The record-union., 1893-06-09
CAPTAIN COOK.
The Story of the Discoverer Of
Hawaii.
His Voyages to the South Seas-How
He Finally Met His
Death.
CAPTAIN COOK.

Captain James Cook sprang from the
most humble family, his father being
simple day laborer who could only afford
to give the promising boy the simplest
education. Marion was the name of the
little Yorkshire village in which the
| Cooks lived, but it was surrounded by
/ beautiful scenery, and was not far from
| Stockton-on-T which was a more pre-
tentious place and where the Yorkshire
! lad got his first notions OF going to sea.
The future discoverer of the Sandwich
Islands used to wander along the banks
of the Tees and watch the white sails OF
the merchantmen as they came homeward
after long cruises in foreign parts, and
the freedom which the sailor seemed to
enjoy made him yearn for life on the
ocean.
| The coast, too, was the home of fisher
men, and their rude smacks fascinated
| young Cook until he resolved one day to
run away to sea and search out the hid
den parts of the world.
| He was also an omniverous reader, and
would sit up far into the night pouring
over works on navigation, and almost be-
fore he knew how to read at all he was
found spelling out the names on the old
maps and charts which existed in very
| primitive form at that day.
! lime came, however, for the York
shire boy to be a. work, and his father
apprenticed him, as was the custom, to
draper and grocer in a small village
| named Straithes, near Whitby. Boys
who could get apprenticed in those days
were considered lucky, and many Il tu-
ture great fortune was laid in that way.
But young Cook was not satisfied to
stand behind counter and wait on the
supple country folk. 1t took him from
the sea and shut him up in a prison, and
from the first day he longed to escape.
The house in which Cook was to have
labored and lose his genius to the world
is still standing with the year ''l6SS" over
the door, but the boy was not destined to
be cooped up within its dull walls. He
soon tired Of the drudgery of draper's
clerk, and of his own accord engaged
| himself for seven years with the owners
OF ships attached to the coal trade. This
| was not much of a step toward a life in
foreign parts, but it was the best the boy
could do; and while in this service he
learned a great deal of the sea and laid
the groundwork for the successes which
came to him some years later.
The coastng trade was dangerous, and
the sturdy orkshire boy, whose muscles
had been hardened by an out-of-door life
| Oh II10 DdnkS VI ll6 1C6S, ulSCONBIGu IDdG
he was just the person to get along in that
service. What was more, at the end of
the seven years he had 50 pleased his en-
! plOyerS that he was advanced to the
dignity of mate, which was the first real
step toward the goal of his ambition.
At this time (the middle Of the last CEN
I tury) England and France were graphing
for the mastery on this continent, and
| their arms were about to clash together
on the flights of Abraham. The Eng
| lish were sore pressed for sailors in their
navy, and the press gangs were at work
| night and day. Vessels coming home
| from long cruises were boarded and their
crews taken oil and forced into the royal
navy for service in America. Fishermen
were seized in their little boats and
obliged to tread the decks of troop ships,
which carried soldiers across the water to
drive the French from Canada.
James Cook, to save himself from i'm
pressment, resolved to offer his services
to the British navy, and in short time
| he was on his way to American shores.
! The Eagle was a warSblp of eighty guns
| and was commanded by Sir Hugh Pal
User. Sir Hugh noticed that his young
recruit was a person of courage and
! judgment, and he at once promoted him
to position on the quarterback, and
thus equipped Cook reached America in
time to help land the English soldiers at
the foot of the flights Of Abraham.
During this hazardous service he did
not lay down the study of mathematics
and the science of navigation. He
yearned for wider field, and all the
time kept his mind on the distant parts of
the sea and the lands which he was GER
tain must lie therein.
His opportunity came in the year I76S.
when he was commissioned to take COM
mand of the expedition sent out 10 OBJ
serve the transit of Venus. His vessel
| the Endeavor, was small craft too
small, it was thought, for so long voy-
age, but the young Captain sailed away
with high hopes.
The voyage proved the first of three
which were TO immortalize his name in
the annals of discoveries. In the little
| Endeavor he visited the islands OF the
South Seas, among them Otaheite. where
he took full observations of the transit
and gave a report which stands to-day
among the most complete of the kind in
existence.
Captain Cook was charmed by the
| scenery of that part of the world 1t was
a vast paradise, where everything was
beautiful. He was the first white man to
set foot on the shores OF New Zealand,
and he proceeded to take possession of il
i'll tie name of King George ILL.,, our old
enemy during the war for Independence
The hand and brain of Cook were always
busy. lie neglected nothing that would
increase his knowledge of navigation
and OF the sea. He drew maps of chan
nels IN unknown parts of the globe, and
/ brought home with him fund of intor-
nation which astonished the whole
world. The Yorkshire boy was begin
ming to make himself felt, and little
Marion, lying sleepily in the sun near
the banks OF the Tees, suddenly discov-