James cook's life

Cook was born in julian calendar 1728, 1 1728 in Marton, Yorkshire, England. He was baptized in the local church of St. Cuthbert, and his name is still on the list of the church. Cook ranks second among his eight brothers and sisters. His father's name is james cook (1694- 1779). He was originally from Ednam, near Kelser, and worked as a farm worker. My mother's name is Grace Pace (17011702-1765), from Sonaby, Yorkshire.

1736, Cook's father was hired to work at the Ale Holm Farm in Greater Edton, and the Cook family moved there. With the help of farm owner Thomas Scotto, Cook was able to receive a five-year education at the local Postgate school.

174 1 year, Cook left school and went back to the farm to help his father who had been promoted to farm supervisor. In his spare time, he will go to the nearby Roseberry Topping to enjoy his own space. Cook's parents live in 1755. The cottage was originally located in Great Ayton, but was demolished in 1934 and moved to Melbourne, Australia for permanent preservation. Historians generally believe that Cook has never lived in a cabin, but he is considered a guest of the cabin.

1745, 16-year-old Cook moved to Staithes, a fishing village 32 kilometers away, and worked as a trainee clerk in the grocery store and needle shop opened in william sanderson. Some historians believe that Cook became interested in sailing from there. After serving 18 months, Cook decided that he was not suitable for store service. As a result, on Sanderson's recommendation, he moved to Whitby, a nearby port town, to be with his two brothers, John E Walker and Henry Walker.

The Walker brothers are Quakers. They are not only engaged in coal trade, but also famous ship owners in Whitby. Their former residence was converted into Captain Cook Memorial Museum on 1986. Cook was employed by the Walker Brothers, who initially served as a merchant apprentice in their small fleet, and was responsible for regularly transporting coal to and from all parts of the English coast. Cook spent several years travelling between the Tyne River and London on the coal carrier "Love of Freedom" and other coal carriers. As part of his apprenticeship, he also studied algebra, geometry, trigonometry, navigation and astronomy, which will greatly help him to command his own ship in the future.

After completing his three-year apprenticeship, Cook began to work on a merchant ship that traveled to and from the Baltic Sea. 1752 passed the examination and was promoted repeatedly in the merchant fleet. In the same year, he became the first mate of the double-masted coal carrier Friendship.

1755, Britain was ready to mobilize to participate in the seven-year war. Although Cook was just promoted to captain of Friendship, he chose to join the Royal Navy within one month. On June 7 of the same year, Cook officially joined the Royal Navy in Woping, London. Although starting from scratch, he understands that there are more and faster promotion opportunities in the army, so it is not without benefits. After joining the Royal Navy, Cook first served as the first mate on HMS Eagle.

1July, 755 to 1 10/October, participated in the capture and sinking of a French warship by the Eagle, and was appointed as the boatswain afterwards.

1March, 756, he temporarily performed his command duties for the first time, and was responsible for being the captain of the sloop Cruizer during the cruise of Eagle.

1757 On June 29th, Cook passed the master's examination in maritime affairs at Trinity College in Depford, making him qualified to take charge of and sail the king's ships. In the same month, he joined the Royal Navy Solebel and became a sailor of Captain Robert Craig. Soon after, in June of the same year 10, he transferred to HMS pembroke as a sailor and served in North America.

At that time, it was the Seven Years' War. Cook took part in the joint military action of the British navy and army in 1758, and successfully seized Fort Louis from the French army. The following year, he participated in the siege of Quebec and the battle of Abraham Plain. Because Cook showed his talent in surveying and mapping in the army, he was responsible for mapping most of the mouth of the St. Lawrence River in the siege campaign, so that the British commander james wolf later launched a famous raid on the Abraham Plain.

After the victory of the British in the Seven-Year War, Cook, who was good at surveying and mapping, was appointed as a maritime surveyor by Thomas Graves, Governor of Newfoundland, in A.D. 1760, and was responsible for making maps for the uneven coast of Newfoundland. He first surveyed the northwest coast of the island from 1763 to 1764, then from 1765 to 1766, he surveyed the south coast from Brin Peninsula to Leijiao, and finally completed the west coast at 1767. During these five years, Cook drew the first batch of large-scale accurate maps of Newfoundland coast. He travels between England and Newfoundland from time to time, and is responsible for surveying the terrain in spring and summer. After entering autumn and winter, he returned to England by boat, drawing nautical charts on the way.

Cook often has to endure bad weather and environment in the process of surveying and mapping, and his field work in the local area has further honed and improved his skilled skills in surveying and mapping, winning him the favor of the British Admiralty and the Royal Society. His map of Newfoundland even became the main reference for ships to enter and leave the area in the past 200 years, and it was not until the 20th century that it was replaced by newer and more accurate maps. Cook made a name for himself in Newfoundland when he actively explored overseas in Britain, which enabled him to seize the opportunity and make greater achievements in the future navigation. In fact, Cook is also an ambitious and ambitious navigator. Shortly after completing his task in Newfoundland, he wrote the following goals for himself in his diary:

"I intend to not only go further than my predecessor, but also go as far as possible."

I will not only go further than anyone before me, but also try my best. ) the first exploration (1768- 177 1 year).

Cook returned to England on1767165438+10/5. As it happens, the Royal Society is planning to send a research ship to the Pacific Ocean to help observe astronomical phenomena in transit of venus, so as to calculate the distance between the earth and the sun. Cook, then 39 years old, was hired as the expedition commander by the Royal Society in 1768, and won the prize on May 25th of the same year. The Royal Society originally intended to send a geographer Alexander Dalrymple as the commander of the expedition, but because the research ship was provided by the Admiralty, and the Admiralty requested to command a Royal Navy officer, Cook became the most suitable candidate.

Cook's expedition set out from Plymouth, England on August 25th, 768, crossed the Atlantic Ocean westward, entered the Pacific Ocean through Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America, and finally arrived in Tahiti, Oceania on April 25th, 769. Although Cook mainly stayed in Tahiti during his stay in Oceania, he also visited several nearby Oceania islands, collectively known as society islands. In Tahiti, Cook and his party have established good relations with local islanders. They set up an observatory on the island and observed transit of venus on June 3rd. However, the observation results are not as accurate and successful as expected.

After the observation, Cook opened the secret letter sent by the Admiralty and accepted the secret mission of the expedition according to the instructions, that is, to find the vast and "unknown southern continent" (that is, Antarctica today) in the South Pacific. Cook and Endeavour left society islands for the west on August 1769, and arrived in New Zealand about two months later on October 6 10. The place name of New Zealand comes from the Dutch word "Nova Zeelandia", which was translated by Cook and renamed as "New Zeeland" in English.

Cook sailed around New Zealand immediately after his arrival. Although he confirmed that New Zealand was not the legendary southern continent, he became the first navigator to sail around New Zealand. In addition, he can draw the coastline of New Zealand, and the map he made is quite accurate, with only a few mistakes. In the process of exploring New Zealand, Cook named many places, including Portland Island, Poverty Bay, Abundant Bay, Hawke Bay, Mercury Bay and southern alps. Cook confirmed that the Cook Strait, which separates the North Island and the South Island of New Zealand, is not a bay as previously thought. However, when Cook sailed through the southernmost tip of New Zealand, he mistook the island there for a cape bordering the South Island and named it "South Cape", which was later called Stewart Island.

Cook and his party stayed in New Zealand for more than five months, during which they had contact with the local Maori. Until March 1,1,in March, 770, they left New Zealand and continued to explore the west. Finally, they reached the southeast coast of the Australian mainland (now New South Wales, Australia) on April 19, setting a precedent for Europeans to reach the east coast of Australia for the first time. Cook thought the local scenery was similar to South Wales in glamorgan, so he named it New South Wales, and later changed it to New South Wales.

On April 23rd, Cook recorded in his weekly diary that he directly met Australian aborigines on the shore of Brush Island near Bawley Point. He wrote ... their colors are quite dark or black, but I don't know if this is their real skin color or the color of their clothes. "On April 29th, Cook and his entourage landed on the coast now known as the Kurnell Peninsula. Because botanists joseph banks and Daniel Solander discovered many unique species there, Cook named it "Botanical Bay". There, Cook had the first contact and communication with an aborigine named Ge Veger.

After leaving Botany Bay, Cook and his party headed north by Endeavour, but the journey was not very smooth. On June/KOOC-0//KOOC-0/,Endeavour was damaged in a shoal on the Great Barrier Reef, and then it strayed into an estuary on June/KOOC-0/8. A series of accidents seriously damaged the hull of Endeavour, forcing it to stay at a beach (near the port of Cook Town at the mouth of Endeavour River) for maintenance, which delayed the whole voyage for nearly seven weeks. After maintenance, Endeavour set out again, sailed through the Tolis Strait at the northern end of Australia, and personally confirmed that the Australian mainland was not connected with New Guinea.

Not long after, Cook landed on the newly discovered occupied island at the northern end of Australia on August 22, and declared the island and the whole of New South Wales as British territory in the name of King George III of England. After that, Cook and his party moved to Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia), but many crew members died of malaria there. After many twists and turns, Endeavour finally crossed the Cape of Good Hope and St. Helena and finally returned to Downs on June 177 12.

Cook recorded more than 5000 kilometers of coastline on a trip. After returning home, he published Zhou Ji as a book, which was once valued by the scientific community. However, among these people, joseph banks, a famous botanist, is more famous than Cook. Banks even hoped to take the place of Cook for the second exploration trip, but finally chose to quit before the trip began. After Banks resigned, John reinhold Foster and his son George Foster took the place of scientists on the second voyage.

The second exploration (1772- 1775)

Shortly after returning from the first expedition, Cook was promoted to the rank of naval officer of Lieutenant Colonel on June 29th. The following year, Cook was once again entrusted by the Royal Society to embark on a second voyage to explore the rumored "unknown southern continent". In the first exploration, Cook has proved that New Zealand is not bordered by any continent, and although he has surveyed almost the entire east coast of the Australian continent, from the surveying and mapping data, the size of the Australian continent is still smaller than the mysterious continent, so whether that continent existed at that time was still a mystery. It is generally believed that if this "unknown southern continent" exists, it should be located further south than the Australian mainland, and members of the Royal Society such as Alexander Dorlinp have always believed that this southern continent does exist.

The voyage was led by the Royal Navy "Determination" commanded by Cook, accompanied by the Royal Navy "Adventure" commanded by Toro Bias Fournaud. On July 30th, two ships set out from Plymouth. Different from the last time, this time Cook crossed the Cape of Good Hope eastward to reach the Pacific Ocean, and managed to sail southward in order to discover the southern continent, which made the fleet set a new record for crossing the Antarctic Circle in June 1773+1October17. However, it wasn't long before Determination and Adventure parted ways in the Southern Ocean on February 9 of the same year because of heavy fog. So, on May 17, the two ships reunited at the scheduled assembly point in Queen Bay, Charlotte, New Zealand. During the separation, Fournaud's expedition sailed to Tasmania, while Cook's Determination sailed along the southwest coast of New Zealand's South Island. During this period, 1773 discovered George Island in March and drew a map for the island.

After reuniting with the expedition, the Determined arrived in Tahiti on August 1773 for replenishment, then headed west, and arrived at an island that had been visited by Spanish and Portuguese navigators in September. He named the island Hervey Islands (the old name of Cook Islands). In June+10, 5438, Cook and his party also visited Tonga. Because of the friendly enthusiasm of the indigenous people on the island, Cook called it a "friendly island".

However, on June 30, 65438/kloc-0, the determination and the expedition encountered a storm on their way back to New Zealand from Tonga. Cook originally agreed to meet Vernor in Charlotte Queen Bay, but the first cook decided to leave on June 26th 165438+, and the next Vernor didn't arrive at the meeting place until June 30th 165438 four days later. Fournaud, who failed to meet Cook, had to direct the expedition to return home, but before the departure, the crew had a dispute with the local Maori, resulting in the death of some crew members. The expedition finally returned to England on July 1774.

After Cook decided to leave the explorer, she continued to try to find the Antarctic continent in the vast sea. 1773, 65438+February, it was decided to enter the Antarctic circle for the second time, and then sailed into the Antarctic circle for the third time on 1774, 65438+1October 26, and successfully sailed to the sea near the South Pole at 7 1 degree south latitude. However, Cook, who didn't find Antarctica, decided to turn back at this time because of the bad weather environment, which dashed the hope of finding the mysterious continent. After that, Cook decided to stay in the Pacific Ocean, so that when summer comes in the southern hemisphere, he can explore the south again.

During this period, Cook traveled to many places in Oceania. 1774 After visiting Easter Island in February, he went to Marquesas Islands in March and returned to society islands and Tahiti in April. In June, Cook became the first western navigator to discover Niue. Although he tried to land many times, he was stopped by hostile islanders on the island. So Cook named the island "Savage Island" and had to return to nearby Tonga for supplies. 1774 In July, Cook arrived in Vanuatu, where European navigators had been, and named the islands New hebrides after the Scottish hebrides. Soon after, Cook became the first western navigator to discover New Caledonia in September 1774, and the place name Cook chose was based on the old Scottish place name Caledonia. Before returning to Charlotte Queen Bay in June of the same year 1 1, Cook discovered norfolk island in June of 10. norfolk island was named after one of his patrons, the ninth Duchess of Norfolk, but Cook did not know that the Duchess had died in June of 1773.

1774, 165438+ 10. In October, Cook Determined set out from New Zealand, sailed eastward through Cape Horn, the southern tip of South America, and reached South Georgia Island in the South Atlantic on the way to 1775, 65438+ 10. The island was actually discovered by Anthony de Delaroche, a British businessman, as early as 1675, but Cook and others were the first westerners to land on the island. When Cook arrived, he not only declared the island a British territory, but also took charge of surveying and mapping the island. In addition to South Georgia, Cook named the newly discovered reef island nearby as Clerke Rocks after his attache, Charles Clerke. On June 365438+1October 3 1 day, Cook further discovered a number of tiny islands, so he named these islands "sandwich territory" (now the South Sandwich Islands) with the title of Lord Sandwich, the first minister of the navy and the patron of sailing exploration. South Georgia and Sandwich Islands are the only islands covered with snow and ice among the many islands that Cook visited all the time.

Cook, who crossed the South Atlantic, arrived at Table Bay in Cape Town on March 2 1, 1775. After staying there for five weeks to repair the rigging of the "Determination", the "Determination" passed through St. Helena and Fernando de Noronha Islands, and finally arrived in Portsmouth, England on July 30, one year later than the expedition. Although the report submitted by Cook after his return to China silenced people's expectation of discovering the "unknown southern continent", one of the important achievements of his second voyage was the successful use of the K 1 meridian instrument made by British watchmaker Lacome Kendall to make a detailed nautical chart. This longitude meter allows Cook to calculate his longitude more accurately during the voyage. He praised Kendall's K 1 longitude meter in his log book. Cook used this meridian instrument to make many quite accurate charts of the South Pacific, which were still used and trusted by navigators until the middle of the 20th century.

After returning to China, Cook was further promoted to the post-captain on August 9 1775. At the age of 47, he was also allowed to retire from the Royal Navy with honor and was awarded the honor of the Fourth Colonel at the Invalides in Greenwich. However, Cook was bent on continuing his sailing career, so he had to reluctantly accept the arrangement of honorary retirement, but at the same time, he asked that if he was called out to sea in the future, he could unload the position of Invalides at any time. At this time, Cook was not only appreciated by the Admiralty. In addition to being elected as an academician of the Royal Society on February 29th, 1776, he was awarded the Copley Medal by the Society in the same year in recognition of his contribution to the scientific community. After two voyages, Cook gradually became a famous British navigator. The famous painter Nassar neil danns Holland painted for him, and the biographer James boswell gave him a banquet. In the debate in the House of Lords, he was even praised as "the first navigator in Europe" by aristocratic families. Nevertheless, Cook never wanted to stay at home for a long time. 1776, he finally got the third chance to set out for the Pacific Ocean, and was assigned to find the northwest channel connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. In this trip, Cook is responsible for going east from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, while the other fleet is going west from the opposite direction and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

The third exploration (1776- 1779)

Cook's third voyage was the last voyage in his life. As mentioned above, although his real task is to find the Northwest Passage, the general public doesn't know much about it. They only think that his task is to send the indigenous Omai who was brought to England with HMS expedition back to Tahiti. On this trip, Cook was in charge of the Determination again, and his attache, Charles Clark, was in charge of the Discovery. The two ships officially set off from Plymouth on July 1776, and successfully returned Oumai to Tahiti on June 1777+00. Cook's fleet immediately sailed north and found Christmas Island (Kiribati) on Christmas Eve on February 24th, 777/kloc-0. Cook and his party landed in Waimea, Kauai for the first time, and decided to name these islands "Sandwich Islands" with the title of Lord Sandwich.

After stopping in Hawaii, Cook's fleet sailed northeast in the Pacific Ocean to the west coast of North America north of the Spanish settlement in Upper California. On March 7th, 1778, Cook and others arrived in the coastal waters of Oregon. In addition to naming the first cape he saw as Cape Foulweather, he landed on the coast near 44 degrees 30 north latitude. However, as the name implies, Cook and his party were forced to turn south to about 43 degrees north latitude because of the bad weather, and then they were able to turn back north along the coast when the weather returned to normal.

Cook's fleet unconsciously sailed through the Juan de Fuka Strait, then sailed into the Nutka Bay in western vancouver island, and finally docked near a village belonging to the Nutka people (now one of the earliest Canadian peoples) in Youquot. 1778 From March 29th to April 26th, two ships, Determination and Discovery, docked at a place named "Boat Bay" by Cook in the Nutka Strait. This small bay, today's Resolution Cove, is located at the southern end of Bly Island, about eight kilometers east of Yugu, separated by the Nutka Strait.

Although Cook's crew and Yugur villagers had some unpleasant experiences, their relationship was still very harmonious. In terms of trade, when Cook is in Hawaii, they can exchange some trinkets for needed materials. But in Yugu, they want to use more expensive items, and the other party is willing to trade. Generally speaking, Yugur villagers accept metal products, but soon lose interest in lead and tin products; As for the most valuable goods that Cook got from each other's trade, there were only some sea otter fur. During Yugu, Cook and his party were basically controlled by local villagers. Yugur villagers even boarded Cook's boat for observation, but Cook and others were not allowed to enter their village. Cook can't know who the local elders are, but some scholars speculate that the local elders may be Maquinna, who was active in fur trade from1780s to1790s.

After leaving the Nootka Strait, Cook and others continued to trace north to the Bering Strait, exploring along the way and drawing coastal maps, recording Cook Bay known to later generations in Alaska. In a short voyage, Cook mapped most of the coastline of the northwest coast of North America and became the first navigator to map this area. Since then, the world map has determined the extension of Alaska for the first time. As for a large blank Pacific coastline between eastern Russia and the northern Spanish settlement in Upper California, it was also filled and connected because of Cook's investigation results.

Cook's fleet sailed past the Prince of Wales on August 8, 778, and entered the Bering Strait. A few days later, it sailed into the Arctic Circle on August 14. However, Cook, who tried several times, could not continue northward. On August 18, Determination and Discovery sailed to the sea at 70 degrees 44 minutes north latitude, which is the northernmost place that Cook has been to. However, it was also at this time that Cook was blocked by icebergs and frozen sea, and he had to decide to turn back to the south. At this time, Cook began to feel discouraged, and he might have a stomachache. His attitude towards the crew became more and more unreasonable. He made them eat walrus meat that was considered inedible.

On the way back, Cook passed the Aleutian Islands, during which he stopped at some Russian trading bases. Until February, 1778, 17, Determination and Discovery sailed back to Hawaii for the winter. After cruising around the islands for about eight weeks, Cook and his party finally arrived in Kai Allakai in June 1779+ 17. When Cook visited, the locals were celebrating Makahiki, a festival dedicated to the Polynesian god Lono and celebrating the harvest. Coincidentally, the shape determination of mast, sail and rigging is similar to some handicrafts used for holiday sacrifice; In addition, before Cook and his party landed, they once circled the Hawaiian island clockwise, and the team that just sacrificed Long Nuo was also cruising around the island clockwise. A series of coincidences made Cook, as the captain of the "Determination", mistaken by some islanders as a long commitment, which once made him and even some of his entourage worship as gods. The local tribal elders also gave Cook a helmet and a cloak to highlight his lofty position in the eyes of the islanders. The above statement was first put forward by people who participated in the adventure journey, and was supported by American anthropologist Marshall Salins and other scholars. However, there is still some controversy about whether Cook is really deified by the islanders. After staying in Hawaii for about a month, Cook and his crew set off again on February 4 1779, and went north again to look for the Northwest Passage. However, shortly after the departure, Cook was forced to lead the fleet back due to the damage to the foremast of the Determined, and returned to Kwai Bay in Allakai for maintenance on February 1 1. Cook's return was not only unexpected to Hawaiian islanders, but also unpopular with them. The reason is that the Makahiki Festival dedicated to Rono is over. Their sudden return surprised and stunned the islanders, which not only dealt a heavy blow to the islanders' hearts, but also turned their devout faith in Cook into anger.

After Cook and his party returned to Hawaii, the islanders not only refused to replenish food and prohibited them from cutting down wood, but also robbed them of their belongings. All kinds of disputes and discord have strained the relationship between the two sides. /kloc-On the night of February, 0/3, Discovery's boat was stolen by local islanders. Cook was indifferent at first, thinking that this kind of theft was common on small islands such as Tahiti, so he planned to hijack tribal leaders or other islanders as hostages on the island the next day and let the islanders return the dinghy.

14 In the early morning of February, Cook took the same group of marines to Kwa Bay, Allakai, trying to calm down the incident. However, the two sides had long-term prejudice, and the misunderstanding of each other's signals and gunfire made the conflict between the two sides explosive. In the chaos, because Cook was outnumbered, he had to retreat to Kwai Wan Beach in Kai Allakai. He not only arranged for his companions to retreat on board, but also stayed until the end. At this time, Cook was hit in the head from behind by the islanders and fell to the ground. Although he immediately stood up and resisted, he was immediately pushed to the ground, stoned to death by the islanders and stabbed to death. Face down when he died, sticking to the shore washed by the waves. Cook, who was only 50 years old, was killed around 9 am. Besides him, four marines were killed and two were injured.

Most of the paintings before Cook's murder were handed down by later generations, depicting Cook as a mediator, trying to calm the disputes between the two factions in the chaos. However, a painting published in 2004 showed Cook waving a gun before he was killed, with the intention of attacking the oncoming islanders. This painting depicting Cook as aggressive was painted by the painter John Cleveley, and it happened that Cleveley's brother James Cleveley was a carpenter on Cook's resolution and witnessed the incident. Therefore, some scholars believe that this painting may more truly record Cook's behavior before his death, which is more in line with the above and below than other versions.

According to the story handed down by Hawaiians, Cook was killed by a chief named "Kalanimanokahoowaha", and his body and the bodies of other killed marines were dragged away by islanders on the spot. Although Cook was killed by islanders, after his death, his body was preserved by local tribal leaders and other elders. They also held a funeral for Cook with the exclusive specifications of tribal leaders and supreme elders. During the funeral, all the internal organs of Cook's body were taken out, and then the body was baked to take out the body. As for the remaining bones, they were carefully washed so as to be preserved for religious worship. After Cook's death, the captain of Determination was changed to Charles Clark, the captain of Discovery, and Clark was replaced by John Gore, the first-class captain of Determination.

After Clark took charge of the overall situation, he quickly succeeded in easing the tension with the islanders. At his request, the islanders returned some of Cook's remains, including the damaged and deformed head and severed hands, on February 20th. There is a unique scar between the thumb and forefinger of Cook's right hand, and the right hand handed over by the islanders also conforms to this feature, so Cook's colleagues think that the remains handed over by the islanders are Cook himself. On the same day, the islanders handed over the jaws and feet suspected to belong to Cook, as well as a pair of shoes and a damaged musket. Cook's body was then put into a coffin by the crew, buried at sea on the afternoon of February 2 1, and the coffin was thrown into the sea.

On February 22, under the command of Clark, the "Determination" and "Discovery" set out for the Bering Strait again, trying to continue Cook's task of searching the Northwest Passage. But on August 22nd, Clark himself died of tuberculosis in the sea not far from kamchatka peninsula. A few days later, Gore officially took over as the captain of Determination on August 25th, and the captain of Discovery was James King, the second-class captain of Determination. After that, Determination and Discovery abandoned their plans to explore the Northwest Passage and decided to set off for home. The two ships set out from Awacha Bay, went south to the South China Sea along Japan, Formosa, Dangan Islands and Macau, then crossed the Indian Ocean from sunda strait and sailed into the Atlantic Ocean through the Cape of Good Hope. After a long voyage, they finally returned to London, England on June 7, 1980, officially ending their voyage for more than four years. The news of Cook and Clark's death had reached Britain long before the return of Determination and Discovery, so the news of the return of the two ships did not cause much shock. Cook wrote a weekly diary about his third voyage before his death, which was compiled and published by King En after returning home.

King George III of England intended to confer a hereditary baronet title on Cook after he returned to China, but it failed because of Cook's death. Nevertheless, the British court awarded Cook's widow Elizabeth a considerable pension as a condolence. 1785, George III awarded Elizabeth a coat of arms for use by members of the Cook family. Elizabeth lived to 1835, that is, 56 years after Cook's death, and died at the age of 93.