The Life of Captain James Cook, the CircumnavigatorKitson, Arthur
History
The Life of Captain James Cook, the Circumnavigator
Kitson, Arthur
Cook, James, 1728-1779; Explorers -- Great Britain -- Biography; Geographers -- Great Britain -- Biography
After waiting for some days for a fair wind, Cook eventually sailed at 2
P.M. on 26th August, having, as he says in his Journal, "94 persons,
including officers, seamen, Gentlemen and their servants; near 18 months'
provisions, 10 carriage guns, 12 swivels, with good store of ammunition,
and stores of all kinds" on board. On 1st September they had heavy gales
lasting for about four-and-twenty hours, and a small boat belonging to
the boatswain was washed away, and "between three and four dozen of our
poultry, which was worst of all," were drowned. The ship was found to be
very leaky in her upper works, and the sails in the store got very wet.
Banks notes that they caught two birds in the rigging that had evidently
been blown off the coast of Spain. On 13th September they anchored in
Funchal Roads, and during the night "the Bend of the Hawser of the stream
anchor slip'd owing to the carelessness of the person who made it fast."
The anchor was hauled up into a boat in the morning, and carried further
out, but, unfortunately, in heaving it into the water, a Master's mate,
named Weir, got entangled in the buoy rope, was carried overboard, and
drowned before any assistance could be rendered.
Whilst shifting her berth to a more convenient spot, the Endeavour was
fired on by one of the forts owing to some misunderstanding, but
satisfactory apologies and explanations were made, and it was thought so
little of that neither Cook nor Banks mention it in their Journals. This
incident is probably the origin of the story told by Forster in his
Journal of the Second Voyage. He says:
"Captain Cook in the Endeavour battered the Loo Fort at Madeira in
conjunction with an English Frigate, thus resenting an affront which had
been offered to the British flag."
When the Endeavour arrived at Funchal, the only British man-of-war there
was H.M.S. Rose, which sailed the following day with her convoy, and
neither her Captain's Journal nor his ship's log make any reference
whatever to a dispute with the Portuguese. No other British man-of-war
came into the port whilst the Endeavour was there, and afterwards, at
Rio, Cook expressly informed the Viceroy that he had been well received
by the Portuguese at Madeira.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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