About the adventures and discoveries of Captain Cook in the book "Blue Latitudes" by Tony Hurwitz

Cook's voyages were not only daring and amazing in their scope and the mental and physical abilities required of the crew members, but also led to a complete change in the prevailing scientific concept at the time. For the first time, an entire scientific team including: botanists, astronomers, naturalists and painters were included in the sea voyage, who documented the exotic places they reached

I recognize good books, among other things, thanks to the test of time - if several weeks after I finished the book, it still resonates inside me and makes me think a little differently, it is probably worth reading. In addition, I must mention that I really enjoyed the reading itself, so the bottom line is that I happily add the book "Blue Latitudes" by Tony Hurwitz to my list of recommended books.

The world is flat

The world is flat, as Thomas Friedman wrote in his revolutionary book (see Recommended Reference Books Part 3). I currently live in Australia even though I was born in Israel, while the previous generations in my family came from Europe. People from about 10 different countries work with me in the team - India, China, Russia, England, USA, Taiwan and more, and the team numbers only about 15 people. It's really one of the things I love about Australia - it's the new world, where people from all over the world have gathered in one place.

However, only two hundred and forty years ago the situation was completely different. "When Cook set out on his first voyage in 1768, almost a third of the world map was still empty, or alternatively filled with fantasies: sea monsters, Patagonian giants, continents that existed only in the imagination. Cook sailed into this empty space in a small wooden ship, and returned, three years later, with maps so accurate that some of them were still in use in the early 370,000s... By the time he died in the line of duty, Cook had managed to pass through his career... about 11 kilometers - which is the distance equal to circling the world eight times, or flying to the moon." (p. XNUMX).

Cook's voyages were not only daring and amazing in their scope and the mental and physical abilities required of the crew members, but also led to a complete change in the prevailing scientific concept at the time. For the first time, an entire scientific team including: botanists, astronomers, naturalists and painters were also included in the sea voyage, who documented the exotic places reached by Cook and his crew during the voyage. The information that reached Europe about those unknown regions also led to a cultural change - stories about wild sex rituals in Tahiti, Maori cannibals, naked aborigines and Polynesian tattoo inscriptions (tattoo inscriptions did not exist in Europe before) - all of these ignited the imagination of many.

But the remote areas on the other side of the world, which had remained protected until then from the destructive European influence - had to pay a heavy price: serious diseases wiped out millions, corruption was rampant, deadly weapons led to bloody battles and the brutal traders and Christian missionaries all also contributed to the destruction of the unique cultures of New Zealand, Tahiti, Hawaii, Australia, Alaska and the other places that Captain Cook "discovered". This is how the process of globalization that I mentioned at the beginning of the article and which we are witnessing today, for better or for worse, actually began.

The voyages of Captain James Cook

Cook's three voyages included the following routes:

The first voyage aboard the ship Endeavor left England via South America to Tahiti, New Zealand, the eastern coast of Australia and from there via South Africa back to England. The second voyage aboard the ship "Resolution" reached the borders of Antarctica, and the third voyage, which was also on the Resolution, set out on a mission to find a crossing route for ships north of Canada. Cook arrived in Alaska and stayed for a long time in the area, to try to find a passage in the frozen sea. With the coming of winter he went south and reached Hawaii, where he met his tragic death.

Throughout the book Horvitz brings the story of Cook's travels in a fascinating and colorful way, detailing the hardships and adventures that Cook and his crew went through. Horvitz - journalist, author and Pulitzer Prize winner, not only writes theoretically. He set off on a journey following Captain Cook, and provides many descriptions of the current situation in those places that Cook "discovered" in his travels - New Zealand, Australia, Bora Bora, Tahiti, Nui, Alaska, Hawaii, and also in England, Cook's birthplace. He even joined the voyage of a replica (a model built according to the original) of the Endeavor ship, which led to very interesting experiences and insights.

This is how, for example, Horvitz describes what the life of a seafarer looked like in the 18th century: imagine yourself sailing into the unknown in a 30-meter long wooden box together with about a hundred people, and you goats, horses, chickens and various strange goods. What is amazing is that it is a voyage without a map with the help of horribly primitive navigational means, where the slightest mistake could lead to certain death. There was nothing to talk about help nor any connection with the house. Cook reached places where no other Europeans visited for many decades afterwards. When he was in Alaska he met some Russian fur traders and took advantage of this rare opportunity to make contact with "civilization" and sent a signed message with them to his commanders in England. "The letter bearing the date October 20, 1778 made its way by Russian ship from Onalaska to Kamchatka, and from there by dog ​​sled and horse sled across the snow steppe, to the English mission in St. Petersburg. He finally arrived in London on March 6, 1780, over a year after Cook's death." (p. 343). In today's world where there are e-mails, cell and satellite phones, internet everywhere and other means of communication, the idea of ​​such a complete disconnection sounds absurd. Even spaceships that sail to the edge of the solar system are equipped with means of communication that allow to maintain contact with the base and with the family.

About 60% of the sailors who sailed on ships at that time died at sea. This is an appalling number, indicative of the many difficulties that Cook and his crew faced. The difficulties were different: storms, diseases that resulted, among other things, from poor sanitation and hygiene conditions and a lack of fresh food, rebellions, violent and harsh physical punishments, fights with natives, and excessive drinking. "The Endeavor set out carrying an incredible amount of liquor: 5,500 liters of beer, 7,300 liters of spirits (brandy, arak, rum), and 13,800 liters of wine that Cook had loaded in Madeira. The accepted ration for salt was 4.5 liters of beer per day, or half a liter of rum diluted with water to produce two daily portions of a drink known as "grog". (p. 33)

A meeting between cultures

My favorite sections of the book are the sections where Horwitz describes the first encounter between the different cultures. It is easy to imagine the encounter from a European point of view, but Horvitz also includes many descriptions of the encounter with the Europeans - from the point of view of the natives. It incorporates amazing, in many cases first-hand, accounts of people who met Cook and his crew when they made a surprise anchorage on their shores. Think about the astonishment that must have struck the natives who were dark-skinned, and they did not imagine that it was even possible to be a light-skinned person. It can be assumed that they marveled at small things like - writing in a notebook; the use of firearms; the clothes (some mistook them for wrinkled colored skin); the fact that all the crew members were men (which led in at least one case to the assumption that they were all gay); And of course the metal that became such a rare and sought-after commodity, that in many cases women gave of their kindness to the crew members in exchange for nails and small pieces of metal (and in many cases they also "received" in return serious venereal diseases that soon spread on the islands).

Here is one of many examples from the book of such an interesting encounter - a testimony collected from the mouth of a Maori (New Zealander) named Te Horta who was a young boy when Cook first arrived on the shores of New Zealand and survived long enough to tell his experiences to the Europeans, who came to New Zealand in search of gold years later:

"In those distant days, T. Horta recalled, he went out with his tribesmen to collect oysters near a quiet bay known as ``Pleasure as a young girl.'' One day a sight out of this world was discovered in the water - a vessel larger than any canoe that Horta had ever seen. The elders of the tribe, who observed the phenomenon from the shore, thought that the ship might have come from the spirit world. Then pale creatures descended from her and rowed small vessels towards the shore with their backs turned to the land. At this sight the tribal elder shook his head and said, "Yes, it is true: these people are demons; Their eyes are fixed in the back of their necks." Ti Horta fled into the forest with the other children and only the warriors of the tribe remained on the beach.

At first the demons did not harm anyone. They collected oysters and other food items. One of them collected shells, flowers and tree buds, knocked on stones and put them in his bags. Curiosity overcame the children's fear and they crept out of the forest. "We touched their clothes," T. Horta recalled, "and enjoyed the sight of their white skin and the blue eyes of some of them." The demons offered the natives foods they had brought from their ship: hard and dry lumps that looked like spongy stones, and meat so fatty and salty that even the warriors contorted their faces. Was it whale meat? Or human flesh?

One of the demons pointed his walking staff upwards. "There was a terrible thunder and a flash of lightning," said T. Horta, and a dead bird fell to the ground. "But what killed her?" Then one of the warriors wanted to make a barter deal with the visitors, but he snatched the garment from the demon's hands and fled in his boat without giving his dogskin cloak in return. The walking staff flashed again, and the warrior fell gaping black on his back. The tribe buried him dressed in the garment he took from the demon; But because he himself was guilty of his death, there was no need for Otu, for revenge. The place where he was killed has since been known as "a hot and bad day"... [He] also used the piece of metal given to him on board the demons' ship. T. Horta wore it around his neck as a hi-tiki, talisman or private god. He attached it to the end of his spear, and used it to carve wooden boxes or repair boats. "I kept this nail until one day I was sailing in my canoe in the sea and it overturned," he said. "I dived to touch him, but he was not found. My God is lost to me.” T. Horta also remembered the tall man who had given him the nail. He heard that the man was a great captain named Coco [so the locals coined Cook's name]. This did not surprise him. That far-off day the chief demon's generosity, calmness and self-control made a great impression on T. Horta and his colleagues. In their language there was a saying that suited the description of a man like him: a noble man does not get lost in a crowd." (pp. 104-105).

Captain Cook's personality and influence

The book deals extensively with Cook's controversial character. There is almost no debate about the fact that he was a brave and fearless sailor, but many see him today as a symbol of the European conquest, which led to destruction and destruction in many places. Horvitz fairly objectively reviews Cook's personality as can be learned from various historical documents, and especially from the travel diary he meticulously kept during his travels. The picture that emerges is of a tough and punctual man, but also with good intentions who took care of his staff, and also tried in most cases to take care of the natives as much as he could. It should be noted that Cook managed to do the unbelievable in his time, and although he was born as a son of the lower class he was appointed as a senior officer in the navy, solely thanks to his outstanding skills and unique character. In those days, such a radical transition between the classes was rare and almost impossible.

The travels of the author of the book, Hurwitz, lead him in many cases to conversations with descendants of natives in various places where Cook arrived, and in most cases their attitude towards Cook is very negative. Not only among the natives there is aversion to Captain Cook - this is also the situation in recent years among the European population in various places, including even in Australia, where Cook was considered at the time to be one of the founding fathers. Horvitz quotes an Australian teacher he met on the trip, who told him about the education system in Australia and her attitude to Captain Cook: "When I was a child we were taught that Australia began with Cook. But all that has changed. Nowadays, only one or two days are dedicated to him." (p. 146).

Although he became a sort of scapegoat, the book shows that Captain Cook really acted for the most part with pure motives. He almost always tried to prevent harm to the child population, tried to prevent his staff members who were infected with venereal diseases from having relations with the local girls, and for this he used force and threats of severe physical punishments (by the way, he usually failed in his attempts). In general, Cook tried to prevent violence against the natives and tried to establish relatively fair trade relations with them. He was also filled with sadness when he saw the evil brought about by the meeting between the places he discovered and the West: "When he returned to New Zealand in 1773, and again in 1777, [after being there for the first time in 1770 AD] Cook found that the Maoris had already stolen From the western axes weapons instead of tools, contracted venereal diseases and were eager to feed their wives and daughters in exchange for a few nails. ``All these were the fruits of the trade with the Europeans,'' Cook wrote in one of the most depressing passages he recorded in his diaries. ``We corrupted their morals, which at least tended to immorality, and we introduced them to needs and perhaps diseases that were unknown to them before, and which served only to disturb the blessed peace that they and their ancestors had enjoyed until now. If anyone denies the truth of this claim, let him come and tell me what the natives all over America gained from their contacts with the Europeans.'" (pp. 130-131).

Death of Captain Cook

In spite of everything written above, after all, Cook was not an all-blue tallit, especially in his third and last journey, so it seems that his patience ran out. He imposed severe punishments on the crew in many cases without any real justification, he also took a harsh hand towards the natives especially in cases where the natives stole equipment from the crew members. Thus, when Cook and his crew arrived in the Hawaiian Islands, after descending south from the Alaska region on their third trip, initially good relations were established with the local population who saw the sea descenders as a kind of gods. But a series of petty thefts and false pursuits of the thieves led to the killing of locals including one of the chiefs and the kidnapping of the king of Hawaii for ransom. The situation deteriorated rapidly. In the end, Cook and a small crew who went down to the beach for a short time found themselves surrounded by many warriors who attacked them and killed Cook and four of his men. By the way, there were only about ten meters between Cook and the lifeboat, but Cook, like almost all Europeans at that time, did not know how to swim. After killing Cook, the locals cooked him and kept some of his bones which they believed contained Cook's powers. The shocked ship's crew received pieces of Cook's flesh from one of the natives who was friendly with them. In Cook's absence, many of the ship's crew became unrestrained. In revenge for the death of the captain and the subsequent provocations of the natives, the crew fired their cannons, went ashore and burned about one hundred and fifty houses with their occupants and killed and abused many others, including priests and elderly people in shocking and violent ways, and among other things beheaded many of them which they waved in front of the natives in defiance. Thus, in such a shocking massacre, an impressive and important career of one of the greatest sailors in the world came to an end.

Although the book is not perfect - there is a tendency to repeat information several times from different points of view, and some sections were less interesting to me (especially the one dealing with Cook's childhood in North Yorkshire), but in the end I really enjoyed reading it. Hurwitz managed to describe Cook's fascinating character in a picturesque, interesting and not dry way, and the book provides a first-rate literary experience.

(This article is taken from Amnon Carmel's blog which deals with futurism, technology, science and more)