As if it wasn’t bad enough that I was going to have to get up before the birds got up, I awoke to rain making a hell of a racket coming down the downspout…. at 2am. Well we won’t be seeing much of fall weather for the next 8 weeks. 

History of Capt. Cook- a presentation that we went to hear. 

Cook the 2nd of 8 children, went to live with a family of Quakers then lived his life as a Quaker, lived it as a good person, never swore, was meticulous & allowed no drinking on his ship. 

The very detailed maps of the St Laurence River that he had developed, are said to have helped the British win the battle of Plains of Abraham . He circumnavigated NFLD for 4 years…..was a fabulous map maker. 

He questioned that scurvy that sailors were dying of, was caused by lack fruits and vegetables in their diets. On the journey from England to Tahiti, a journey that took 8 months, he brought fresh fruit and vegetables …. and pickled cabbage… no crew died from scurvy. Cook was very concerned with well-being of his crew. 

He learned to measure longitude ….for the benefit of the safety of sailors. 

To many of the South Pacific Islanders, European boats brought fear because with them they brought death from disease. 

He circumnavigated Antarctica, also found Easter island and Marquesas

Sailed thru from Tahiti… (Raiatea was his favourite), then headed north to Kauai, one of the Hawaiian islands(called the Sandwich islands at the time) that had  not been yet discovered. From there he went to California, Vancouver island,  and north to frozen Berring Sea to find the North West Passage. Unlike some of the Polynesians, Hawaiians were not cannibals. 

He returned to Hawaii after being unsuccessful at finding the northwest passage. Cook was not received well after returning and was in a confrontation with the inhabitants, running to get away. Some say he was murdered but actually drowned. He was 50.

Elizabeth Batts, his wife, burned all his papers just before her death. All his 6 children  predeceased Cook.