Cook in 1772 led an expedition that had the task of finding the southern mainland. This was the second expedition of James Cook. He devoted his first journey (1768-1771) to the exploration of the east coast of Australia and sailed around New Zealand. With this journey, he proved that the Southern Continent as it was mapped in the 16th century does not exist and that New Zealand is not part of the Southern Continent, as previously assumed. Now it remained either to find the Southern Continent, or to prove that it does not exist at all.

First circumnavigation of the world (1768-1771).
Second circumnavigation of the world (1772-1775).
Third circumnavigation of the world (1776-1779).

July 13, 1772 Cook left Plymouth on two ships - "Resolution" ("Determination") and "Adventure" ("Adventure"). The goal was to reach the Cape of Good Hope, and from there go in search of unknown lands in the ocean south of the African continent. Moving southeast from the Cape of Good Hope, on January 17, 1773, he reached 66 ° 22 "south latitude and, thus, crossed the Antarctic Circle for the first time in the history of navigation.

Then he advanced to 67 ° 31 "S, but did not find any Earth. Then J. Cook headed east and on March 26, 1773 arrived on the islands of New Zealand. He was the first European to make detailed description this land. Later, the strait between the North and South Islands of New Zealand was named Cook Strait.

Looking for southern mainland J. Cook traveled tens of thousands of miles in a difficult way through the southern parts of all three oceans and discovered a number of islands, including large island New Caledonia, as well as entire archipelagos of smaller islands. One of the archipelagos in the Pacific Ocean is called the Cook Islands. On another attempt to find Terra Australians he reached 71 ° 10 "S, that is, he approached the South Pole at the closest distance for that time. He could not move further south: solid ice stood in the way, stretching east and west as far as the eye could see.

J. Cook took a course to the northeast and continued to explore the Pacific Ocean. The inaccessibility of the ice and the harsh climate of the southern latitudes led him later to draw the following conclusion: "The lands that may be in the south will never be explored ... this country is doomed to eternal cold." J. Cook was a great navigator and an outstanding explorer of the World Ocean, but one should not be surprised at such a pessimistic conclusion. In his time, no one could have foreseen that in some 120-150 years, instead of small sailing ships, completely dependent on the weather, powerful diesel and then nuclear icebreakers would enter the ocean, and then they would be able to pass through powerful ice in the north - to the pole, and in the south - to the shores of the southern continent.

The second expedition of J. Cook visited easter islands(now the possessions of Chile) and discovered the stone statues so famous now, installed there by unknown ancient natives. In 1775, the second round-the-world expedition ended, and Cook's ships returned to England, having previously risen to 60 ° S. latitude. and passing through the Drake Passage into the South Atlantic. On the way to England, J. Cook visited the Cape of Good Hope, St. Helena, Ascension Island, Ferdinand Island, and the Azores.

This expedition also showed that the unknown land in the south, if it exists, is not at all as huge as previously thought. It should be noted that J. Cook himself considered it quite possible that a small Antarctic continent lies behind the ice barrier.

During its third and last round the world expedition(1776–1779) J. Cook crossed the Atlantic Ocean from north to south and passed the Cape of Good Hope, crossed the entire southern part indian ocean and entered the Pacific Ocean. Starting from New Zealand, he explored the entire Great Ocean, moving from south to north. Having discovered the Hawaiian Islands, Cook turned to the northeast, passed along the western coast of North America to Alaska, entered the Bering Sea and through the Bering Strait into the southern part of the Chukchi Sea. Thus, Cook visited the Arctic Ocean. Passing Cape Dezhnev and passing through the Aleutian Islands, Cook headed back to the Hawaiian Islands he had discovered. The great navigator ended his days here, in the very center of the Pacific - he tragically died in 1779 on one of the islands of the Hawaiian archipelago he discovered. His team returned to England without him in 1780.

James Cook made a great contribution to ocean science. He was a naval officer, an officer in the British Navy and at the same time a scientist who dealt with purely scientific problems. On the first expedition, Cook was sent with the following scientific task: together with astronomers, whom he accompanied on the sailing ship Endeavor to the island of Tahiti, to observe the passage of Venus through the solar disk.

By the middle of the 18th century, astronomy had already made significant progress. Suffice it to say that the day of this rare cosmic event, June 3, 1769, scientists calculated in advance and, moreover, determined that it could only be observed in the Southern Hemisphere. So Cook ended up in Tahiti. By this time he was already a member of the London geographical society, where he was elected for surveying the coast of Newfoundland and measuring the fairway of the St. Lawrence River. The researchers hoped to use the observation of the passage of Venus across the solar disk for calculation.

Cook's second task on the first expedition was to find the continent, which the cartographers assumed was to the south. Cook found this continent: on April 28, 1770, he landed on the east coast of Australia, which had not been explored by anyone before. Immediately after that, Australia became a British possession, although the Dutch discovered this land in the first half of the 17th century. In this regard, the importance for the knowledge of Australia of the expedition of the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman, who explored the northern and northwestern coast of Australia and in 1642 discovered the island, later named after him - Tasmania, should be noted.

As a result of Cook's research, it was finally proved that Australia is an independent continent, and not part of the unknown Antarctic continent, as previously thought.

The name Australia ("Southern Land") was finally fixed only at the beginning of the 19th century. Until that time, this remote land was called New Holland. It is believed that this land was discovered back in 1606 by the Dutch navigator Willem Janszon.

Currently, Australia, together with Tasmania and the small islands, form one state, which is called the Commonwealth of Australia.

For Europeans, Australia has a lot of peculiar and unusual things. For example, along the northeastern part of Australia, almost repeating the outline of the coastline, stretches in the warm waters of the ocean for more than two thousand kilometers, the world's largest coral reef, called Great Barrier Reef. Lake Eyre lies 12 meters below sea level and in dry times breaks up into several shallow reservoirs, and a crust of salt appears in the dried areas. During the rainy season, screams overwhelm this lake, and its area greatly increases. Creeks are rivers that dry up in the desert and semi-desert parts of the mainland.

The long isolation of Australia from other continents explains the fact that up to 75% of plant species are found only here, for example, eucalyptus trees over 100 meters high, whose roots go 30 meters into the ground.

There are many marsupials in Australia, and the echidna and platypus are the most primitive mammals: they hatch their young from eggs and feed them with milk. There are no such mammals anywhere else.

Giant kangaroos reach 3 meters in height, and dwarf ones - 30 centimeters.

Australian merino sheep provide over half of the world's wool shear.

A wonderful feature of the Australians is the love for nature and care for it. The emu and the kangaroo are depicted on the national emblem of the country.

Undoubtedly, Australia is a beautiful and very interesting country. Interest in it did not decrease even after the cruel, inhuman actions of the European colonialists in the mass destruction of the natives of this country became known.

However, we still have to "get" to Antarctica. It seems that the results of the two expeditions of James Cook and his conclusions about the impossibility of exploring the lands supposedly located near the South Pole led to a long pause in further attempts to discover these lands.

© Vladimir Kalanov,
"Knowledge is power"