Cook's first voyage of discovery
This letter is from James Cook to Philip Stephens, Secretary of the Admiralty. Cook wrote it just before he set off in HMS Endeavour on the first of his famous voyages of exploration.
In the letter, Cook asks for various mathematical and surveying tools, such as a ruler, compasses, dividers and a theodolite (for measuring angles). These would be used in the scientific tasks and map-making that he was to do for the Royal Navy and the Royal Society. Cook took with him mapmakers, artists and a number of scientists. These included Joseph Banks, a well-known botanist, and Charles Green, an astronomer.
Their first job was to observe the movement of the planet Venus from the island of Tahiti. Once this was done, Cook was to sail south and explore. The people of Britain didn't really know what lands lay in the South Pacific, but many believed there was a large continent to be found there.
The voyage was a success for Cook. He mapped the coast of New Zealand and the east coast of Australia, which he claimed for Britain. He added more than 5000 miles of coastland to the British map of the world. The men on the voyage also brought back many drawings, paintings, and samples of plants and animals that no one in Britain had ever seen before.
Cook made two more important voyages. Between 1772 and 1775 he returned to the South Pacific where he was able to complete the mapping of much of this area. In 1776 he set off again to look for a northern passage between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. He charted much of the northwest coast of America. He also became the first European to visit Hawaii. Here he clashed with the local people and they killed him.
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