The Life of Captain James Cook - Arthur Kitson
"The 21st February. At sunset the Resolution fired ten minute guns, with
the colours half staff up, when the remains of our late Commander were
committed to the deep."
Lieutenant Williamson was severely blamed by his brother officers for not
going to the assistance of the pinnace at the time of the attack on his
Captain, and it is said that had it not been for Clerke's ill health he
would have been tried by court-martial. He was afterwards, when in
command of the Agincourt, tried for "disaffection, cowardice,
disobedience to signals, and not having done his duty in rendering all
assistance possible." He was found guilty on the last two counts only,
and was "placed at the bottom of the list of Post-Captains, and rendered
incapable of ever serving on board of any of His Majesty's ships."
COOK'S REMAINS.
Ellis, in his Tour through Hawaii, says that King's account of Cook's
death, from which the above has been largely drawn, agrees in a
remarkable manner with that given by the natives. They in no way blamed
their visitors for what occurred, and even after his death appear to have
looked upon Cook as a man of a superior race to themselves. His
breastbone and ribs were long preserved as relics, and in 1832 Ellis
states there were many living who remembered the occasion, and all agreed
that Cook's conduct to their countrymen was humane.
Captain Clerke says:
"Upon examining the remains of my late honoured and much lamented friend,
I found all his bones, excepting those of the back, jaw, and feet--the
two latter articles Earpo brought me in the morning--the former, he
declared, had been reduced to ashes with the trunk of the body. As
Carnacare (Kerriakair) had told us, the flesh was taken from all the
bones, excepting those of the hands, the skin of which they had cut
through in many places, and salted, with the intention, no doubt, of
preserving them; Earpo likewise brought with him the two barrels of
Captain Cook's gun--the one beat flat with the intention of making a
cutting instrument of it; the other a good deal bent and bruised,
together with a present of thirteen hogs from Terreaboo."
The hands, as has been mentioned before, were identified by the scar left
by the explosion of his powder flask in Newfoundland, which almost
severed the thumb from the fingers.
On 22nd February they were able to sail from this unlucky place, and
touching at one or two of the islands worked their way northwards to
Kamtschatka, the Resolution reaching Owatska Bay on 29th April, followed
by the discovery on 1st May. They were very handsomely treated by Major
Behm, the Governor of Bolcheretsk, a place about 135 miles from the town
of St. Peter and St. Paul in Awatska Bay, notwithstanding Mr. Ismailoff's
letters of introduction were on somewhat unsatisfactory lines. Mr. Webber
was fortunately able to converse in German, which the Russian officers
understood; and he ascertained that Ismailoff had represented the two
vessels as very small, and hinted that he believed them to be little
better than pirates. The Governor provided the ships with what he could
give them, and promised to obtain further stores from Okotsk for them
against their return. For these kindnesses the English could make but
little return, and even then it was with difficulty that the Russians
could be persuaded to receive anything, for they said they were only
acting up to the wishes of their Empress, who desired all her allies
should be treated with courtesy. One return, however, they were able to
make which was of great service. At the time of the visit of the ships a
large number of the soldiers and inhabitants were suffering very
seriously from scurvy, and Clerke at once put them under the care of his
medical officers, who, by the use of sour kraut and sweet wort made from
the ship's stock of malt, soon caused "a surprising alteration in the
figures of most of them and their speedy recovery was chiefly attributed
to the effects of the sweet wort."
They were informed by the Major that on the day of the arrival of the
English party at Bolcheretsk he had received a letter from the most
northerly outpost on the Sea of Okotsk, stating that the tribe of
Tschutski, which had been long at feud with the Russians, had sent in an
embassy offering friendship and tribute, giving as a reason that they had
been visited by two large vessels in the preceding summer, and had been
received on board with great kindness, and had entered into a league of
friendship with their visitors: they therefore thought it their duty to
ratify this treaty formally. These two ships could have been none other
than the Resolution and Discovery, though evidently the Tschutski thought
they were Russian.
DEATH OF CLERKE.
Leaving on 13th June, the Asiatic coast was followed up, and 1st July
they were off the Gulf of Anadyr, where fogs and ice began seriously to
interfere with their progress, so they abandoned the Asiatic for the
American side, but with no better luck. They reached the latitude of 70
degrees 33 minutes North, about five leagues short of the point reached
the previous year, and at length, realising further efforts were useless
and resulting in serious damage to the ships from continual contact with
the loose ice, Clerke determined to return to Awatska Bay and refit and
then return to England. On 22nd August, the day before they reached the
Bay, Captain Clerke, who had long been suffering from serious ill health,
died, and was buried under a tree a little to the north of the post of
St. Peter and St. Paul; the crews of both ships and the Russian garrison
taking part in the funeral ceremony, and the Russian priest reading the
service at the grave. Clerke had been all three voyages with Cook, and
was only thirty-eight years of age.
Gore now took command of the Resolution, Burney, Rickman, and Lanyon
being his lieutenants, whilst King was the new Captain of the Discovery,
and Williamson and Hervey his lieutenants; Bayley going with Gore in
charge of the astronomical observations. On 9th October they left Awatska
and were off Cape Nambu, Japan, on the 26th, but were driven off the
coast by bad weather, and anchored in Macao Roads on 1st December. Here,
after considerable delay, stores were obtained from Canton, and the
seaman managed to dispose of most of the furs they had obtained in the
north. King estimates that the two ships received, in money and goods, as
much as 2000 pounds for the skins, and says that the men were so anxious
to return for more that they were almost in a state of mutiny.
On 11th April the ships reached the Cape, where the officers were
cordially received by Governor Plattenberg, who expressed the deepest
regret to hear of the loss of Cook, and requested that he should be sent
a portrait of the Captain to place in a blank space he pointed out
between two portraits of De Ruyter and Van Tromp--a gracious compliment.
Sailing from Simon's Bay on 9th May, the trades were picked up on the
14th, and on 13th June the line was crossed in longitude 26 degrees 16
minutes West. The coast of Ireland was sighted on 12th August, and an
attempt was made to get into Galway Bay, but strong southerly winds drove
them to the north, and at length, rounding the north of Scotland, they
put into Stromness, whence Captain King was despatched overland to the
Admiralty. The ships arrived off the Nore on 4th October, after an
absence of "four years, two months, and twenty-two days."
KING MEETS KING.
On 14th February 1781, the second anniversary of Cook's death, King,
accompanied by Mr. Banks, was presented to His Majesty, who was pleased
to accept the Journals of the Resolution and Discovery kept during this
eventful voyage.
CHAPTER 19. APPRECIATION AND CHARACTER.
Of course as nothing had been heard of the expedition for a considerable
time, a certain amount of anxiety was felt, which at length found vent in
paragraphs in the public press, and on 11th January 1780 the London
Gazette contained the following:
"Captain Clerke of His Majesty's Sloop the Resolution, in a letter to Mr.
Stephens, dated the 8th of June 1779, in the harbour of St. Peter and St.
Paul, Kampschatka, which was received yesterday, gives the melancholy
account of the celebrated Captain Cook, late Commander of that Sloop,
with four of his private Marines having been killed on the 14th of
February last at the island of Owhyhe, one of a Group of new-discovered
Islands in the 22nd degree of North Latitude, in an affray with a
numerous and tumultuous Body of the Natives."
"Captain Clerke adds, that he received every friendly supply from the
Russian Government; and that as the Companies of the Resolution and her
Consort, the Discovery, were in perfect Health, and the two Sloops had
twelve months Stores and Provisions on board, he was preparing to make
another Attempt to explore a Northern Passage to Europe."
THE EMPRESS OF RUSSIA.
The London Gazette of 8th February says:
"The Empress of Russia expressed a most deep concern at the Loss of
Captain Cook. She was the more sensibly affected from her very partial
regard to his merits; and when she was informed of the hospitality shown
by the Russian Government at Kamschatka to Captain Clerke, she said no
Subject in her Dominions could show too much Friendship to the Survivors
of Captain Cook."
The letter written by Clerke was sent by express through Petersburg; that
is to say, it was written in the extreme east of Asia in June, and was
sent overland across Siberia to Petersburg, and thence via Berlin to
London, and was there published in under the six months. A wonderful
journey when the difficulties of transit are taken into consideration.
In the numerous appreciative notices that appeared in the press relating
to Cook and his work, the Morning Chronicle alone strikes a jarring
string, which is at once met by a reply; and a day or two after the same
paper publishes a long letter signed Colombus (the style suggests the pen
of Sir Joseph Banks) in which the character and methods of Cook are most
strenuously defended, the writer claiming to have obtained his knowledge
of the man "through long intercourse with him."
The Gazetter of 24th January says:
"His Majesty, who had always the highest opinion of Captain Cook, shed
tears when Lord Sandwich informed him of his death, and immediately
ordered a pension of 300 pounds a year for his widow."
The amount really granted to Mrs. Cook was 200 pounds per annum, and the
Admiralty in addition gave her half the proceeds of the Journal of the
Third Voyage, a share in the Journal of the Second Voyage, and a share of
the plates used in illustrating the two publications: a very considerable
addition to her income. A Coat of Arms was also granted to the family by
order of the King, and Sir W. Besant records his belief that it was the
last one ever granted as a direct "recognition of Service." His
description of it is:
"Azure, between the two polar stars Or, a sphere on the plane of the
meridian, showing the Pacific Ocean, his track thereon marked by red
lines. And for a crest, on a wreath of the colours, is an arm bowed, in
the uniform of a Captain of the Royal Navy. In the hand is the Union Jack
on a staff proper. The arm is encircled by a wreath of palm and laurel. A
very noble shield indeed."
The notes of appreciation of his talents and services came from all parts
of the world, and none more kindly than from the series of brilliant
Frenchmen who followed in his footsteps. De Crozet did not hesitate to
throw away his own charts when he recognised the superiority of Cook's;
and Dumont d'Urville calls him "the most illustrious navigator of both
the past and future ages whose name will for ever remain at the head of
the list of sailors of all nations."
MRS. COOK'S LETTER.
The Royal Society was naturally amongst the first to recognise the great
worth of its late Fellow, and the loss the Society had suffered from his
death. It had already granted him one of its highest honours in the form
of the Copley Gold Medal for his successful contest with the scurvy, and
it now decided to mark its appreciation by striking a special gold medal
in his honour. This was forwarded by Sir Joseph Banks, President of the
Royal Society, to Mrs. Cook, and acknowledged by her in the following
touching letter:
Mile End,
16th August 1784.
Sir,
I received your exceeding kind letter of the 12th instant, and want words
to express in any adequate degree my feelings on the very singular honour
which you, Sir, and the honourable and learned Society over which you so
worthily preside, have been pleased to confer on my late husband, and
through him on me and his children who are left to lament the loss of
him, and to be the receivers of those most noble marks of approbations
which, if Providence had been pleased to permit him to receive, would
have rendered me very happy indeed.
Be assured, Sir, that however unequal I may be to the task of expressing
it, I feel as I ought the high honour which the Royal Society has been
pleased to do me. My greatest pleasure now remaining is in my sons, who,
I hope, will ever strive to copy after so good an example, and, animated
by the honours bestowed on their Father's memory, be ambitious of
attaining by their own merits your notice and approbation. Let me entreat
you to add to the many acts of friendship which I have already received
at your hands, that of expressing my gratitude and thanks to that learned
body in such a manner as may be acceptable to them.
I am, Sir, etc., etc.,
Elizabeth Cook.
The medal actually presented to Mrs. Cook is now in the British Museum.
DEATHS OF THE SONS.
It is greatly to be regretted that so little can be ascertained about
Cook's private life that would be of service in forming an intimate
knowledge of his character, but this is accounted for by the fact that
after he had joined the Navy his time was so fully occupied by that
service that he had but little opportunity to form private friendships
such as fall to the lot of most men. The intimacies that he did form were
mostly connected very closely with his naval duties, and his
opportunities of correspondence were necessarily limited by absence from
all ordinary means of communication. For a man of his marked celebrity it
is very curious that there should be such a dearth of anecdote that it is
difficult to find anything that is unconnected with his profession. Of
his own family relations there is also little known, as Mrs. Cook,
probably esteeming the few letters she had from him as too sacred to be
seen by any other eye than her own, as the late Canon Bennett suggests,
destroyed them before her death. Still some idea of their life together,
short as it really was, notwithstanding it lasted, in name, for over
sixteen years, may be gained from the manner in which his widow always
spoke of him after his death. She always wore a ring containing a lock of
his hair, and measured everything by his standard of morality and honour.
The greatest disapprobation she could express was "Mr. Cook would never
have done so." He was always Mr. Cook to her. She kept four days each
year as solemn fasts, remaining in her own room. The days were those on
which she lost her husband and three sons, passing them in reading her
husband's Bible, prayer and meditation, and during bad weather she could
not sleep for thinking of those at sea. For her husband's sake she
befriended her nephews and nieces whom she never saw. Of her three sons,
two entered the Navy. One, Nathaniel, was lost with his ship, the
Thunderer, in a hurricane off Jamaica in 1780. The eldest, James, rose to
the rank of Commander, and in January 1794 was appointed to H.M. sloop
Spitfire. He was at Poole when he received his orders to join his ship at
Portsmouth without delay. Finding an open boat with sailors returning
from leave about to start, he joined them. It was blowing rather hard,
and nothing was ever heard of the passengers or crew, except that the
broken boat and the dead body of the unfortunate young officer, stripped
of all money and valuables, with a wound in the head, was found ashore on
the Isle of Wight. The third son, Hugh, was entered at Christ's College,
Cambridge, in 1793, but contracting scarlet fever he died on 21st
December of that year, and was buried in the church of St. Andrew the
Great, being joined by his brother James a few weeks afterwards, when the
mother was left indeed alone. She survived her husband for the long
period of fifty-six years, living at Clapham with her cousin, Admiral
Isaac Smith, and at length joined her two sons at Cambridge at the
advanced age of ninety-three.
Cook's character as given by those with whom he worked, men who day after
day were by his side, was a fine one. His greatest fault seems to have
been his hasty temper, which he admitted himself, often most regretfully;
but Captain King says it was "disarmed by a disposition the most
benevolent and humane," and it never was displayed in such a manner as to
cause the loss of respect and affection of his people. He was healthy and
vigorous in mind and body, clear-headed and cool in times of danger,
broad minded and temperate, and plain and unaffected in manner. His
powers of observation were of the first rank, his knowledge of Naval
mathematics far surpassed the ordinary level and amounted to genius, but,
above all, his devotion to duty was the commanding feature of his
character. Nothing was allowed to interfere when he saw his course before
him; personal convenience was not allowed to weigh for one moment, but at
the same time he never lost sight of the interests of those under him and
spared them when possible. He was somewhat silent and reserved in manner,
but when questioned on any subject on which he felt he was an authority,
his answers were clearly and distinctly given, and his reasons disclosed
his powers of observation to the full. He was kindly, generous, and
hospitable, and by no means the stern character that has been painted,
for even in such a matter-of-fact document as his official Journal, a
spirit of fun occasionally gleams out.
Such was the man whose name will ever stand in the very first ranks of
the British Empire Builders; honest, kindly, generous, a faithful servant
and a noble leader.
INDEX.
Adventure:
purchased.
arrives home.
Airy Holme Farm.
Amherst, General.
Amherst, Colonel W.
Amsterdam.
Anderson, Surgeon: death.
Anjac, M. d'.
Antelope, H.M.S.
Arnold. See Timepieces.
Aurora Australis.
Australia.
Ayton:
revisited.
Banks, Joseph:
joins Endeavour.
refuses Second Voyage.
Batavia.
Bayley, W.
Behm, Major.
Behring.
Bennett, Canon.
Besant, W.
Bligh, W.
Boscawen, Admiral.
Boswell.
Bougainville, De.
Buchan, A.
Burgeo Islands.
Burney, Charles.
Burney, Fanny.
Burney, James.
Campbell, Captain J.
Cape Circumcision.
Cape Horn.
Cape of Good Hope.
Clerke, Charles.
Colville, Lord.
Cook, James (Master of Mercury).
Cook, James, R.N. F.R.S.:
birth.
Eagle.
Solebay.
Pembroke.
Northumberland.
marriage.
King's Surveyor.
Grenville.
Endeavour.
Scorpion.
Resolution.
Post-Captain.
death.
Cook, Mrs.
Cooper, R.P.
Crozet, De.
Dalrymple.
Dance, Sir N.
Darwin, Charles.
Discovery purchased.
Dodds, Mrs.
Douglas, Captain Charles.
Douglas, Dr.
Duc d'Aquitaine.
Du Fresne, Marion.
Dumont d'Urville.
Eagle.
Easter Island.
Eclipse of sun.
Edgar.
Edgecombe.
Endeavour:
purchased.
end of.
Erromango.
Espiritu Santo.
Fernando de Noronho.
Fishburn of Whitby.
Forster, G.A.
Forster, J.R.
Freelove.
Friendship.
Funchal.
Furneaux, Tobias.
Garland.
Gaspe Bay.
Gilbert, G.
Gilbert, J.
Gore, J.
Grampus.
Graves, Captain.
Green, Charles.
death.
Grenville.
Halifax, N.B.
Hardy, Sir C.
Harrison. See Timepieces.
Hawke, Lord.
Hawkesworth, Dr.
Hicks, Lieutenant.
Hodges, W.
Holmes, Admiral.
Horrox, J.
Huaheine.
Isle aux Coudres.
Isle d'Orleans.
Japan.
Jervis, Captain J.
Johnson, Dr.
Karakakoa Bay.
Kemp, A.
Kemp, S.
Kendal. See Timepieces.
Kerguelen's Land.
King, Captain J.
Knox, Major.
Koah.
Lambrecht.
Lane, M.
Lark.
Law, Surgeon.
Ledyard.
Leeds Mercury.
Lightning Rods.
Loo Fort.
Louisburg.
MacGregor, Sir E.
Magellan's Straits.
Malicolo.
Marra, James.
Marton.
Maskelyne.
Massacre Bay, New Zealand.
Medway.
Mercury.
Middleburg.
Mile End.
Miquelon.
Molineaux.
Monkhouse, Dr.
Montcalm.
Moran, Cardinal.
Moreton Bay.
New Albion.
New Caledonia.
New Zealand.
Newfoundland.
Newspapers on ship.
Northumberland.
Norton Sound.
Omai.
Otaheite.
Pallisser, Sir H.
Parkinson, S.
Pembroke, Earl of.
Pembroke.
Petropaulowsk.
Phillips, Lieutenant.
Pickersgill.
Pines, Isle of.
Pitcairn Island.
Priestley, Dr.
Pringle, Sir J.
Prowd, Mary.
Quebec.
Quiros, De.
Raleigh. See Adventure.
Redcar.
Resolution purchased.
Rio.
Rotterdam.
Royal Society.
Russia, Empress of.
St. Helena.
St. John's.
St. Lawrence.
St. Pierre.
Samwell, D.
Sandwich Islands.
Sandwich, Lord.
Saunders, Sir C.
Scurvy, paper on.
Smith, Isaac.
Solander, Dr.
Solebay.
Sparrman, H.
Staten Island.
Stirling Castle.
Straits le Maire.
Tanna.
Tasman.
Tatafee Polaho.
Terreeoboo.
Three Sisters.
Three Kings, New Zealand.
Timepieces.
Torres, De.
Transit of Venus.
Traverse, the.
Tupia.
Ulietea.
Vancouver, G.
Vegetable Sheep.
Waddington, G.W.
Walker, John.
Webber, J.
Wolfe, General.
Young, Dr.
Young, N.
Zeehaan.