Memory of the World; 2012 - unesdoc - Unesco

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The Endeavour journal
of James Cook
Inscribed 2001
What is it
The journal of Lieutenant James Cook describing his first
exploration in the Pacific on HMS Endeavour in 1768–71.
Why was it inscribed
James Cook is among the great navigators and explorers
of the world and the journal is one of the few substantial
manuscripts in his own hand. Cook circumnavigated
New Zealand, charted the east coast of Australia and
explored Tahiti and the Society Islands in the South
Pacific. His discoveries and his journal were believed to
have opened the way for British colonization of Australia
in the decades that followed.
Where is it
National Library of Australia, Canberra, Australia
James Cook, then a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, was
commander of a joint Royal Navy and Royal Society
expedition that set out from England to explore the South
Pacifi c in 1768. Its aims were two-fold: to observe the
transit of Venus across the Sun in 1769 – observations
which helped determine other distances in the solar
system – and to fi nd the Terra Australis Incognita, the
unknown southern land, already assumed by Europeans
to exist. Cook had already proved himself skilful in
mapping and cartography during service in North
America in the 1850s and ’60s. His voyage in the southern
hemisphere, from August 1768 to July 1771, lasted almost
three years.
The expedition sailed southwest across the Atlantic,
stopping at Rio de Janeiro before rounding Cape Horn
to reach Tahiti in April 1769. There the crew observed
the transit of Venus before sailing west to search for the
southern continent. With the help of a Tahitian mariner,
Cook reached New Zealand in October 1769, mapping it
with few errors.
From there he set course west on 31 March 1770 in
search of the continent and with little knowledge of what
lay ahead of him. In fact, the ship’s crew sighted the
southeastern coast of Australia on what is now recognized,
allowing for time diff erences, to be 20 April 1770. From
288 The Endeavour journal of James Cook
Cook’s journal �
what the explorers named Point Hicks, the Endeavour
sailed north up the east coast of Australia before fi nally
dropping anchor on 29 April at a place Cook later called
Botany Bay after the botanical specimens the ship’s
scientists collected there. The crew made their fi rst contact
with local people there.
The Endeavour was badly damaged on the Great Barrier
Reef as she sailed north, requiring repairs lasting more
than six weeks. During the enforced stopover they
encountered more aboriginal people and the scientists
collected more botanical specimens. Once through the
Torres Strait to the north, Cook landed on Possession
Island and claimed for the British Crown the coastline he
had just navigated. The expedition lost several members
to tropical and other diseases in the East Indies before
fi nally sailing for England via the Cape of Good Hope.
Cook’s journal covers the entire voyage, although
one page is missing. While the journals of several other
members of the Endeavour party have survived, Cook’s is
considered preeminent as it records the experiences and
refl ections of the expedition leader, a man who was one of
the world’s great explorers in his own right. Furthermore
this journal is the founding document of the National
Library of Australia.
Cook’s journal deals directly or indirectly with many
aspects of his voyage: life on board a Royal Navy vessel in
the 18th century; the relations between Cook, his offi cers,
the crew, the scientists and the artists on the expedition;
the exploration of the South Pacifi c; experiments with
navigational instruments; the precise charting of immense
coastlines; astronomical observations; and observations
of the topography, fl ora, fauna and possible resources
of the countries explored.
In addition to assessments of the land and sea, the journal
is also one of the earliest written records of the indigenous
peoples of Polynesia, New Zealand and eastern Australia
and records relations with them and observations of their
physiognomies, economies, social systems, customs and
religions.
This replica of the HMS Endeavour was launched in 1994. �