Captain James Cook

Childhood

Captain James Cook was born on October 27th, 1728 in Yorkshire, England. He was the second of James Cook’s eight children, a Scottish farmer. When he was young, he used to climb a hill in his free time. the name of the hill is Roseberry Topping in North Yorkshire.

The Royal Navy

When he was seventeen, he left his farm house, and went to work as an apprentice for a merchant sailing company. 

After nine years of hard work, when he was close to becoming a captain, he quit and joined the royal navy as a common seaman. he was promoted to ship master in only two years, and later, took command of his own vessel.

His firts voyage

His first adventure began in August 1768, when he left England on the Endeavour. They went to Tahiti, to witness the passing of Venus in front of the sun.

But he wasn’t just sent to see that, he was also sent with a military purpose, to find the Great Southern continent.

One of his great inventions

In the 18th century, scurvy was a disease that killed many sailors, and it was caused by a lack of vitamin C.

But captain Cook kept all three of his expeditions scurvy-free, and this was thanks to his obsession of only feeding his crew fruit and sauerkraut, and at every stop he made his crew pick fresh fruits.

Arrival in Hawaii

During his third voyage, he became the first European to set foot in Hawaii, which he called ‘the Sandwich islands’, after his patron, Earl of Sandwich. The natives, celebrated his arrival with joyous celebrations. And it wasn’t for no reason, his arrival coincided with an annual festival, in honor of the Hawaiian fertility god ‘Lono’. They had never seen a ship as big and magnificent as Cook’s, so they thought he was a god, and treated him like one.

A grisly death

When he and his ships landed at Hawaii, thay docked for repairs, Cook became enraged when a group of natives, stole one of his cutter boats. When he found out, he was so mad, that he took their king hostage. The natives, fearing for the life of their king, killed Cook by bashing him with rocks and clubs, and to finish him off, one of the Hawaiian warriors, plunged a knife, (a gift from Cook) into his back.

Text: Jacob Tyson Harris-Inman