The voyage in context
Captain Cook's expedition in his ship the Endeavour took place in the 'Age of Reason', a time of innovation and scientific discovery in Europe. The journey's primary purpose was largely politically motivated - it was to chart the transit of Venus over the Southern Ocean, as an aid to British naval navigation, and reflected contemporary Anglo-French rivalry in establishing control of the oceans and discovering new colonies. The expedition was deemed so important that all other British naval vessels and captains were ordered to render Cook any necessary assistance.
'Cook was to proceed south in search of the suspected but as yet undiscovered land mass known as Terra Australis Incognita...'
Alas, the attempt to chart the transit of Venus near Tahiti was unsuccessful, so Cook was prompted to open a further set of instructions for his voyage, hitherto kept secret. These told him to proceed south in search of the suspected but as yet undiscovered land mass known as Terra Australis Incognita, and to study and make collections of all natural materials, beasts, fish and minerals that he found. Although these instructions initially related only to the secondary aim of the voyage, it was because of them, and due to the passion and enthusiasm of the natural historians on board, that the whole expedition became so famous, and even today still fires the imagination.
Published: 2002-08-01
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