Doubtful Sound in New Zealand’s Fiordland National Park, named ‘Doubtful Harbour’ by Cook in 1770.
A land of plenty
Cook had initially called the harbour Stingray Harbour, on account of the shoals of the distinctive fish which surrounded his ship. He changed his mind after exploration of the lush coastal lands yielded a treasure trove of previously unknown plant specimens. Cook renamed the harbour Botanists Bay (later changed to Botany Bay) in recognition of the abundant flora they had discovered. The explorers remained at Botany Bay for eight days. During that time Cook’s party also made contact with a small number of the aboriginal people who lived nearby. Relations between the aborigines and the Europeans soured after one of Cook’s men fired a musket in the air which, unsurprisingly, prompted a hostile response. The Europeans moved on without making any further attempt at social engagement.
In the weeks that followed, Cook was able to dispel any doubt that he had discovered the eastern coast of Terra Australis. He spent four months charting the shoreline of the vast territory but his travels nearly met with disaster on the Great Barrier Reef. The Endeavour grounded itself on coral and the expedition was delayed for seven weeks while essential repairs were made to the vessel. By now Cook was eager to return home and report his discovery. He had claimed the land for Great Britain but further exploration, and a great deal more people, would be needed if Terra Australis was to come under British sovereignty.
A simple plaque commemorates James Cook’s landing at Botany Bay, New South Wales, Australia.
Keeping the biggest of secrets
The Endeavour anchored at Batavia, the headquarters of the immensely powerful Dutch East India Company, to carry out further repairs. But Cook was anxious to press for home — not least due to a concern that one of his crew might let slip their discovery to their Dutch rivals.
The Endeavour rounded the Cape of Good Hope and reached the port of Deal in England on 12 July 1771. Cook’s expedition was remarkable not just for the extent of its achievements, considerable as they were, but also for his enlightened approach to leadership. He avoided any outbreaks of scurvy, a potentially deadly condition caused by an absence of vitamin C in the diet, by ensuring his crew ate fresh vegetables whenever practicable.
Shortly after returning to Britain, James Cook was promoted to the rank of Commander. He undertook two further expeditions. From 1772 to 1775 he explored the Southern Ocean and the islands of the south Pacific. He ventured further south than any explorer before him, nearly reaching the Antarctic coast before storms and cold forced a retreat.
Death in paradise
In 1776, he embarked on his third and final journey. Cook was charged with finding a sea route between the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans — the so-called Northwest Passage. He followed the North American shoreline as far north as the Bering Strait between Russia and Alaska before pack ice forced him to turn round. Cook made for the island of Hawaii where he intended to replenish his stocks, repair his ships and set out again for the north Pacific. He was stabbed to death during a confrontation with Hawaiian islanders on 14 February 1779.
James Cook had achieved incredible things. His expedition on the Endeavour, a scientific vessel less than 30 metres (100 ft) long and with a crew numbering fewer than 100, opened up the new continent of Australia for exploration. His skill as a navigator and surveyor was prodigious — some of the maps he drew were still in regular use nearly 200 years after his death.
There is perhaps no better summary of his character and achievements than a quote attributed to the man himself: ‘Ambition leads me not only farther than any other man has been before me, but as far as I think it possible for man to go.’
An unfinished work by German artist Johann Zofanny depicting the death of Captain Cook.
Hillary and Tenzing: Living in the death zone
“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.
Sir Edmund Hillary
WHEN
1953
ENDEAVOUR
To climb Mount Everest, the highest peak on Earth, for the first time.
HARDSHIPS & DANGERS
Hillary and Norgay were venturing into a hostile zone where no human had ever been. They faced altitude sickness, exhaustion, frostbite from the severely low temperatures and whipping wind, as well as the climbing dangers of falls, avalanches and crevasses.
LEGACY
They successfully conquered the 8,848-metres (29,029-ft) high peak, a unique historical feat that captured the world’s imagination and ensured their lifelong recognition as heroes.
The heroic achivements of Hillary and Tenzing made headlines around the world. The Times of London produced a special supplement.
The human body is not built to survive at 8,800 metres (29,000 ft). The air is thin, containing only one third of the oxygen available at sea level. High-speed winds are a near constant presence, even when conditions are benign at lower altitudes. Cold is a deadly threat — the low air pressure sucks any warmth from the atmosphere even in high summer.
Each of these factors in isolation would present a life-threatening danger to any human being and the greater the height, the greater the hardship. When all three elements converge it is impossible for the body to withstand such pressures for any great length of time. The lack of oxygen places enormous strain on the heart and nervous system. The cold and wind will rip through any exposed flesh, causing frostbite and hypothermia within minutes of exposure. When a human being reaches such a destructively high altitude survival is impossible. The only option is to get down as quickly and safely as possible.
Two men above all others
On 29 May 1953, there were only two people in the world who truly understood what it was like to try and survive this far above sea level. No other humans had ever climbed so high. They were engaged in the fight of their lives. Each step was an ordeal. Every breath, despite the aid of the oxygen tanks they carried, was a separate torture as their lungs sucked for air. The wind buffeted them and threw shards of ice in their faces. They both knew their lives depended on turning back and reaching the relative safety of their camp several hundred metres below. But first they had a job to do. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay had to complete their agonizing climb, only a further 48 metres, to the summit of the world’s highest mountain and claim their place in history.
The pair had just conquered the last technical climbing challenge on their ascent. They had scaled a sheer wall of rock and ice of around 12 metres (39 ft). If Edmund Hillary had been presented with such a rock face on a mountainside in his native New Zealand, he would have considered it no great challenge. But up in the death zone it was a stern examination of the men’s willpower, fitness and technical ability. It was also a test of their mental fortitude, for the climbers knew that once they reached the top of the cliff the summit would be theirs — so long as they could continue to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Just