Captain James Cook and the Search for Antarctica

by James C Hamilton

Overview

Two hundred and fifty years ago Captain James Cook, during his extraordinary voyages of navigation and maritime exploration, searched for Antarctica – the Unknown Southern Continent. During parts of his three voyages in the southern Pacific and Southern Oceans, Cook ‘narrowed the options’ for the location of Antarctica. Over three summers, he completed a circumnavigation of portions of the Southern Continent, encountering impenetrable barriers of ice, and he suggested the continent existed, a frozen land not populated by a living soul. Yet his Antarctic voyages are perhaps the least studied of all his remarkable travels. That is why James Hamilton’s gripping and scholarly study, which brings together the stories of Cook’s Antarctic journeys into a single volume, is such an original and timely addition to the literature on Cook and eighteenth-century exploration.

Using Cook's journals and the log books of officers who sailed with him, the book sets his Antarctic explorations within the context of his historic voyages. The main focus is on the Second Voyage (1772-1775), but brief episodes in the First Voyage (during 1769) and the Third Voyage (1776) are part of the story. Throughout the narrative Cook’s exceptional seamanship and navigational skills, and that of his crew, are displayed during often-difficult passages in foul weather across uncharted and inhospitable seas.

Captain James Cook and the Search for Antarctica offers the reader a fascinating insight into Cook the seaman and explorer, and it will be essential reading for anyone who has a particular interest the history of the Southern Continent.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781399000024
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	09/30/2024
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	830,971
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dr James Hamilton is a professional historian and retired administrator who earned his PhD in British and European history at the University of Iowa. He has a long-standing interest in the voyages of Captain Cook and has published many articles on his Antarctica and Sub-Antarctic travels in Cook's Log, the quarterly journal of the Captain Cook Society. In addition to his special interest in Captain Cook, he is a keen stamp collector and philatelist and he has contributed to the New CartoPhilatelic Journal and American Philatelist.

Table of Contents

List of Plates vii

List of Figures ix

Acknowledgements xi

Introduction 1

Part 1 Introduction to Captain Cook's Voyages

1 The Three Voyages of Captain Cook 17

2 Terra Australis Incognita 35

3 Ships and the Ships' Companies 47

Part 2 Cook's Visits to Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn, 1769

4 Tierra del Fuego, rounding Cape Horn and the Search for a 'Land of Great Extent' 65

Part 3 Crossing the Antarctic Circle

5 Cook's First Crossing 85

6 Separated in an Antarctic Fog 97

7 'An agitated & tempestuous sea': the Cook Strait 107

8 Cook's Second Crossing 123

9 Cook's Third Crossing 130

Part 4 Exploration of Sub-Antarctic Regions

10 The Second Visit to Tierra del Fuego, Cape Horn and Staten Island 143

11 'Wild Rocks, Thick Fogs, and Everlasting Snow': South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands 155

12 The Second Voyage Publication Controversy 174

13 Kerguelen - Cook's 'Island of Desolation' 185

Part 5 Natural Science, Cook's Achievements and Antarctica after Cook

14 Natural Science and Cook's Journals 205

15 Cook's Search for Antarctica - Navigation in High Southern Latitudes 226

16 Antarctica and Sub-Antarctic Islands after Cook 232

Appendix A Admiralty Instructions for Captain James Cook's Three Voyages 255

Appendix B Journals and Log Books 267

Notes 273

Bibliography 287

Index 295