Till a few years ago writers on the subject were content to draw their
information as to the first voyage of Cook to the South Seas from the
so-called history of Dr. Hawkesworth. This gentleman, who posed as a
stylist (Boswell calls him a "studious imitator of Dr. Johnson"), was
introduced by Dr. Charles Burney to Lord Sandwich for the express purpose
of writing an account of the expedition, and was supplied with all the
records in the possession of the Admiralty relating to it, he had access
to the Journal of Sir Joseph Banks, the Notes of Dr. Solander and others
who accompanied Cook, and, more than all, he had the opportunity of
personal communication with the leaders of the party. Notwithstanding
these advantages he interpolated so much of his own speculations,
conclusions, and dissertations, as to render his voluminous work not only
extremely unreliable but often extremely ridiculous. Travellers to the
South Seas record that the accounts of things and places described as
seen by Cook are remarkably correct, but that the inferences drawn are
wrong. They do not realise that the statements of fact are Cook's, whilst
the deductions and ornamentations are Hawkesworth's, and were strongly
resented by Cook. Boswell relates that he told Johnson that he had met
Captain Cook at dinner at Sir John Pringle's (then President of the Royal
Society), and gave him an account of a conversation they had together.
Johnson:
"was much pleased with the conscientious accuracy of that celebrated
circumnavigator, who set me right as to many of the exaggerated accounts
given by Dr. Hawkesworth of his voyages."
Cook's opinion on the subject may be seen from his determination to
prepare his Journals for the press himself in the future.
Within the last few years the Journal of the Endeavour has been published
under the able supervision of the late Admiral Sir W.J.L. Wharton, and
the Journal of Sir Joseph Banks, which was missing for a long time, has
been recovered and published by Sir Joseph Hooker; and these two books
may be preferred with safety over all others that have been written on
the subject.
MEMORIAL TO THE KING.
It had been calculated that a Transit of Venus would occur in 1769,
observations of which would be of great importance to astronomical
science, and several of the European nations, notably Russia, were
intending to establish points of observation. The Royal Society decided
that as England had hitherto taken a lead in astronomy, she should not
now fall behind, and appointed a committee to report on the places where
it would be desirable to take observations, the methods to be pursued,
and the persons best fitted to carry out the work. This committee advised
that two observers should be sent to Hudson's Bay, two to the South
Pacific and, if Sweden did not send there, two to the North Cape. They
also advised that the Government should be asked to supply a ship to
convey the party to some island to be decided on in the South Seas, and
several gentlemen were suggested as observers, Mr. Maskelyne, President
of the Society, especially recommending Mr. Dalrymple as "a proper person
to send to the South Seas, having a particular turn for discoveries, and
being an able navigator and well skilled in observation." Mr. Maskelyne
estimated the voyage would take about two years, and that a sum of ten
shillings and six pence per day would be a reasonable allowance for
expenses, together with a gratuity the amount of which was to be settled
hereafter. A Memorial on the subject was prepared and forwarded to the
King, setting forth that as a Transit of Venus over the Sun's disc was
expected to occur, and that other nations were intending to take
observations thereof in the interests of navigation, it would be
desirable that as the British Nation had been justly celebrated for its
knowledge of Astronomy, and an Englishman, Mr. Jeremiah Horrox, had been
the first person who calculated the passage of the planet over the sun,
in 1639, the Government should support the Royal Society in its attempt
to take a proper position in the matter, by a grant of money and a ship
to take a party to the South Seas. Four thousand pounds was the sum
named, and on 24th March the President was able to inform the Council
that the King had been pleased to order that it should be placed in his
hands, "clear of fees," for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the
expedition. In the end, after paying all accounts, there was a
considerable balance left, which the King placed at the disposal of the
Society, and a portion of it was expended on the bust of His Majesty, by
Nollekins, now in its possession.
The gentlemen whose names had been suggested as observers were asked to
appear before the Council if they were willing to accept the position,
and Mr. Dalrymple wrote in reply to say there was only one part of the
world where he would go to take observations, that was the South Seas,
and he would only go if he had "the management of the ship intended for
the service." Mr. Maskelyne told the Council he had recommended Mr.
Dalrymple to the Admiralty for the command of the ship, the use of which
had been granted, but had been informed that such an appointment would be
"entirely repugnant to the regulations of the Navy." It is said that Sir
Edward Hawke, having in his mind the disastrous result of giving Halley
the command of a King's ship in 1698, when a serious mutiny occurred,
positively refused to sign such a commission, saying that he would
"rather cut off his right hand than permit any one but a King's officer
to command one of the ships of His Majesty's Navy."
Dalrymple, originally a clerk in the East India Company's service, had
spent some years trading amongst the islands of the Malay Archipelago and
China, returned to England and published a couple of pamphlets on the
East Indies, and in 1767 a book on the discoveries in the South Pacific
Ocean, which brought him to the notice of the Royal Society. He was
afterwards for a time hydrographer to the East India Company, and was
then appointed the first hydrographer to the Admiralty. He was dismissed
from this position for exceeding his powers, and soon afterwards died. He
appears to have been a clever man, but of an extremely overbearing
disposition and a very high opinion of himself. In writing to Dr.
Hawkesworth on one occasion, he said: "I never write on any subject I do
not thoroughly understand." What makes the remark more interesting is
that he was quite in the wrong on the subject under discussion. He
appears never to have forgiven Cook for having been successful in
obtaining the command of the expedition to observe the Transit of Venus,
and for completely upsetting his pet theory of a large continent in the
Southern Ocean.
PURCHASE OF THE ENDEAVOUR.
The Navy Board, having been ordered by the Admiralty to propose a proper
vessel to convey the observers to the South Seas, first suggested the
Tryal Sloop, and then the Rose, but both being found unsuitable they were
ordered to purchase one. On 29th March the Board wrote to Stephens that
they had bought:
"a cat-built Bark, in Burthen 368 Tuns and of the age of three years and
nine months, for conveying such persons as shall be thought proper to the
Southward..."
At the same time, instructions were sought as to fitting and arming her
for the service, and as to the name under with she was to be registered
on the list of the Navy. A cat-built ship is described in the
Encyclopaedias as one with round bluff bows, a wide deep waist, and
tapering towards the stern. The name is derived from the Norwegian kati,
a ship.
The cat-built bark, the now immortal Endeavour, was built by Messrs.
Fishburn of Whitby, and owned by Mr. William Milner of that port. Dr.
Young says that her original name was the Earl of Pembroke, but Sir Evan
Macgregor wrote to Mr. Waddington in 1888 that she was purchased "under
the name of the Endeavour, and was entered as a barque." The Warrant
Entry Book from Board of Trade proves that Dr. Young was right, as the
following entries will show:
"Deptford, March 23rd 1768. Two cats called the Valentine and the Earl of
Pembroke to be surveyed and report which is the properest to be
purchased."
"Deptford, March 28th 1768. Ship Earl of Pembroke to be received."
"Deptford, April 7th 1768. Ship purchased to be sheathed, filled, and
fitted for a voyage to the southward. To be called The Endeavour Bark."
From the Records of the Survey Office, List of H.M. Navy, 1771 to 1776,
it has been ascertained that her price was 2,800 pounds, and the cost of
fitting her for the voyage was 2,294 pounds. The reason she was named
officially either the Bark Endeavour or Endeavour Bark, was that there
was another Endeavour in the Navy, stationed at that time at the Nore.
Kippis says that Pallisser was entrusted with the selection of the ship,
and that he called on Cook for assistance in the matter, and the fact
that a Whitby-built ship was chosen, of a kind in which Cook had had
considerable experience, adds to the probability of his statement.
Dalrymple enters a claim, in letters to Dr. Hawkesworth, to having chosen
the Endeavour for the voyage, but as she was not ordered to be surveyed,
with a view to purchase, till 23rd March, when it was well-known the
Admiralty had refused to allow him the command of the expedition, there
is little force in his claim.
COPPER SHEATHING.
Admiral Wharton assumes that as Cook expresses himself averse from having
exploring ships sheathed in copper, owing to the difficulty of making
repairs in case of accident far from proper facilities, and from the
frequent mention of "heeling and boot-topping" in the Journal of the
Endeavour, it is most probable that she was sheathed in wood. This
assumption is correct, for there is no mention of copper sheathing in the
Surveyor's books, nor at the time of her being repaired at the Endeavour
River, nor at Batavia, when it is impossible that any account of her
damaged bottom could be given without the mention of copper if any such
sheathing had been used. The Naval Chronicle says the first ship of the
Royal Navy to be sheathed with copper was the Alarm frigate in 1758; and
it is also said that the Dolphin, the ship in which Captain Wallis sailed
round the world, was the only coppered ship in the service at this time,
and she remained the only one for some years.
On 5th May, at a Council Meeting of the Royal Society, Captain John
Campbell, R.N., proposed that Cook, who was in attendance, and had been
appointed by the Admiralty to the command of the Endeavour, was a fit and
proper person to be one of the observers for the Society in the Southern
Seas. Cook was called in, and accepted the position in consideration of
such a gratuity as the Society should think proper, and an allowance of
120 pounds per year "for victualling himself and another observer in
every particular." Mr. Green was also called in, and accepted the place
as the other observer for the gratuity of 200 guineas for the two years
the voyage was expected to take, and at the rate of 100 guineas a year
afterwards. A list of the instruments to be supplied by the Society was
also prepared at the same meeting, and the workmen engaged on them were
ordered to show them to Messrs. Green and Cook, and give any desired
information. A portable observatory, said to have been designed by
Smeaton, the builder of the Eddystone Lighthouse, framed of wood and
covered with canvas, was also prepared. Mr. Maskelyne, knowing the value
of a good watch when observing for longitude, lent the Society one of his
own, made by Graham, to be entrusted to Mr. Green, and it was signed for
with the other instruments supplied. Chronometers, of course, at that
time were in process of evolution, several makers were endeavouring to
gain the prize which had been offered for a reliable timekeeper. Shortly
after, at a second meeting, Cook agreed to accept a gratuity from the
Society of 100 guineas for taking the observations, and was paid 120
pounds sustenance money for Mr. Green and himself, with authority to draw
on the Society during the voyage for a further amount not exceeding 120
pounds.
In the Commissions and Warrants Book, under date 26th May 1768, appears
the following entry:
MR. JAMES COOK (2nd) 1st Lieutenant Endeavour Bark. E.H., C.T., C.S.
The initials signify Edward Hawke, Charles Townshend, and Lord Charles
Spencer. The "(2nd)" evidently refers to the fact that there was already
one James Cook, a lieutenant in the Navy, namely, the former Master of
the Mercury, and Third Lieutenant of the Gosport.
PENDANT HOISTED.
Having received his orders Cook proceeded to Deptford and hoisted his
pendant on H.M.S. Endeavour on 27th May, and at once started to prepare
for sea. A considerable quantity of coal was taken on board to use for
drying the ship, as it occupied so much less room than wood.
Captain Wallis returned from his voyage round the world about this time,
and in consequence of his report, the Island of Georgeland, afterwards
called by Cook Otaheite and now Tahiti, was fixed upon by the Royal
Society as the most desirable place for the observations, and the
Admiralty were requested to issue the proper orders, notifying at the
same time that Mr. Charles Green and Lieutenant James Cook had been
appointed observers. They also in the same letter write that:
"Joseph Banks, Esquire, Fellow of this Society, a Gentleman of large
fortune, who is well versed in Natural History, being desirous of
undertaking the same voyage, the council very earnestly request their
Lordships that in regard to Mr. Banks' great personal merit and for the
advancement of useful knowledge, he also, together with his suite, being
seven persons more (that is eight persons in all) together with their
baggage, be received on board of the ship under command of Captain Cook."
They also requested that the expedition might be landed a month or six
weeks before the 3rd June in order that the instruments might be got into
proper working order, and for fear the ship might not be able to reach
Georgeland, a table of the limits within which the observations might be
taken, was enclosed. Full instructions were also given to the two
observers, and a list of the fixed stars to be observed was drawn up by
Mr. Maskelyne.
The order to receive Mr. Green and Mr. Banks and party was issued on 22nd
July, "for victuals only"--i.e., they were to be supplied with the same
as the rest of the ship's company whilst on board. The members of Banks's
party were: Dr. Solander, naturalist; H. Sporing, assistant naturalist;
A. Buchan, S. Parkinson, and Jno. Reynolds, artists; James Roberts and
Peter Briscoe, white servants; Thomas Richmond and J. Dorlton, coloured
servants.
It was owing to the personal friendship between them that Banks was
permitted by Lord Sandwich, the First Lord of the Admiralty, to accompany
Cook. He had taken up the study of Botany when at Eton, and at an early
age had been elected F.R.S. He seems quickly to have formed a just
estimate of Cook's worth; indeed, Sir John Barrow says he took a liking
to him at the first interview, and a firm friendship sprang up between
them which endured to the end. Many instances are to be found of his
interest in and his support to Cook after their return home; and this
friendship speaks volumes for Cook, for, though Banks was a most kindly
natured man, he had at times a very overbearing manner.
Sir Joseph Hooker, in his introduction, quotes a most interesting letter
from Mr. John Ellis, F.R.S., to Linnaeus, the great botanist, in which he
says that Mr. Banks, a gentleman of 6000 pounds a year, has persuaded Dr.
Solander to go out with him to the South Seas to collect "all the natural
curiosities of the place," and after the observations are taken, they are
"to proceed on further discoveries." He goes on to mention the library of
Natural History and splendid outfit Banks is taking, and says, "in short,
Solander assured me this expedition would cost Mr. Banks 10,000 pounds."
The Endeavour left Deptford on 21st July, and, calling at Galleons Reach,
took in her guns and gunners' stores. Her armament was originally to have
been six carriage guns, four pounders, and eight swivels, but they were
increased to ten carriage guns and eight swivels, and at Plymouth four
more swivels were added for use in the boats. The complement of men was
also increased to 85, including 12 marines who were to join at Plymouth,
and a third Lieutenant had been appointed in July.
She had dropped down the river and anchored in the Downs on 3rd August,
Cook joining her on the 7th and, discharging his pilot, sailed the next
day. He had a very tedious passage down the Channel, and did not arrive a
Plymouth till the 14th, when he immediately sent word to Messrs. Banks
and Solander, who were still in London, that he was ready for sea, and
was only waiting for a fair wind to sail. They therefore started at once,
their baggage being already on board, and joined Cook on 20th August.
CREW WELL SATISFIED.
Having received his extra guns, marines, twelve barrels of powder, and
other stores, Cook mustered his men, paid them two months advance, and
explained to them that they were not to expect any additional pay for the
intended voyage. He says, "they were well satisfied, and expressed great
cheerfulness and readiness to prosecute the voyage."
The orders under which he sailed were secret, and, unfortunately, are not
to be found. Admiral Wharton says the covering letter is in existence,
but the orders which should be on the next page are missing. Cook writes:
"I was ordered, therefore, to proceed directly to Otaheite; and, after
the astronomical observations should be completed, to prosecute the
design of making discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean by proceeding to
the South as far as the latitude of 40 degrees: then, if I found no land,
to proceed to the west between 40 and 35 degrees till I fell in with New
Zealand, which I was to explore, and thence return to England by such
route as I should think proper."
His last letter to the Admiralty, before leaving England, was written on
the day of his arrival at Plymouth, informing them of that fact, and
announcing his intention of proceeding to sea with all possible despatch.