2. Cook, the discoverer
Georg Forster's monument to Captain Cook
NIGEL ERSKINE
Much of what we know of the life of James Cook can be traced to the decades of research by the New Zealand scholar, JC Beaglehole.1 Indeed, the history of Cook and his three voyages of exploration was Beaglehole's life's work and we must acknowledge his efforts in collating and editing a large part of the documentary evidence associated with Cook's career. Beaglehole's work has been complemented by Bernard Smith and Rüdiger Joppien's analysis of the pictorial records produced during Cook's voyages, and Andrew David's volumes dealing with the charts and coastal views.2 This research has been impressive and, as a result, much more is known of Cook's life today than was the case in his own time.
Cook's career was spectacular. In the course of his first and second voyages of discovery he charted the main Pacific Island groups and shattered the notion of Terra Australis Incognita. Cook's expeditions were vehicles for the advancement of natural history, medicine, navigation and ethnography and, by the time he left England at the start of the third voyage, his reputation appeared unassailable. Against the background of such success, the news of Cook's death in Kealakekua Bay in Hawai‘i was almost incomprehensible. Some sense of the shock and horror of the event is evoked in the Resolution's surgeon David Samwell's description:
Captain Cook was advanced a few paces before the Marines when they fired, the stones flew as thick as hail which knocked the Lieut. down and as he was rising a fellow struck him in the back with a spear, however he recovered himself shot the Indian dead and escaped into the water. Captain Cook was now the only man on the rock, he was seen walking down towards the pinnace, holding his left hand against the back of his head to guard it from the stones and carrying his musket under the other arm. An Indian came running behind him, stopping once or twice as he advanced, as if he was afraid that he should turn round, then taking him unaware he sprung to him, knocked him on the back of the head with a large club taken out of a fence, and instantly fled with the greatest precipitation; the blow made Captain Cook stagger two or three paces, he then fell on his hand and one knee and dropped his musket, as he was rising another Indian came running to him and before he could recover himself from the fall drew out an iron dagger he concealed under his feathered cloak and stuck it with all his force into the back of his neck, which made Captain Cook tumble into the water.3
Cook's death was violent and, by its nature, deprived his mourners of any comfort of giving the great explorer a ‘proper’ burial. In the vacuum left after the violence at Kealakekua Bay, members of the Resolution’s crew made a miniature coffin for Elizabeth Cook. Painted inside with a depiction of the scene of Cook's death, and containing a lock of Cook's hair, the tiny casket may have provided solace for Cook's grieving widow. In England, the public mood was summed up in an elegy to Cook by Miss Seward:
Oh raise thy thoughts to yonder starry plain,
And own thy sorrow — selfish, weak, and vain;
Since, while Britannia, to his virtues just,
Twines the bright wreath, and rears th'immortal bust;
While on each wind of heav'n his fame shall rise,
In endless incense to the smiling skies;
The attendant Power, that bade his sails expand,
And waft her blessings to each barren land,
Now raptur'd bears him to th'immortal plains,
Where Mercy hails him with congenial strains;
Where soars, on Joy's white plume, his spirit free,
And angels choir him, while he waits for Thee.4
Containing comforting imagery of Cook's spiritual ascent to heaven, the elegy inspired de Loutherbourg's Apotheosis of Captain Cook.5 For its part, the Royal Society issued a Cook commemorative medal and, on a more practical level, the King granted Elizabeth Cook a generous annuity. In 1785, the Cook family was granted a coat of arms. Despite these gestures, however, several years were to pass before the official biography of Cook appeared, and it was in this interim that Georg Forster produced his own commemorative essay to Cook.
Johann Reinhold Forster and Georg Forster
Georg Forster was not yet 18 when he joined Cook's ship Resolution in 1772 as assistant naturalist to his father, Johann Reinhold Forster. Descended from a Scot who had migrated to Danzig in the seventeenth century, Johann Reinhold Forster was born just outside that city in 1729.6 He attended school in Berlin before going to the University of Halle, where he undertook theological studies. Johann Reinhold Forster had a gift for languages and at university developed a passion for natural history. In 1753 he was ordained and sent to the parish of Nassenhuben where he remained as pastor for the next 12 years. During this period, his scholarly interests expanded to include geography and ancient civilisations. He married in 1754 and his son Georg, the first of eight children, was born in November that year.
Johann Reinhold Forster was a prodigious correspondent and, in 1765, his skill in languages brought him to the attention of the court of Catherine the Great. That same year he travelled with Georg to Saint Petersburg with a commission to investigate and report on the fledgling settlements of German emigrants that Catherine was attempting to establish along the Volga. The commission went badly; Forster was thorough in his work and, instead of producing a report which would encourage more Germans to migrate (as expected by the Russian authorities), his report was a starkly honest appraisal that alienated his Russian employer. When his demands for payment were refused, he and his son left for England, arriving in October 1766 with little money, but great resolve to succeed in a nation that had been ruled by Hanoverian monarchs since 1714.
In London, Forster drew on German connections in an attempt to gain a scholarly appointment and regularly attended the Society of Antiquaries, of which he was elected a fellow in 1767. In the same year, he was appointed tutor of modern languages and natural history at Warrington Academy. At Warrington he devoted much of his free time to translation work, which brought him growing prominence in intellectual circles. In 1770 he moved back to London and, with a growing reputation as a naturalist, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1772. It was at this time that circumstances combined to provide him and his son Georg with an opportunity to join Cook's second voyage of discovery.
Joseph Banks
The Endeavour voyage had shown Cook to be a competent and resourceful captain whose actions fully vindicated the trust placed in him by the British Admiralty. When the vessel returned to England in 1771, however, it was, above all others, Joseph Banks who claimed the triumphal laurels and limelight. True, Cook was immediately promoted to commander and was soon involved in planning a further voyage to search the Southern Ocean for the elusive Terra Australis Incognita but, when the Earl of Sandwich (First Lord of the Admiralty) invited Banks to sail on the second voyage, Banks quickly assumed a proprietary stewardship of accommodation arrangements for himself and his large party of supernumeraries. In addition to Daniel Solander, Banks's staff was to include the Scottish naturalist James Lind and the artist Johann Zoffany as well as draughtsmen, secretaries, servants and even two musicians — a total of 17 in all!
From the outset, Banks was unhappy with the choice of ships for the expedition. In September 1771, the Navy Board had selected two colliers, the Marquis of Granby and the Marquis of Rockingham. Both vessels displayed the flat-bottom and bluff bow typical of this type. Upon initial inspection, Banks expressed his opinion that the ships were ‘very improper for the voyage’ but was persuaded that alterations would overcome any problems. The surveyor of the Navy was sent to listen to Banks's proposals and plans were drawn up for changes to the Marquis of Granby. As Banks's party would take up most of the accommodation on the upper deck, it would be necessary to build a cabin (roundhouse) for the captain on the quarterdeck. The waist (between quarterdeck and foredeck) was also to be decked to accommodate some of the crew. Internal changes were to include new storerooms and additional (chain) pumps. Externally the ship was to have stern galleries and new carved decorations, including a figurehead of a rearing white horse.
By April 1772, the alterations were complete and the vessel (now renamed Resolution) was ordered down river to the Downs. However, during the short voyage the Resolution proved to be so unstable that the Admiralty ordered it be taken to Sheerness to have some of the new structures removed. For Banks, this was the last straw and, after laying his grievances before Lord Sandwich, he withdrew from the voyage. Shortly afterwards, he led his scientific party on an expedition to the outer Hebrides and Iceland.7 In the vacuum left by Banks's departure, Johann Reinhold Forster's name was put forward and quickly accepted. Johann and Georg Forster were to join Cook's voyage to the Antarctic.
A voyage round the world
The Forsters’ late appointment as naturalists to the expedition left little time for preparations or formal contracts, and this was later to prove a source of acrimony. Parliament had granted £4000 for Banks's voyage naturalist, Lind, and the money now came to Forster. He used a small part of it to employ the Swedish naturalist Anders Sparrman when the Resolution reached the Cape of Good Hope in October 1772.
The main purpose of the expedition was to discover the truth about the existence of Terra Australis Incognita and, after leaving the Cape of Good Hope, Cook's ships headed south into the Southern Ocean. Over the next three years the Resolution spent months searching the empty waters close to the Antarctic Circle, with interludes at New Zealand, and a sweep through the main island groups of Polynesia and Melanesia. By the time the vessel returned to England, Cook and his men had completed a rigorous search which demonstrated conclusively that Terra Australis Incognita was a myth.
The controversy
At the end of the Endeavour voyage, the Admiralty had given the writer John Hawkesworth the task of collating and editing Cook's journal. When the journal was ultimately published in 1773 as part of Hawkesworth's Voyages (a compendium of the voyages of Byron, Wallis, Carteret and Cook) 8, it earned Hawkesworth £6000 in publishing fees. Cook first saw the publication when he arrived back at the Cape in March 1775 and was disappointed by the many inaccuracies he discovered in it, a factor which probably influenced his ideas regarding publication of the Resolution voyage account.
For his part, Johann Reinhold Forster believed that he had been given the task of writing the official voyage account. As Georg later pointed out in a letter to Lord Sandwich, Johann Reinhold Forster had been given verbal assurances of this when he undertook to join the ship:
The first condition was as follows: ‘That my father after his return should be employed to write the history of the voyage, and enjoy all the profits of the publication, together with such advantages as the Admiralty board might think proper to annex there unto’, in the same manner as (the late) Dr. Hawkesworth was at that time favoured by the board, whilst drawing up an account of the former voyages.9
However, whatever the undertakings that had been made in 1772, by 1775 the situation had changed. No written contract had been made and it was now clear that Cook intended to take an active role in writing the new voyage account. Forster appears to have initially accepted that he would be co-publishing with Cook, but found himself increasingly marginalised. In April 1776, Lord Sandwich attempted to clarify the roles of each author in a formal contract. The voyage account would consist of two volumes. Volume one would be written by Cook and consist of ‘nautical observations’ and ‘remarks upon the customs and manners of the natives’, while volume two would be written by Johann Reinhold Forster and focus on ‘natural history’, ‘philosophical remarks’ and the ‘manners, customs, genius and language of the natives of the several islands’.10
The contract should have resolved the problems but, within days, there was a new difficulty. Reading a draft of Forster's work, Lord Sandwich was unhappy and insisted that Forster allow an editor to review his writing. The demand touched a nerve in Forster and he categorically refused. Lord Sandwich attempted to call another meeting, but Forster declined to attend and, by June, his further participation in the project was over. Cook would write the voyage account with the editorial assistance of John Douglas, canon of Windsor.
The disagreement was catastrophic for the Forsters. What should have been a prestigious and lucrative publication had become instead a public brawl. But there was still a way to publish. The agreement signed by Johann Reinhold Forster in April precluded him from publishing an account of the voyage, but there was no impediment to Georg Forster publishing. Cook's account would not be finished for months and there was still time for Georg Forster to publish an account before the official publication was released. Within a month of the breakdown in negotiations, Georg Forster had started what was to become A Voyage round the World in His Britannic Majesty's Sloop, Resolution.11
Nine months later the work was complete and it went on sale in London six weeks before Cook's official account. Despite this, sales were poor and when Cook's account appeared, it was lavishly illustrated and competitively priced. A year later, Georg Forster vented his anger at Lord Sandwich in a long and vitriolic letter:
was it necessary that you should inhumanely destroy our other means of getting an honest livelihood? You gave orders to the publishers of Capt. Cook's voyage to sell that work at the same price as mine, though a work with 63 elegant copper plates engraved by the first artists, instead of being sold for two guineas, would without your Lordship's interference have been sold for four guineas, agreeably to the customary price of such publications. Thus you enticed the purchasers to prefer the Captain's book to mine, for this plain reason, that with it they received 63 plates into the bargain. In order that Capt. Cook's profit might not be lessened through your generosity to the public, you made him a present of the expences of paper and print, over and above the gift of all the plates. By thus lavishing the public money, you were enabled to retail the books below prime cost: like that charitable shoe-maker who used to steal the leather, and to give away for nothing the shoes which he made of it. The contrivance had the desired success; and I am a loser by two thirds of what I must otherwise have earned.12
Realistically, the letter marked the end of the Forsters’ hopes of success in England and, in 1778, Georg Forster left for Germany to seek employment. Johann Reinhold Forster and his family followed in 1780.
Douglas's image of Captain Cook
Cook's death was not the end of tragedy during the third expedition. Charles Clerke, commander of the Discovery, led the expedition after Cook's death, but he too died, in August 1779, and was succeeded by John Gore who brought the Resolution and Discovery back to Britain in 1780. Lieutenant James King had been given command of the Discovery after Clerke's death and it was King who was given the task of collating the various voyage journals to complete the official voyage account. As with Cook's account of the second voyage, the publication was edited by Douglas and appeared in three volumes in 1784.
At the time of its publication, no official biography of Cook existed and it is perhaps surprising that Douglas did not attempt to make more of Cook in the introduction. Instead, Douglas's introduction described Cook's voyages as the natural extension of earlier British discoveries inspired by King George III:
In the prosecution of an object so worthy of the Monarch of a great commercial people, one voyage followed another in close succession; and we may add, in regular gradation. What Byron had begun, Wallis and Carteret soon improved. Their success gave birth to a far more extensive plan of discovery, carried into execution, in two subsequent voyages, conducted by Cook.13
Douglas did acknowledge Cook's contribution in charting oceans and advancing knowledge in the fields of geography, natural history and ethnography, but expressed his opinion that the greatest contribution of the British expeditions was to have ‘darted some rays of light on the infant minds’ of the islanders they encountered!14
Georg Forster must have found Douglas's frequent references to the observations of William Wales difficult to swallow. Wales had been the astronomer aboard the Resolution and had quarrelled publicly with the Forsters after the voyage. To add insult to injury, Douglas's introduction made virtually no reference to the Forsters’ considerable scientific contribution to the success of the second voyage. However, it was probably Douglas's concluding words in the introduction which finally determined Georg Forster to write an essay commemorating Cook's life:
expressing a wish, or rather well-grounded hope, that this volume may not be the only place where posterity can meet with a monumental inscription, commemorative of a man, in recounting and applauding whose service, the whole of enlightened Europe will equally concur with Great Britain.15
Whatever the reasons, Georg Forster was moved to write and in Cook, the Discoverer produced an insightful cameo portrait of the great explorer which was unequalled in its day.16 Written in German, the essay is testimony to the great interest during the Enlightenment of German scientists and the general public in Cook's voyages.
Cook, the discoverer
Early in the introduction to Cook, the Discoverer, Georg Forster outlines his intentions in writing his essay:
to summarise Cook's discoveries, define their boundaries, investigate the skill he brought to their conception and planning, as well as their important results, and thus to erect a modest memorial to the mariner, the discoverer and the man.17
His essay is structured in three sections: ‘Geographical survey’, ‘Planning’ and ‘Results’. In ‘Geographical survey’ the author briefly summarises the voyages of earlier explorers, including Magellan, Tasman, Byron, Wallis, Carteret, Dampier and Bougainville and concludes that despite these voyages, ‘half the surface of the globe remained covered by impenetrable darkness’.18 The summary acts as an introduction to Cook's impact on Pacific discovery and the remainder of the section is taken up with a description of Cook's three voyages.
In the second (central, and core) part of the essay, ‘Planning’, Forster describes Cook's attention to detail and the care he took in implementing his plans for the voyages. Among the many examples of Cook's foresight and thorough approach to voyaging are cited his selection of sturdy and commodious colliers, his experimentation with antiscorbutic stores, his selection and care of his sailors and the implementation of daily routines that, even after many months at sea, maintained healthy shipboard environments. Forster also develops the image of Cook as ‘man of action’ throughout this part of the essay.
The first instance of Cook's skill in planning is his decision to use collier barks.19 The use of these robust, shallow-draught vessels represented a radical move away from the frigates HMS Dolphin (used by Byron and Wallis) and La Boudeuse (used by Bougainville) in their Pacific exploration. Colliers had proven themselves in the harsh conditions of the North Sea and not only had great storage capacity but required a relatively small crew. Although significantly slower than frigates, it was argued that colliers were better suited to operate for long periods in remote parts, independent of support facilities. And, in this regard, the Endeavour voyage had demonstrated that a flat-bottomed vessel could be repaired in even the most isolated situation.
Nor was it just Cook's choice of ships that drew Forster's attention. Cook sailed in an era when the Navy was experimenting with copper sheathing. Coppering kept a ship free of the fouling barnacles and weed that reduced a vessel's speed and maneuverability, but it was also the cause of corrosion in iron fastenings and fittings such as the gudgeons20 and pintles21 that secured a ship's rudder. Forster tells us that Cook was aware of these problems and instead of copper sheathing, had his ships protected using overlapping iron nails.22
Cook was particularly concerned with the selection of all stores for the voyages and introduced a number of innovations, including antiscorbutics.23 Cook was just as careful in selecting his crews, choosing ‘sailors distinguished above all by their skills, their strong and healthy bodies, and their youth’.24 And it is the strong relationship between the captain and his men that Forster regards as an essential factor in Cook's success. If the young naturalist did not fully understand the customs of sailors — observing them as some foreign species that borrowed their character ‘from the oaken chest’25 in which they floated — he did at least recognise the strong bonds Cook engendered in his officers and men. Examples of Cook's concern for the well-being of his men include the introduction of a three-watch system (reducing the normal working hours of sailors), the issue of warm clothing, the regular cleaning and fumigation of the ship, and his insistence on maintaining a healthy diet.
Such examples go a long way to supporting the central idea that Cook's success was linked to his ability to plan, but it is Forster's richly personal descriptions that add authority to the argument and bring this section alive. Many people sailed with Cook, but Georg Forster had the literary skill to transport his readers to experience the scene.
Typical is this description of sailing in Antarctic waters:
often a storm would rage even during dark fogs; often we did not see the sun for a fortnight or three weeks. We were encircled by vast masses of ice which emerged from the sea like floating islands and were even more dangerous because their positions could change, and we often sighting them when it was almost too late to steer the ship past. How often were we terrified by being able to hear the waves breaking on the ice, without being able to lay our eyes on the object of our fear. We spent summer in this icy part of the world; but it was unusual to record the thermometer registering one degree above freezing.26
Another example shows Forster describing the colourful details of island life:
On the beach itself, where the natives would gather in great numbers, one was often occupied for days learning the language, observing people who are so different from ourselves, and with bartering for their clothing, weapons, ornaments and other artifacts. We studied their way of life by repeated visits to their huts, and with gifts and small signs of affection we gradually gained the rights of friendship to an ever greater degree, and could study the interior of the houses, their implements and their food and its preparation; sometimes we learned very little, but every day we learned something new. We began to observe how work was assigned, clothes were made, fields were tilled, and huts or canoes built; at other moments we had the opportunity to witness some remarkable or interesting custom. At other times one unexpectedly found a fellow who was able to talk about the genesis of his gods and about creation. In each country minerals had to be collected, and the native birds, insects and reptiles had to be patiently stalked. The flowers of trees and plants would not keep, and so the botanist was forced to hurry back on board to complete their descriptions and illustrations before returning ashore for a fresh harvest.27
In the ‘Planning’ section, the writing is eloquently authoritative and uncontrived, and Forster convincingly draws on his personal experiences sailing aboard the Resolution. Doubtless, Forster was keen to underline his own association with the great navigator. But, regardless of such intentions, the voyage vignettes presented in this section show that Forster is capable of insights unmatched among the many journal accounts of other Cook voyagers. Indeed, his literary talents were considerable and, while many sailed with Cook, few could match his skill in capturing the moment. Forster was also very conscious of his readers and in Cook, the Discoverer was targeting a German public who, for all their interest in the new discoveries, were relative novices in regard to such seafaring adventures. Forster's descriptions are therefore full of detail and colour that, while originally intended for readers in the eighteenth century, remain vivid for readers in the twenty-first century.
In the final ‘Results’ section of his essay, Forster looks at the results of Cook's three voyages and lists 20 outcomes of Cook's decade of exploration (see list following). Of these, seven (1, 4, 5, 11, 12, 13 and 14) appear familiar and, indeed, may be said to have been generally accepted. Cook's thorough investigation of the Southern and Pacific oceans did dispel prevailing notions of a southern continent and replaced vague fancies with detailed charts of many previously uncharted islands and coastlines, many of which showed potential for future European settlements. In the course of Cook's voyages, new navigation tables, equipment and methods revolutionised and greatly improved the accuracy of position fixing at sea, and his voyages contributed considerably to both the botanical and medical sciences. Among the 20 results enumerated, some now appear dated while others have assumed a greater importance. In truth, the list includes much from Johann Reinhold Forster's Observations and is rather academic.28 Far more prescient are Georg Forster's discussion of the importance Cook placed on training and the role model he set for junior officers during his voyages, and his thoughts on the future developments of European settlements in New Holland and New Zealand. However, for Georg Forster, Cook was, above all else, a superb seaman, imbued with great vision and determination — an inspirational leader who won the respect of his men.
The 20 outcomes are:
1. That the existence of the imaginary Southern Continent can never again be argued.
2. That the sea freezes around both poles, forming those masses of ice which, in the past, were believed to have floated down large rivers.
3. That this ice is free of salt and can be used for drinking.
4. That astronomical observations at sea are now conducted in such a way that longitude can be determined accurately to within half a degree.
5. That in the field of geography all great discoveries have now been made.
6. That the southern hemisphere is mainly covered with water and is comparatively colder than the northern.
7. That many islands and large reefs in the tropical regions of the world are actually the work of polyp-like worms.
8. That there are two kinds of phosphorescence in the ocean, that is to say electric and phosphoric, and the latter also has two types, one of which is inorganic and the other present in living animals.
9. That the frequent appearance of seabirds and floating seaweed can no longer be considered a sure sign of land close by.
10. That remote islands are never rich in many species of quadrupeds.
11. That botany has been enriched from these newly discovered lands by more than two thousand new plants, many of which promise to be useful in the future.
12. That, if suitable precautions are taken, nothing is to be feared from scurvy on sea voyages lasting three years.
13. That new prospects for more than one type of trade have been opened up.
14. That several large and important countries offer the most advantageous sites for establishing new plantations to the enterprising spirit of Europeans.
15. That throughout the whole Southern Ocean from the vicinity of India as far as Peru and Mexico, a people have been found on remote and isolated islands which is identical in appearance, language and traditions, but differs in culture, social institutions and customs.
16. That another tribe which differs from them in language, colour and physical appearance has spread not quite as far from India throughout some other groups of islands.
17. That regarding the anthropological history of the Earth it is hardly likely that more reliable or decisive data can be expected than are already known.
18. That human nature, while everywhere differing according to climate, is on the whole the same regarding its organisation, instincts and the course of its development.
19. That just as there is no people without a language, nor any language without reason, there is no mere animal stage of nature.
20. That complete and absolute equality among mankind, just as it does not exist anywhere physically, is also impossible morally.29
Conclusion
Georg Forster's essay Cook, the Discoverer was a remarkable tribute on another level. In 1788, the long-awaited official biography of Cook by Andrew Kippis finally appeared.30 Despite the resources available to him and the opportunity to question Cook's living associates, Kippis relied heavily on the official records and ultimately produced a modest and two-dimensional picture of the explorer that remained the standard until Beaglehole's Life of Captain Cook was published in 1974. Beaglehole himself deplored the opportunities wasted by Kippis, even if he took perverse comfort in the reflection that no biographer of Cook could ‘do any worse than the Rev. Andrew Kippis’!31
In Germany at least, the Forsters’ achievements were highly respected among scholars and the discerning public, for whom they provided a rich and diverse source of ideas that did much to stimulate German scientific thought. Unfortunately for English readers, a large part of their work has remained available only in the original German. Now, with the publication of Cook, the Discoverer in the Australian Maritime Series, Georg Forster's essay is reproduced in its original German with a complete English translation — finally removing the language barriers and allowing more readers to access this important work. One can only conclude that, whatever the reasons for the dispute between Johann Reinhold Forster and Lord Sandwich in 1776, we have been left with a poorer record of the second voyage than if the Forsters had been put in charge of writing the official account.
Notes
1 JC Beaglehole (ed.), The Journals of Captain James Cook on his Voyages of Discovery, 3 vols, The Boydell Press in association with Hordern House, Sydney, 1999.
2 R Joppien and B Smith, The Art of Captain Cook's Voyages, 3 vols, Oxford University Press in association with the Australian Academy of the Humanities, Melbourne, 1985-88; A David (ed.), The Charts and Coastal Views of Captain Cook's Voyages, 3 vols, Hakluyt Society in association with the Australian Academy of the Humanities, London, 1988-97.
3 Samwell's journal in Beaglehole (ed.), The Journals of Captain James Cook, vol. 3, part 2, p. 1198.
4 Miss Seward, Elegy on Captain Cook: To which is added An ode to the sun, by Miss Seward, J Dodsley, Pall Mall, 1780.
5 See p. 81 for image.
6 Beaglehole, The Life of Captain James Cook, A and C Black, London, 1974, p. 302.
7 U Von Troil, Letters on Iceland Containing Observations on the Civil, Literary, Ecclesiastical, and Natural History; Antiquities, Volcanos, Basaltes, Hot Springs; Customs, Dress, Manners of the Inhabitants Made during a Voyage Undertaken in the Year 1772 by Joseph Banks, Esq. PRS Assisted by Dr Solander FRS, Dr Lind FRS, Dr Uno von Troil, Richardson, London, 1780.
8 J Hawkesworth, An Account of the Voyages Undertaken ... for Making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere … successively performed by Commodore Byron, Captain Carteret, Captain Wallis and Captain Cook…, 3 vols, Strahan and Cadell, London, 1773.
9 Georg Forster, A Letter to the Right Honourable the Earl of Sandwich, First Lord Commissioner of the Board of Admiralty from George Forster FRS, Robinson, London, 1778.
10 ibid., appendix II.
11 Georg Forster, A Voyage round the World in His Britannic Majesty's Sloop, Resolution … during the Years 1772, 3, 4, and 5, 2 vols, Robinson, London, 1777.
12 Forster, A Letter.
13 See Douglas's Introduction, in J Cook and J King, A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean Undertaken by Command of His Majesty for Making Discoveries in the Northern Hemisphere to Determine the Position and Extent of the West Side of North America; its Distance from Asia; and the Practicability of a Northern Passage to Europe, Performed under the Direction of Captains Cook, Clerke and Gore in His Majesty's Ships the Resolution and Discovery in the Years 1776,1777,1778,1779 and 1780, 3 vols, Nicol and Cadell, London, 1784, pp. lv-lxxvi.
14 ibid.
15 ibid.
16 G Forster, ‘Cook, der Entdecker’, in Des Capitain Jacob Cooks Dritte-Entdeckungsreise welche derselbe auf Befehl und Kosten der Groβbrittanischen Regierung in das stille Meer und nach dem Nordpol, vol. 1, Haude and Spener, Berlin, 1787, pp. 1-106.
17 ibid., p. 155.
18 ibid., p. 169.
19 The decision may not have been Cook's. Beaglehole suggests that Sir Hugh Palliser was instrumental in choosing a collier for the first voyage. See Beaglehole, ‘Some problems of Cook's biographer’, The Mariner's Mirror, vol. 55, no. 4, 1969, 376.
20 The ring portion of a hinge which fits on to and turns on a pin or hook.
21 A pin on which a rudder pivots.
22 Byron's Dolphin had been experimentally sheathed in copper in 1764 and was found in good condition when inspected on its return to England in 1766 — see RE Gallagher (ed.) Byron's Journal of His Circumnavigation 1764-1766, Cambridge University Press for the Hakluyt Society, 1964, p. lxiv. However, when inspected again in 1768 after the second circumnavigation (under Wallis), the Dolphins iron fastenings were found to be badly degraded. See ADM/B/181. For further reading see M Staniforth, ‘The introduction and use of copper sheathing: A history’, Bulletin of the Australian Institute for Maritime Archaeology, vol. 9, nos 1 & 2, 1985, 21-47.
23 Cook believed malt wort and sauerkraut to be the most effective antiscorbutics carried aboard the Resolution but recent research shows that in this he was mistaken. See FE Cuppage, James Cook and the Conquest of Scurvy, Greenwood Press, Connecticut, 1994.
24 G Forster, Cook, the Discoverer, Hordern House, Sydney, p. 207.
25 ibid., p. 236.
26 ibid., p. 185.
27 ibid., p. 232.
28 JR Forster, Observations Made during a Voyage round the World, Robinson, London, 1778.
29 Forster, Cook, the Discoverer, pp. 243-5.
30 A Kippis, A Narrative of the Voyage round the World Performed by Captain James Cook with an Account of His Life during the Previous and Intervening Periods, Scott, Webster and Geary, London, 1788.
31 Beaglehole, ‘Some problems’, 366.