Editing James Cook (section)

==Third voyage (1776–1779)==
[[File:Hodges, Resolution and Adventure in Matavai Bay.jpg|upright=1.3|thumb
|alt=Two large wooden ships entering a bay near a tropical island, surrounded by several Tahitians in canoes
|''Resolution'' and ''Adventure'' in Tahiti, painted by [[William Hodges]], 1776.]]
{{Main|Third voyage of James Cook}}
The primary purpose of Cook's third expedition was to search for a [[Northwest Passage]] from the north Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic.{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=268,280-282}}{{sfn|Collingridge|2003|p=327}}{{efn|Simultaneously, the Admiralty was organizing a second expedition to search for the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic side.{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=268,280-282}}}} To keep this goal secret, the Admiralty publicly stated that the aim of the mission was to return Polynesian native [[Omai]] to his home in Tahiti.{{sfn|Hough|1994|p=270}}{{sfn|Collingridge|2003|p=327}}{{efn|When Cook visited Tahiti during his second voyage, Omai (originally from [[Raʻiātea]]) asked Furneaux for passage to England, and Furneaux obliged. Omai spent two years in England, where he was very popular.{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=226, 267}}}}
 
On this voyage, Cook again commanded the ''Resolution'', while Captain [[Charles Clerke]] commanded {{HMS|Discovery|1774|6}}.{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=274-280}}{{efn|The ''Discovery'' was also a Whitby-built collier.{{sfn|Collingridge|2003|p=337}}}} Cook's lieutenants included [[John Gore (Royal Navy officer, died 1790)|John Gore]] and [[James King (Royal Navy officer)|James King]].{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=274-280}} [[William Bligh]]{{snd}}who would later command [[HMS Bounty|HMS ''Bounty'']]{{snd}}was the master.{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=274-280}} [[William Anderson (naturalist)|William Anderson]] was surgeon and botanist, [[William Bayly (astronomer)|William Bayly]] served as astronomer, and [[John Webber]] was the official artist.{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=274-280}} Among the midshipmen was [[George Vancouver]], who would later lead the [[Vancouver Expedition]].{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=274-280}}

===Hawaii===
The third voyage began by sailing around South Africa, then into the Pacific Ocean.{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=289-301}} After stopping in New Zealand, the expedition returned Omai to his homeland of Tahiti. Cook then travelled north and became the first recorded European to encounter the [[Hawaiian Islands]].{{sfn|Collingridge|2003|p=380}}{{efn|Some historians speculate that [[Manila galleon|Spanish trading ships]] may have seen or even visited the Hawaiian islands before Cook, but kept the discovery secret to protect their lucrative trade route between [[Acapulco]] and [[Manila]].<ref name=Kane>{{cite book| last = Kane| first = Herb Kawainui| author-link = Herb Kawainui Kane| editor = Bob Dye| chapter = The Manila Galleons| title = Hawaii Chronicles: Island History from the Pages of Honolulu Magazine| volume = I| publisher = [[University of Hawaiʻi Press]]| year = 1996|   pages = 25–32| isbn = 978-0-8248-1829-6}}</ref>
}} After his initial landfall in January 1778 at [[Waimea, Kauai County, Hawaii|Waimea]] harbour, [[Kauai]], Cook named the [[archipelago]] the "Sandwich Islands" after the [[John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich|fourth Earl of Sandwich]]—the acting [[Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty|First Lord of the Admiralty]].{{sfn|Collingridge|2003|p=380}}

===North America===
From Hawaii, Cook sailed northeast to reach the west coast of North America and begin his search for a Northwest Passage.{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=316-321}} He sighted the Oregon coast at approximately 44°30′ north latitude, naming it [[Cape Foulweather]], after the bad weather which forced his ships south to about [[43rd parallel north|43° north]] before they could begin their exploration of the coast northward.<ref name="Hayes 1999 42–43">{{harvnb|Hayes|1999|pp=42–43.}}</ref> He unwittingly sailed past the [[Strait of Juan de Fuca]] and soon after entered [[Nootka Sound]] on [[Vancouver Island]].{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=319-322}} Cook's two ships remained in Nootka Sound from 29 March to 26 April 1778, in what Cook called Ship Cove, now Resolution Cove, at the south end of [[Bligh Island (Canada)|Bligh Island]].<ref>{{cite bcgnis|18990|Resolution Cove |access-date=6 March 2013}}</ref>{{efn|Relations between Cook's crew and the people of [[Yuquot]] were cordial but sometimes strained. In trading, the people of Yuquot demanded much more valuable items than the usual trinkets that had been acceptable in Hawaii.{{sfn|Fisher|1979|pp=87-97}}}} After leaving Nootka Sound, Cook explored and mapped the coast all the way to the [[Bering Strait]], on the way identifying what came to be known as [[Cook Inlet]] in Alaska.<ref name="Hayes 1999 42–43"/> 

[[File:Captain James Cook in Matavai Bay, Tahiti; by John Cleveley the Younger.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15
|alt=Two large wooden ships in a bay of Tahiti, with several Tahitian canoes
|HMS ''Resolution'' and ''Discovery'' in [[Matavai Bay]], Tahiti. By [[John Cleveley the Younger]].]]
By the second week of August 1778, Cook had sailed through the Bering Strait, crossed the [[Arctic Circle]], and sailed into the [[Chukchi Sea]].{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=325-327}} He headed northeast up the coast of Alaska until he was blocked by sea ice at a latitude of 70°44′ north.{{sfn|Hough|1994|p=327}} Cook then sailed west to the [[Siberia]]n coast, and then southeast down the Siberian coast back to the Bering Strait.{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=328-329}} 

During this voyage, Cook charted the majority of the North American northwest coastline for the first time, determined the extent of Alaska, and closed the gaps in Russian (from the west) and Spanish (from the south) exploratory probes of the northern Pacific.<ref name="G_Williams" /> 

By early September 1778, he was back in the [[Bering Sea]] to begin the trip to back to Hawaii.<ref>{{harvnb|Beaglehole|1968|pp=615–623.}}</ref> Cook became increasingly frustrated and irritable on this voyage, and sometimes exhibited irrational behaviour towards his crew, such as forcing them to eat walrus meat, which they considered inedible.{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=328,331-332,363-364}}{{sfn|Obeyesekere|1992|p=42}}{{sfn|Collingridge|2003|pp=392-393}}

===Return to Hawaii===
Cook returned to Hawaii in 1779. The ships sailed throughout the archipelago for eight weeks, surveying and trading.{{sfn|Beaglehole|1974|pp=638-648}}{{efn|To protect the Hawaiian women from sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), Cook issued orders to his crew: "In order to prevent as much as possible the communicating this fatal disease to a set of innocent people" no woman was to board either of the ships, and any crew member who had an STD was prohibited from engaging in sex with the women.{{sfn|Beaglehole|1974|pp=638-639}}
}} After stops in [[Maui]] and [[Kauai]], Cook made landfall at [[Kealakekua Bay]] on [[Hawaii (island)|Hawai'i Island]], the largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago.{{sfn|Beaglehole|1974|pp=648-650}} 

On the large island, Cook met with the Hawaiian king [[Kalaniʻōpuʻu]], who treated Cook with respect, and invited him to participate in several ceremonies. The king and Cook exchanged gifts, and the king presented Cook with a [[ʻAhu ʻula|ʻahuʻula]] (feathered cloak).{{sfn|Beaglehole|1974|pp=650-654}} Some members of Cook's crew concluded that the Hawaiian's considered Cook a deity, and that interpretation (specifically, that Cook was considered to be the Polynesian god [[Lono]]) has been endorsed by some academics.{{sfn|Beaglehole|1974|pp=657-660}}{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=335-340}}{{sfn|Sahlins|1985}}{{sfn|Thomas|2003|pp=382-389,395-400}}{{efn|
Cook's arrival coincided with the ''[[Makahiki]]'', a Hawaiian [[harvest festival]] of worship for the Polynesian god [[Lono]]. Some scholars assert that the form of HMS ''Resolution''{{snd}}specifically, the mast formation, sails and rigging{{snd}}resembled certain significant artefacts that formed part of the season of worship.{{sfn|Thomas|2003|pp=382-389,395-400}}{{sfn|Collingridge|2003|p=404}}{{sfn|Obeyesekere|1992|p=61}} Some academics state that Cook's clockwise route around the island of Hawaii before making landfall resembled the processions that took place in a clockwise direction around the island during the Lono festivals. It has been argued (most extensively by [[Marshall Sahlins]]) that such coincidences were the reasons for Cook's initial [[Apotheosis|deification]] as Lono by some Hawaiians.{{sfn|Sahlins|1985}}
}} Other scholars, including [[Gananath Obeyesekere]], assert that the Hawaiians did not consider Cook to be a deity.<ref>{{harvnb|Obeyesekere|1992|pp=197-250}}.</ref>{{efn|The debate about whether or not Cook was considered a deity is sometimes called the [[Sahlins–Obeyesekere debate]].}}

===Death===
[[File:Zoffany Death of Captain Cook.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3
|alt=A beach with a dozen Maori warriors fighting against Cook and several of his marines
|''The Death of Captain Cook'' by [[Johan Zoffany]], c. 1795. One of [[Death of Cook|several paintings of this event]].]]
{{Main|Death of James Cook}}

After a month's stay, Cook left Hawaii to resume his exploration of the northern Pacific, but shortly after departure a strong gale caused ''Resolution''{{'}}s foremast to break, so the ships returned to Kealakekua Bay for repairs.{{sfn|Beaglehole|1974|pp=661-662}}{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=341-342}}

Relations between the crew and the Hawaiians were already strained before the departure, and they grew worse when the ship returned for repairs.{{sfn|Beaglehole|1974|pp=662-664}}{{efn|Before departure, Cook offered to purchase the wood from a fence surrounding a sacred [[marae]]; when the offer was refused, Cook ordered his men to take the wood regardless.{{sfn|Sparks|1847|pp=135–139}} }} Numerous quarrels broke out and petty thefts were common. On 13 February 1779, a group of Hawaiians stole one of Cook's [[Cutter (boat)|cutters]].{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=347-348}}{{sfn|Beaglehole|1974|p=667}} 

The following day, Cook attempted to recover the cutter by kidnapping and [[ransom]]ing the king, Kalaniʻōpuʻu.{{sfn|Beazley|1911|p=72}}{{sfn|Sahlins|2012|p=336}} Cook and a small party marched through the village to retrieve the king.{{sfn|Obeyesekere|1992|p=107}}{{sfn|Collingridge|2003|pp=408–409}} Cook led Kalaniʻōpuʻu away; as they got to the boats, one of Kalaniʻōpuʻu's favourite wives, [[Kānekapōlei]], and two chiefs approached the group. They pleaded with the king not to go and a large crowd began to form at the shore.{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=351-354}} News reached the Hawaiians that on the other side of the bay, high-ranking Hawaiian chief Kalimu had been shot whilst trying to break through a British blockade; this exacerbated the tense situation.{{sfn|Beaglehole|1974|pp=669-672}} As the Europeans launched the boats to leave, Cook was struck on the head by the villagers and then stabbed to death as he fell on his face in the surf.{{sfn|Beaglehole|1974|pp=669-672}}{{sfn|Collingridge|2003|pp=409–410}}{{sfn|Fornander|Stokes|1880|p=193}}{{efn|Early sources identify the primary assailants as [[Kalaimanokahoʻowaha]] (club) and Nuaa (knife).{{sfn|Fornander|Stokes|1880|p=193}}{{sfn|Dibble|1843|p=61}}{{sfn|Samwell|1786|p=16}} [[David Samwell]] wrote: "The principal actors were the other chiefs, many of them the king's relations and attendants."{{sfn|Samwell|1786|p=16}}
}} Cook collapsed and died on the shore, and Hawaiian warriors crowded around the corpse to bludgeon it.{{sfn|Hough|1994|p=354}}

===Aftermath===
[[File:Hawaii WikiC 9015.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3
|alt=Plaque reading "Near this spot Captain James Cook met his death, February 14, 1799"
|Marker at the shoreline of Kealakekua Bay, near the spot where Captain Cook was slain.]]
Following the death of Cook and the four marines, the bodies were taken inland to a village by Hawaiians.{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=355-360}}{{efn|Four marines, Corporal James Thomas, Private Theophilus Hinks, Private Thomas Fatchett and Private John Allen, were also killed, and two others wounded, in the confrontation.{{sfn|Samwell|1786|p=16}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Muster for HMS Resolution during the third Pacific voyage, 1776–1780 |url=http://www.captaincooksociety.com/Portals/ccs/Files/Musters/3resolution3muster1.pdf |website=Captain Cook Society |access-date=27 October 2014 |page=20 |date=15 October 2012 |archive-date=23 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923200409/http://www.captaincooksociety.com/Portals/ccs/Files/Musters/3resolution3muster1.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>}} King took a boat to the opposite side of the bay, and was approached by a priest who offered to intercede and ask for Cook's remains to be returned; King consented.{{sfn|Collingridge|2003|pp=412-415}} Some crewmen returned to the location of the attack, and skirmishes broke out, resulting in the death of several Hawaiians.{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=355-360}} The following day, some of Cooks remains were returned to the ''Resolution'', including some charred flesh, several bones, the skull, and the hands with the skin still attached. The crew placed the remains in a weighted box, and [[burial at sea|buried their captain at sea]].{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=355-360}}{{sfn|Collingridge|2003|pp=412-415}}

Clerke assumed leadership of the expedition and sailed north to try again to locate the Northwest Passage.{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=360-361}}{{sfn|Collingridge|2003|p=412}} He stopped in [[Kamchatka]] and entrusted Cook's journal, with a cover letter describing Cook's death, to the local military commander, [[Magnus von Behm]].{{sfn|Beaglehole|1974|pp=679-680}} Behm had the package delivered, overland, from Siberia to England.{{sfn|Beaglehole|1974|pp=679-680}} The Admiralty, and all of England, heard the news of Cook's death when the package arrived in London{{snd}}eleven months after he died; the package had arrived in England before the surviving crew.{{sfn|Collingridge|2003|p=7}}{{sfn|Thomas|2003|p=402}}<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/topic/910
|title=Captain Cook's third voyage (Jul 1776-Oct 1780)
|website=Museum of New Zealand - Te Papa Tongarewa
|access-date=28 May 2025
}}</ref>{{efn|It took seven months for the package containing news of Cook's death to travel overland from Kamchatka to England.{{sfn|Beaglehole|1974|pp=679-680}}}}

Continuing north, the expedition made it to the Bering Strait, but was again blocked by pack ice, and unable to discover a Northwest Passage.{{sfn|Beaglehole|1974|pp=681-682}} Clerke died of tuberculosis on 22 August 1779 and [[John Gore (Royal Navy captain)|John Gore]], a veteran of Cook's first voyage, took command of the ''Resolution'' and the expedition. [[James King (Royal Navy officer)|James King]] replaced Gore in command of ''Discovery''.{{sfn|Collingridge|2003|p=423}} The ships returned home, reaching England on 4 October 1780.{{efn|The duration of the third voyage was 1,545 days, from 12 July 1776 to 4 October 1780.}} After their arrival in England, King completed Cook's account of the voyage.<ref>{{Cite web
|first=Ian
|last=Boreham
 |url=http://www.captaincooksociety.com/home/detail/better-conceiv-d-than-describ-d-the-life-and-times-of-captain-james-king-1750-84-captain-cook-s-friend-and-colleague-steve-ragnall-2013 
|title=Better Conceiv'd than Describ'd: the life and times of Captain James King (1750–84), Captain Cook's Friend and Colleague. Steve Ragnall. 2013 
|publisher=The Captain Cook Society
|access-date=10 October 2017 
|archive-date=10 October 2017 
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010155340/http://www.captaincooksociety.com/home/detail/better-conceiv-d-than-describ-d-the-life-and-times-of-captain-james-king-1750-84-captain-cook-s-friend-and-colleague-steve-ragnall-2013 
|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
 | title=Better Conceiv'd Than Describ'd: The Life and Times of Captain James King (1750-84), Captain Cook's Friend and Colleague
 | last=Ragnall
|first= Steve
 | isbn=9781780883595
 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EybXLq0w3MwC
 | year=2012
| pages=190-195
 | publisher=Kibworth Beauchamp
|access-date=23 May 2025
}}</ref>