At first glance this book appears to be about the eight days that Cook and Endeavour were at Botany Bay in 1770. There are descriptions of what happened from the journals of Cook, Banks, Clerke, Forwood, Hicks and others, that is from the viewpoint of the visitors. An unbalanced view as we have no written words from the locals. So Nugent uses descriptions of later recorded accounts to explain the actions of the locals and shows their appearance or non-appearance each day was a tactical reaction to the arrival of the strangers. She then goes on to take a "challenging new look at the impact of Cook's arrival on the land and its people" up to the present day.

Nugent points out that most people's knowledge of the events at Botany Bay is of the encounter with the locals when the sailors landed, whereas there were several encounters that together are more meaningful that the just the well-known one. "As they wrote down what they saw and what happened the mariners guessed at the meanings of things with varying degrees of certainty", writes Nugent.

Nugent's critical analysis of what was written and what the locals might have been doing is an excellent read. On the first day Banks wrote "as soon as we approached the rocks, two of the men came down upon them". Nugent considers why two men. She shows from later encounters recorded by Captain Phillip and Matthew Flinders that this number was probably deliberate.

For example, on the second day a group of local men appeared and made a stand. Nugent quotes from the journals and adds, "I suspect that as they advanced as a group they held their spears and throwing sticks aloft. This is a posture commonly described in accounts written in the early years of the British settlement around Sydney".

The third day began, according to Banks with the locals shouting and lighting fires in the woods". Nugent explains how "these early-morning actions in all probability were directed at dealing with the problem of the ship and its company of unfamiliar men still lying in the bay". She quotes Paul Carter asking "Has anyone paid attention to the sounds of exploration?", and investigates the reasons for lighting fires, including what happened to Cook later that year at Endeavour River.

Throughout the book Nugent quotes from several experts, usually naming them, but maddeningly not always, occasionally writing "experts believe..." Most of her comments are given with reasoned justification, but there are occasional slips. I doubt that Cook and Banks "sat down separately" when they wrote their observations of Australia's east coast and the people they had seen. They probably sat together in the Great Cabin.

There is an excellent chapter describing how E Phillips Fox's painting of the first landing [see Cook's Log, page 594, vol. 11, no. 2 (1988)] came to be painted in 1902 and how, despite being historically researched it gives an "Australian" version of events. Nugent compares it to 19th century pictures of the same event and reproduces critical comments on the painting published in a newspaper in 1902. She then moves on to John Alexander Gilfillan's painting of the 1850s showing Cook performing a possession ceremony [see Cook's Log, page 17, vol. 26, no. 1 (2003)]. She explains it has been given different titles at different times, including "Captain Cook Taking Possession of New South Wales..." and "Captain Cook Taking Possession of the Australian Continent..." and "Captain Cook Taking Possession at Botany Bay..." However, Nugent points out "Cook did not perform a formal possession ceremony like this while at Botany Bay, despite the general impression to the contrary."

At the end of the book Nugent explores how the Aboriginal people in Australia "have sought in their storytelling to make sense of that strange meeting". It is a process that continues to this day, as this encounter "represents the beginning of their complex and fraught history of relations with the British colonists who came after" Cook. In doing so she draws on altered versions of Phillips Fox's painting and that of Gilfillan, and altered versions of John Webber's portrait of Cook.

The lack of a useful chart of the areas is a big failure of this book. Cook's unfinished "sketch of Botany Bay in NS Wales" is reproduced, and it is nice to see it in colour. At the top of every chapter is the engraved "Botany Bay in New South Wales". However, only part is printed, and it fades to the bottom so you can read the words "fresh water" clearly only once, whereas they appear six times on the full version (and are an indication they landed at these points).

Nugent's investigation into what happened during these eight days is excellent. Effectively she explains how the locals' tactics developed from "visible presence" to "obvious absence" with the result that the strangers left.

Reviewer: Ian Boreham

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 46, volume 32, number 3 (2009).

The 250th anniversary of the fall of Quebec in 1759 and Britain's acquisition of Canada provides a timely moment for the publication of John Robson's latest book on Cook's career from joining the Royal Navy to his selection to lead the voyage of Endeavour. Robson poses the question, not why Cook was chosen to lead Endeavour, but rather, why would the Admiralty have chosen anyone else, and who else could they have chosen?

When Cook joined the Navy in 1755, Britain was in the opening stages of the Seven Years War (1756-62). The experienced seaman from Yorkshire was a welcome recruit. He entered the Navy as an able seaman in HMS Eagle, but in just a month was promoted to master's mate, and was soon on duty patrolling the Western Approaches. He seems to have made the transition without difficulty to handling much larger ships than he would have met before. Robson traces his service in HMS Eagle, his examination to become master, and appointment to HMS Solebay on duty in Scottish waters. This was a brief posting, and in October 1757 Cook was posted to HMS Pembroke, under Captain Simcoe and crossed the Atlantic for the first time. Robson recounts Cook's experience at the siege of Louisbourg and the fortunate meeting with Samuel Holland. Holland was an important military engineer and surveyor who was well known to General Wolfe and appears to have been with Wolfe when he was killed. Robson prints the entire text of Holland's letter in which he recounts his contacts with both Simcoe and Cook.

A group of six chapters then covers Cook's Peace, his growing proficiency in surveying, his appointment as Surveyor of Newfoundland, and the yearly routine of spending the summer and autumn in Newfoundland and winter with his growing family back in London, turning his charts into finished works for presentation to the Admiralty. In these years Cook became a highly professional surveyor and cartographer, acquired enough astronomical expertise to observe a solar eclipse and to use lunar tables for calculating longitude, and had five year's experience of managing an expedition and his own small ship.

The final chapters describe the extraordinarily busy months in 1768 when, rather than returning to Canada as he had been expecting, Cook was selected to lead the Endeavour voyage. His combination of skills and experience led the Admiralty to decide that he was by far the best candidate for the job.

The book is based on a huge amount of work in the archives and brings together much information from diverse sources. There is a real sense of the day-to-day business of being on patrol, the routines of issuing orders and instructions, the maintenance of the ship and crew in as fit a state as possible, the to-and-fro of survey work along difficult coastlines, with many quotations from the logs of Cook and others, and correspondence with the Admiralty. Accidents, gales, sickness, fogs and running aground were frequent hazards. Robson emphasises the vital role played by the Navy in the Canadian campaign. The joint operation to capture Quebec was carried through with an extraordinary level of co-operation from the Navy, "the constant assistance and support, the perfect harmony and correspondence which has prevailed throughout all our operations" as the senior Army commander put it in his dispatch to London. Wolfe was fortunate in the naval commanders and experienced men who served alongside him.

The text is interspersed with short sections which deal with particular individuals or questions, such as sorting out the three different James Cooks who served in the Navy at this time. This allows Robson to introduce a number of well and lesser-known figures and argue for their importance: for example, Thomas Bisset, Cook's first master in the Eagle, trained Cook in the work of a master and may have influenced his appointment to the Pembroke. The book is well illustrated with Robson's own maps, a number of Cook's charts and contemporary paintings. The paintings by Ashley Bowen, a New England sailor who joined the Pembroke, were quite new to me. The short sections mean that there is inevitably some repetition, but they bring material together in a convenient manner as well as providing information on hitherto shadowy figures. There is much fascinating detail, and Robson gives due weight to the patrons who helped Cook, that he was fortunate in coming into close contact with a succession of influential men - Colvill, Palliser, Stephens.

Robson concludes by arguing that the development of Cook's surveying, cartographic, navigation and astronomical skills, together with his seamanship and leadership, made him the inevitable choice for the Endeavour voyage. While he does not discuss possible alternatives in much detail, there is much for be said for this view, and Cook's peacetime activities were undoubtedly vital to his advancement. It is however worth returning to "Cook's War" for two reasons. First, a man who had seen action and been part of prolonged naval and military operations, was someone whom the Admiralty would see as tried and tested, and therefore a thoroughly reliable officer. Second, it reminds us of the bigger picture of the great power struggles of the 18th century between France and England, and their intense rivalry and competition. Britain's naval power and financial muscle, underpinned by international trade, were the reasons why Britain was able to oppose French domination of Europe. Indeed many in France could not comprehend why Britain did not yield supremacy to the state which saw itself as vastly more powerful and sophisticated: as the French foreign minister, the Duc de Choiseul said, "I am completely astounded that England, which is a very tiny bit of Europe, is dominant" (1767), and was determined that this should not continue. This sets the background to the decades of maritime exploration that followed the Seven Years War. At the same time there was much mutual attraction and emulation, with exchanges of information, visits and correspondence between many who found themselves in opposing camps. Cook's later career would see this too, as French voyagers both preceded him and followed in his footsteps, and his published works were received with the greatest respect in France. Cook's peace and his war are equally relevant in this respect to understanding his place in wider history.

Note: The Admiralty Library, formerly housed in the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, Taunton was transferred to the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth in 2005, and charts referred to as of the Admiralty Library are therefore now in Portsmouth.

Reviewer: Sophie Forgan

John Robson is to be congratulated on this masterpiece, not only is it well written, the depth of research and amount of information is astounding. John not only takes us though Cook's life in the Royal Navy from 1755 to 1768, but also provides monographs of the people and events that influenced his life.

Many of us are aware of Cook's meeting with Samuel Holland, but few of us were aware of the active involvement of Captain John Simcoe, who encouraged Cook to improve his talents. At Simcoe's invitation they all met in HMS Pembroke and formed a friendship. What I never realised, was that to the east of Lake Huron, the Holland River enters Lake Simcoe at Cook Bay! The naming appears to be from surveys carried out in the area in 1783.¹ Perhaps he had only just heard about Cook's death and decided to acknowledge their former friendship.

To return to the book; John's explanation of the historical events provides us with a better understanding of why Cook was patrolling the French Coast and later surveyed St. Pierre & Miquelon and Newfoundland.

The book is liberally sprinkled with maps, which helps considerably with the story. Those who have delved into Captain Cook's World,² another of John's books will not be disappointed with the quality of the maps.

However, some of the places mentioned are not indicated on the maps and I had to resort to one of my atlases with a reasonably large scale map of Newfoundland to find many of them. John says that some of the place names had changed. My atlas shows the original names, so they must have been changed within the last sixty years.

I was surprised to discover that Michael Lane had only one season with Cook. He must have been a good teacher as Lane completed the survey of Newfoundland to the same high standard.

This book greatly assists in the understanding of the development Cook's career and talents. He was fortunate to serve under captains who both appreciated his work and had connections with the Lords of the Admiralty. So, when their Lordship's chose Cook to lead the expedition, they entrusted the task to one of their most able seamen.

It has to be essential reading for every Cook enthusiast.

Reviewer: Richard. A. Hindle

References

1. Dictionary of Canadian Biography online.
2. Robson, John. Captain Cook's World: Maps of the Life and Voyages of James Cook R. N. Random House. 2000.

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 9, volume 32, number 4 (2009).

From August 2009 to February 2010, the Art and Exhibition Hall in Bonn, Germany has been home to over 500 objects including paintings, drawings and other ethnographic objects collected during the three Cook Voyages in the latter part of the eighteenth century. I found the James Cook und die Entdecking der Südsee (James Cook and the Exploration of the Pacific) exhibition very impressive and informative, so in many ways I did not really see how the catalogue would add much except for providing a detailed record of the objects and their provenance.

However, once the English version had been delivered to me from the publishers, I became somewhat star-struck! Not only have all the objects been beautifully depicted according to the region they came from (with full explanations of the context in which they were collected) but, more than that, the book has over 26 essays written by eminent scholars, many of whose writings I have consulted over the last few years.

The book is divided into two main sections: the Essays and the Catalogue.

The Essays are organised in four group: James Cook, Enlightenment, Endeavour and Encounter. The scholars have summarised key material from within their area of expertise. All of the themes reflect up-to-date thinking on different aspects of the Cook voyages and their legacy for Europe and for the Pacific Islands.

The catalogue section is organised by region and beautifully reproduces the items in the exhibition, with lively descriptions and useful commentary. It also includes a section on James Cook and his fellow travellers as well as a section on the ships and equipment.

The Cook voyages and their aftermath continue to be a rich area of study and interpretation for academics, and the topics are never devoid of controversy. The first essay, "Captain Cook's Three Voyages of Enlightenment" by Adrienne Kaeppler, is a brief but comprehensive account of the voyages, with some biographical context about Cook. It sets the scene perfectly for the subsequent essays. Kaeppler headed the team of curators who put this exhibition together and is a leading social and cultural anthropologist, with great knowledge of the Pacific region and its people.

Like a telescope pivoting on the deck of a ship, the subsequent essays hone in and look at the impact of these same three voyages from different viewpoints.

Although they celebrate Cook and his accomplishments, the essays also look to cut through some of the glorification which has surrounded the legend of Cook. An example of this approach can be seen in the second essay written by Nigel Rigby, "James Cook's Navy" where he briefly concludes that "Seamen moved between the merchant and armed services relatively frequently, as did officers", and explains that although Cook and his accomplishments were immense, the route which got him to the navy was not in itself particularly remarkable.

The subsequent essays in the first part touch on the ambivalent impact that contact with the Cook expeditions had for several of the Pacific people and the continuing dilemma this poses for their descendants in New Zealand, Australia, Melanesia and Hawaii. The section concludes with an essay from Anne Salmond, "The Death of Cook", which revisits the fatal moment and the subsequent controversy which has endured more than two hundred and thirty years. This one event has been the subject of countless images, and is constantly being revisited with new explanations as contemporary areas of study emerge and social anthropologists look to reinterpret the customs and events of the indigenous people. Salmond concludes the essay by accepting that there is no one explanation for the death of Cook and in the end "It was a cross-cultural collision of forces that killed him".

The unfinished painting by Zoffany, The Death of Captain James Cook, which appeared in the exhibition and is reproduced in Salmon's essay, is a perfect example of how this tragic moment became a rich subject for the artist who sought to perpetuate the myth by setting it in an apparently classical setting, with some observers even commenting on how the head-dress of the natives recalled classical Greek helmets.

I have to admit that even though I had studied this image and also looked at images of Hawaiian dress, it was not until this exhibition and the beautifully illustrated catalogue that I came to fully appreciate the complexity of these items, and to realise that Zoffany was painting an actual headdress, or feather helmet mahiole. This object was probably collected by the artist John Webber, who travelled on the last voyage, and is depicted in the exhibition and catalogue. Webber and Zoffany are known to have shared much information over this subject. Interestingly, it was Webber who created the mostly widely reproduced image of the event in the eighteenth century, where Cook is seen at the water's edge, holding up his hand up in a heroic gesture to cease fire, as a local warrior prepares to stab him in the back. That image was greatly favoured by the Enlightenment publicists, but, interestingly, it is not actually referred to in the exhibition or the catalogue. By this omission, it is as if we have moved on the discourse from all the myth-making and glorification back to empirical evidence and actual artefacts to tell the story in a sober and inclusive manner, from many points of view simultaneously.

In order to keep this review concise I will not be able to comment on all the essays, though I would like to point out that all aspects of the voyages are covered, from the conflicts that arose, the role of the scientists and artists who accompanied the voyages, the impact on geography and cartography, how native lands and people were observed through a European eye, as well as discussions on depictions and interpretations of gender.

The last essay is written by the eminent German art historian, Rüdiger Joppien, who quickly takes us through the breadth of material that was drawn or painted during the course of these voyages and which formed the basis of so much our western learning in the aftermath of these expeditions.

I hope others will find as much treasure amongst these pages as I have.

Reviewer: Marilena Netty

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 45, volume 33, number 1 (2010).

This selection of passages from Captain James Cook's journals was originally published in 1957 by Georgian House and the Limited Editions Club, and has been reissued in later editions, including the 1971 paperbound edition by Dover Publications. The book's 292 pages include three dozen line drawings by Geoffrey C. Ingleton. Maps illustrating understanding of the Pacific geography before and after Cook are also included. Regrettably, there is no index.

This edition contains an introduction by Professor Percy C. Adams placing various editions of Cook's journals and voyages in perspective. There is a short chapter on "ocean problems of the eighteenth century" and a short summary of Cook's early career. A brief bibliography cites J. C. Beaglehole's edition of the journals published by the Hakluyt Society, as well as other primary and secondary sources. Professor Beaglehole checked journal extracts included in this edition that corresponded to his research at the time of publication.

The text is structured in sections organized around each of the Three Voyages. The editor's commentary is found at the beginning and end of the seventeen chapters and occasionally within connecting journal extracts to provide continuity. Cook's death is based upon Lieutenant James King's account. A final chapter summarizes Cook's achievements. The editor concludes, "No previous navigator had contributed voyages of such length; remained at sea for such long periods, or brought back so much accurate knowledge of such an immense extent of the Earth."

There are several reasons to acquire a volume that was initially published fifty years ago. The editor's introductions are brief but useful and lead the reader to an understanding of highlights during Cook's three voyages. The text contains extracts of the Admiralty's instructions to Cook for each expedition as well as a few citations from Cook's letters to the Admiralty as, for example, the encounter with the Great Barrier Reef in June 1770.

For readers unable to locate or read J. C. Beaglehole's four volumes of the journals or other versions, such as Philip Edwards's James Cook: The Journals, the Grenfell Price book serves as a very manageable and useful introduction to Cook's journals, navigation, and voyages of exploration. Although published some time ago, the book remains in print today and is relatively inexpensive in either new or used copies.

Reviewer: James C. Hamilton

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 47, volume 33, number 1 (2010).

The convergence is located approximately 800 miles off the coast of Antarctica en-circling the continent, a wandering oceanic dividing line between 50oS and 60oS latitude where the warmer waters of the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans meet the cooler waters from the South. Navigators recognize the convergence immediately by the presence of often freezing temperatures and associated winds and currents, salinity of water, fogs and mists, and other phenomena associated with Antarctica. During portions of the Second and Third Voyages, Captain James Cook sailed below the convergence in search of Terra Australis Incognita (1773-1774), achieving the first recorded crossing of the Antarctic Circle and the eventual circumnavigation of Antarctica. Cook's voyages also included discovery of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (1775), and confirmed the 1772 French discovery of Kerguelen Island (the "Island of Desolation") during a six day visit in December 1776.

In Below the Convergence, Alan Gurney, an English yacht designer and photographer as well as author, presents a useful context of "the South" before and after the explorations by Captain Cook. Cook's achievements were drawn upon by those who followed during the sixty years after his death at Kealakekua Bay. The first half of the book serves as the immediate background to and summarizes Cook's Antarctic voyages. Furthermore, Cook's achievements are intertwined in the second half of the book, serving as a standard against which later navigators measured themselves.

Gurney's account includes much useful background and explanatory information. He includes a section on the geography of the South, technology (such as the importance of accurate reckoning of longitude provided by the chronometer). A chapter is included on scurvy (the "plague of the sea"), which explains various methods to control the disease that began in the sixteenth century, and the author documents Cook's contributions to control scurvy. Sir Edmond Halley is associated not only with the comet that bears his name, but his voyage to southern latitudes in 1698-1700 to study magnetism and the compass. Halley, as well as all subsequent explorers, encountered the barriers of "islands of ice" that impeded their journey. Readers of Cook's journals will be familiar with his descriptions of "ice islands." Encounters by navigators with ice in many forms from freezing mists and fogs to rain, fierce winds, sleet, snow, pack ice, growlers, and often gigantic icebergs, and occasional gigantic waves unimpeded by the vast ocean are chronicled in Gurney's book.

The author summarizes the travels of navigators such as William Smith, (1819 first landing on the South Shetland Islands) and Thaddeus Bellinghausen (circumnavigation, 1818-1821). The Imperial Russian government did not follow-up Bellinghausen's exploration, preferring to concentrate attention on expansion in central Asia. In 1820, Nathaniel Parker and Edward Bransfield vied for the honours of the first landing on the Antarctic continent. In 1823 James Weddell's penetration into the sea and pack ice that bears his name and in 1838-1839 John Biscoe completed the third circumnavigation, after Cook and Bellinghausen. John Balleny's 1839 exploration identified passage through the ice to the heart of the continent, a route later used by Ross in Erebus and Terror, after a visit to Kerguelen Island to conduct magnetic readings. These explorers constitute only some of those navigators examined in this book who followed James Cook into the Antarctic. These were explorers as well as sealers and whalers (or those who sailed on behalf of investors such as the Enderby family) whose exploits encompass the initial heroic age of Antarctic discovery. These navigators and explorers established the foundation later built upon by James Clark Ross, Dumont D'Urville, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Robert Falcon Scott, Roland Amundsen as well as many others.

Frequent observations about sea life, seals, whales, penguins, albatrosses and other birds noted by navigators are woven into the text of Gurney's book. The author recounts Weddell's three month stay (1823-1824) at Tierra del Fuego anchorages, while the South Shetlands were locked in ice, provided journal observations of the native population at Tierra del Fuego, paralleling Cook's journal entries fifty years earlier. Dangerous, turbulent seas and the ice barrier serve as common themes linking explorers from the seventeenth to the early nineteenth centuries. Throughout his book, Gurney adds his own descriptions of sailing at high latitudes based on personal experience, which adds a useful and interesting dimension to his account.

Antarctic discovery and exploration proceeded piecemeal, navigators often building on information and charts (sometimes fragmentary) gathered by preceding voyages, including Cook's. Government sponsored endeavours alternated or coexisted with entrepreneurial ventures, especially the great short-term profit from sealing and later whaling. High achievement is mixed with difficulties, disappointments, tragedy and sometimes failure amidst the ever-changing ocean and ice. The book is not only a story of human navigators. The author also chronicles the rapid destruction of seal and whale population that followed in Cook's wake in retrospect, events that continue to stun today's reader. Another persistent theme is the hardship and deprivation encountered by those who sailed south, often for years at a time, and the persistence of those who would return season after season to pursue discovery or fortune. A few intrepid explorers became survivors and are themselves "discovered" after being marooned for months or years. Some never returned. Fortunately for historians, many navigators and explorers followed Cook's example by keeping useful journals.

Gurney's text does not contain footnotes. However, sources utilized are documented chapter by chapter at the end of the book. Gurney uses standard references and journals, including J.C. Beaglehole's edition of Cook's journals as well as the biography, Life of Captain James Cook. People familiar with Cook's journals will note the inclusion of Cook's 1775 entries regarding his sailing at high latitudes and proclaiming an end to the search for Terra Australis Incognita. Some correspondence from governmental and private sources is included as documentation. The book contains numerous maps showing routes followed by Halley, Cook, Bellinghausen, Weddell and others. In addition, more detailed maps of certain portions of the Antarctic region and also some sub-Antarctic islands are included, such as the South Sandwich Islands, South Georgia Island, the Weddell Sea, and the South Shetland Islands. These maps are very useful references to the text.

This book does not reach new conclusions regarding Captain Cook, but places his voyages within the broader context of Antarctic exploration, making the book a valuable resource for Cook historians, students and enthusiasts. The book is written in a confident, vigorous, and clear style and demonstrates the author's command of the South and those who navigated the often dangerous waters. Especially valuable is Gurney's ability to place multiple events in context, frequently referencing Cook, and linking explorers who followed by pointing out useful parallel events, routes, and sightings. I did note a small error: Cook's landing on, and exploration of, Kerguelen Island's eastern coastline occurred in 1776, not 1774 (p. 260).

In this reviewer's opinion, Alan Gurney's Below the Convergence is a very useful reference both for readers interested in Captain James Cook and the broader context of Antarctic exploration.

Reviewer: James C. Hamilton

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 41, volume 33, number 2 (2010).

While searching the internet, I found this book for sale. It was printed in Philadelphia in 1838, was without a cover and was small measuring just over 3 inches x 5 inches x 1 inch. It was a two volume work bound in a single book.

I purchased the book at a reasonable price and kept it in a drawer for about a year. Wanting to include the book with others in my Cook collection, I bound the book in leather and had the title inscribed on it.

I found several very old four leaf clovers pressed in between the pages which proved to be a good omen. The book was fascinating. The author, Andrew Kippis (1725-1795) is known as a prolific writer, biographer and nonconformist clergyman with many letters behind his name including D.D., F.R.S., and S.A.¹ In producing this work, Kippis had access to and acknowledged help with such Cook contemporaries as Sir Hugh Palliser, Lord Howe, the Earl of Sandwich, Elizabeth Cook, Mr. (David) Samwell and Sir Joseph Banks (then President of the Royal Society). The dedication of the book to The King (George III) was dated June 13, 1788, London, the date of the original publication in London. ²

The book is described as a true narrative of Captain Cook's three voyages. Though not a daily record, it is nearly so recounting the activity of many incidences I have not found elsewhere. One easily can transcend to the time of Endeavour and Resolution with the feeling of being just a short step away from the voyages themselves. I was taken by the many detailed incidences of danger our Navigator masterfully faced and of his professional dealing with the crew and native peoples encountered.

The concluding pages of the book contain several writings of Cook's contemporaries that illuminate his personality. The section called "Testimonies of Applause" includes quotes from Captain James King, David Samwell, Dr. Reinhold Forster, Dr. John Douglas and "Val. Maximus, lib. ii. Cap. 6." ³

Even though I have read many books on our hero, this book helped me feel much better acquainted with Captain Cook and his missions. I found John Robson's book of maps⁴ to be a valuable reference while reading the Kippis book.

I suspect that many people have read Kippis. If not, it is worth the effort. There are several editions available. I located one that could be read on the internet.

Reviewer: Gerald Tedrow

Notes

1. According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography:
   Kippis was made Doctor of Divinity of the University of Edinburgh in June 1767
   he became Fellow of the Royal Society in 1779
   he was made fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1788.
2. Kippis, A. The Life and Voyages of Captain James Cook. George Newnes, London. 1788.
3. The quote is "Virtutis uberrimum alimentum est honos." According to Allan S. Arlidge it means "Honour is a most productive nourishment for virtue" and comes from the Roman, Valerius Maximus, Book II, Chapter 6. See Cook's Log, page 5, volume 27, number 4 (2004).
4. Robson, John. Captain Cook's World: Maps of the Life and Voyages of James Cook R.N. Random House. 2000. Reviewed in Cook's Log, page 1793, volume 24, number 1 (2001).

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 42, volume 33, number 2 (2010).

For any collector of the 1970 Captain Cook Bicentenary and Anpex postal stamps and philatelic material, this is an essential catalogue to have in your library. In the forward of this catalogue the complier writes, "I believe this catalogue is 95% complete. New examples will continue to show up although there should be plenty here to keep most collectors busy".

In the catalogue's introduction it details the design on the stamps, all the technical information about the stamps, and notes on the Design and Production by Robert Ingpen.

The catalogue illustrates issue dates and First Day Covers (FDCs) by the producers where known. It covers the stamps issued, including the flaws, miniature sheets and variations.

The FDCs with one 5c stamp, have five boxes in the description that you can tick if you wish to note you have the five individual stamps on individual FDCs.

There are illustrations of the Re-Enactment Voyage covers and covers of the ships that participated in the re-enactment of the Cook Bicentenary Voyage Celebrations.

The Australian National Philatelic Exhibition, Sydney (Anpex 1970) is described, including all of the known covers and miniature sheets issued then.

The final pages of this 106-page catalogue, describes various special event covers, commercial covers and ephemera.

This catalogue will certainly keep the hunt alive for the collector who wishes to build on an existing collection.

Reviewer: Ted Tierney

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 43 volume 33, number 2(2010).

Stephen R. Bown, a Canadian historian of science and exploration, has written a comprehensive and engaging account that traces efforts to understand this disease. The book summarizes how the work of James Lind (surgeon), James Cook (mariner), and Gilbert Blane (gentleman) led to solutions combating scurvy.

Scurvy, "the plague of the sea," killed over an estimated two million sailors during the Age of Sail. Far more naval personnel died from scurvy than all other diseases combined, including deaths from combat, storms, disasters, and shipwrecks. The author cites numerous graphic examples of scurvy's tragic consequences from the late 15th to the early 19th century. Scurvy is a gradually debilitating disease that destroys the body's connecting tissues, causing lethargy, blotchy skin, rotting gums and teeth, and reopening of old wounds or healed fractured bones. If not treated, scurvy leads to death. Its causes were imperfectly diagnosed according to prevailing medical theories and assumptions. Mandated treatments prescribed included bleeding and a host of concoctions, some of which would now be considered potentially harmful (e.g. mercury and sulphuric acid). Increased workload was ordered to cure listlessness brought on by scurvy. Unsanitary, overcrowded living conditions aboard sailing ships accelerated other diseases prevalent amongst sailors, men often not in good physical condition. The routine diet of "salt port, biscuit, and grog" could never stem this plague.

Scurvy is an entirely preventable and treatable disease, occurring during long sea voyages. It was not caused by the assumed "vapours or viruses" but by the absence of Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in the diet. An understanding of chemistry and food specifically, the consumption of oranges and lemons, led to the prevention of scurvy. Ironically, treatment by food containing ascorbic acid was discarded due to prevailing medical opinion or bureaucracy, at times directed by persons inexperienced or unfamiliar with maritime conditions. Scurvy is not eradicated, for it will reappear anytime ascorbic acid is absent from diets for an extended time.

James Lind (1716-1794), an Edinburgh surgeon, conducted experiments as surgeon on Salisbury over two months in 1747. His controlled trial, perhaps the first in medical science, selected sailors sick with scurvy who received a common diet but were given different remedies. Lind tested six treatments: cider, elixir of vitriol (sulphuric acid), vinegar, purging by sea water, a medicinal paste (garlic, dried mustard seed, dried radish root, balsam of Peru, and gum myrrh), and oranges and lemons.

Consumption of oranges and lemons was the only productive treatment for two fortunate sailors in the control group. Cider caused some abatement of the disease but insufficient for the seamen to return to active duty. Lind published his 400 page Treatise on Scurvy in 1753. His objections of theories and treatment methods by his contemporaries led to strong criticism from those higher placed in the medical or scientific communities.

During the remainder of his career, Lind continued to treat scurvy as head of Haslar Hospital, then England's newest and largest hospital for sailors, near Portsmouth. Although correct in treatment of scurvy by oranges and lemons, Lind could not explain why citrus was effective. His theories on the origin of the disease were neither accurate, nor acceptable to others. Incomplete understanding also existed about the loss of ascorbic acid through manufacture of concentrated lemon or orange juice or understanding its loss by prolonged storage. For example, use of copper pots or tubing significantly reduced ascorbic acid content of concentrated products. Moreover, wort of malt emerged as the preferred, and inexpensive, treatment, compared to citrus fruit. The accepted etiology of scurvy was the "putrification" of body tissue. It was believed the fermentation process inherent in wort of malt delayed or replaced the "fixed air" released through "putrification" and therefore it decreased scurvy. This theory supporting treatment by wort received favour from the Admiralty and Sir John Pringle (1707-1782), President of the Royal Society.

Captain James Cook experimented with a variety of alternatives to combat scurvy. Bown writes, Cook used "a regiment of cleanliness, fresh air, and an antiscorbitic diet." The author notes Cook "eagerly embraced" the Admiralty's tactics by stocking on board a range of antiscorbitics such as sauerkraut, wort of malt, carrot marmalade, and concentrated (robs) of orange and lemon juice, among other treatments. He encouraged naturalists who sailed on voyages to identify edible plants to fight scurvy. Fresh vegetables and fruits were added to the ships' food supply (e.g., scurvy grass, wild celery, the Kerguelen Cabbage).

Not all solutions were popular or understood. After Cook ordered sauerkraut served daily at the "Cabbin Table", the once-reluctant sailors ate it as well and "murmurings" against it ceased. Ironically, on the First Voyage, Joseph Banks observed the value of lemon juice in combating signs of his own scurvy but his journal comments were not published until much later. Moreover, the Admiralty, as well as Sir John Pringle, promoted wort of malt as "a cheap and simple solution" for scurvy.

Bown characterizes Cook's experiments as "rigid enforcement of diet and cleanliness" leading to "unheard of accomplishment." While scurvy appeared amongst sailors on Cook's long sea voyages, no sailor died of scurvy. A range of antiscourbitics, some useful and some ineffectual were used, although the efficacy of all treatments was not fully understood at the time. On the Second Voyage Cook discovered a marked difference between the company of Resolution and that of Adventure, commanded by Captain Tobias Furneaux. Cook ordered Furneaux to adopt his methods of diet and cleanliness that included "a liberal dosage of all antiscourbitics at regular intervals." This reduced scurvy in Adventure.

One firm conclusion from Cook's voyages was the inclusion of specific beneficial foods in sailor's diets. However, Cook's own conclusions remained ambiguous. He credited orange and lemon juice as well as wort of malt in treating the disease. Bown concludes, "Cook had won the battle against scurvy, still no one knew exactly how." In 1776, the Royal Society awarded Cook the Copley Gold Medal in recognition of Cook's contributions toward improving the health of seamen even though, as Bown writes, "Cook could only offer vague and unqualified opinions on the most effective antiscorbutics because he was not conducting controlled trials." Bown concludes that the Royal Navy failed to understand why Cook had been successful, and "many more voyages left port with very uncertain futures".

Sir Gilbert Blane (1749-1834) obtained medical education in both Edinburgh and Glasgow. He served as personal physician to Admiral George Rodney (1719-1792) in the West Indies, sailing in 1780. Blane's social standing from a prominent Ayrshire family, as well as connections with Admiral Rodney and others in the higher ranks of society and government, eventually enabled his conclusions to be accepted by a wider scientific audience and the Admiralty, a barrier neither James Lind nor Captain Cook could breach.

Blane was familiar with work by Lind and Cook in treating scurvy and used their work in a manuscript he published and distributed to the Fleet, A Short Account of the Most Effectual Means of Preserving the Health of Seamen.

It emphasized maintenance of cleanliness, regular washing of sailors' clothes and bedding, and routine inclusion of citrus juice as well as wort of malt in seamen's diet. Blane collected statistics on the health of sailors and deaths from disease, including scurvy. He ultimately concluded that lemon and orange juice were "of the greatest efficacy" in treating scurvy. He ignored the Admiralty's direction to promote wort of malt. After an appointment to London's St. Thomas Hospital he published Observations on the Diseases Incident to Seamen (1786), further emphasizing use of citrus fruit, noting James Lind "first ascertained" this conclusion.

In 1795, Blane, now a Commissioner on the Sick and Hurt Board, persuaded the Admiralty to issue a daily ration of three quarters of an ounce of lemon juice to all Royal Navy sailors. Blane's work connected the all-important relationship between ascorbic acid in the diet with the concept that ascorbic acid will also cure scurvy.

Prevention and cure were joined.

The incidence of scurvy dramatically declined. In addition to the daily dose of ascorbic acid, lemon juice was also often added to daily rations of grog. From 1795 to 1815, the Royal Navy purchased over 1.6 million gallons of lemon juice. Bown argues that during the naval blockade of the French and Spanish fleets in the wars with Napoleon, the capability of the Royal Navy to remain on the seas constantly and prevent a Napoleonic invasion of England was due to the superior health of British sailors because scurvy was prevented or correctly treated.

The 217 pages of Bown's text are supplemented in an appendix that includes a timeline chronicling key events in combating scurvy and a table identifying the ascorbic acid content of commonly used fruits and vegetables. The book contains no footnotes but it includes a chapter-by-chapter listing of sources utilized as well as a bibliography and index. The book is suitable for the general reader or specialist. The author presents a well written, often dramatic and exciting historical perspective chronicling resolution of this medical mystery.

Reviewer: James C. Hamilton

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 44, volume 33, number 2 (2010).

I was delighted to be invited to review this book as I had just finished reading Sparrman's A Voyage round the World.¹ I had enjoyed Sparrman's style of writing, his scientific approach to various topics, and his various insights into aspects of the voyage to the Antarctic. On finishing his book I wanted to know more about the man, and this biography, albeit in the form of a novel, was eagerly anticipated.

The author, Dr. Per Wästberg, is one of Sweden's most prolific authors with 50 publications to his name ranging from novels and poetry to non-fiction. He has been editor and journalist on Sweden's main daily newspaper, and now at 77 years of age he holds the Chair of the Nobel Committee of Literature.

The title of the book does not refer to Sparrman's voyage in Resolution. The title is allegorical and refers to Sparrman's life, as he "voyaged" for 72 years from his birth in 1748, to his death and an anonymous grave in 1820.

Wästberg had no difficulty in dividing Sparrman's life into a series of chapters that chronicled each of his various expeditions; to China, South Africa, Antarctica, Cape Colony, and West Africa. The records of these adventures provided a rich resource for the author to draw on. From these chapters it can be seen why J.R. Forster held Sparrman in such high esteem that he personally invited the Swede to work for him when Resolution arrived at Cape Town during the Second Voyage.² In 1783 Sparrman published a Swedish account of his work in South Africa with only minor references to Cook. However, further volumes in 1802 and 1818 make more of his time in Resolution.

The rest of Sparrman's life is more difficult to compartmentalise and the author has used events from Sparrman's life in Stockholm to define further chapters. From them we learn that the friendship with George Forster that had been forged in Resolution, continued for over 20 years until Forster's death in 1794. We see a little of the aged Carl Linnaeus³ pottering around in his garden whilst inspiring his students to extend their studies to far flung lands. The author tells of Sparrman's appointment as curator of the natural history collection of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, and the vicissitudes that resulted from that role in subsequent years. And finally, Wästberg tells how Sparrman found love late in his life, with the final chapters covering his last 20 years with his partner Charlotta Fries. Wästberg's biography is notable for his discovery of Charlotta Fries, who acted as housekeeper to Sparrman before their relationship became more intimate.

In the book's postscript, the author explains how he became interested in Captain Cook when he was only ten years old. It was his interest in Cook that subsequently led him to Sparrman. The author has done his best to research Sparrman, but there are some parts of his life where no documentation has been found, and Wästberg has resorted to assumptions and relied on his imagination; or, as he describes the process, "I have picked up shards and fragments and joined them together with various kinds of glue."

There is a great deal of fact and some fiction packed into the book's 400 pages. My problem was in differentiating between those "shards" of fact that the author knew and those that he had imagined.

I found Wästberg's writing style to be very variable. At times he creates wonderful images with his words. But at other times I was confused over which character he was writing about. This usually arose as a result of the author writing about Sparrman in the 1st person singular in one sub-section, only to change to writing about him to the 3rd person singular in the following section. All of the book's chapters are divided into short sub-sections.

Why did the author break the chapters down into so many sub-sections, some of which were no more than a page or two in length? I found that some sequential sections showed variations in style as well as the occasional chronological discontinuity, leading me to suspect that the author had compiled his book from many separate writing sessions. I wonder whether or not these problems arose during translation?

The book would have benefitted from some illustrations to reflect Sparrman's adventurous youth.

And finally, was it really necessary for the author to include details of sexual intimacy in such a historical biography?

Despite the above criticisms, the book is a welcome addition to the story of Cook and his compatriots. It is the first biography of Anders Sparrman - I hope that it will not be the last.

Reviewer: Cliff Thornton

Notes

1. Sparrman, Anders. A voyage round the world - with Captain James Cook in HMS Resolution. Translated from the Swedish by Huldine Beamish and Averil Mackenzie-Grieve. Robert Hale. 1953. (Originally published in English by Golden Cockerel Press, 1944).
2. See Cook's Log, page 1455, vol. 20, no. 4 (1997).
3. See Cook's Log, page 31, vol. 29, no. 4 (2006).

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 39, volume 33, number 3 (2010).

George Forster's account of Cook's Second Voyage, first published in 1777, has been beautifully republished in two volumes and over 830 pages of text and appendixes. The editors' introduction covers Forster's and Cook's writings, Forster's ethnological observations, and the book's reception when it was first published in the 18th century. The text contains drawings by the author, and engravings or paintings by artists such as William Hodges, as well as maps of the voyage.

The valuable appendixes include Forster's introduction to the German edition (Reise um die Welt, 1778), extensive commentary by William Wales (astronomer on the Second Voyage) about disagreements with Forster's interpretation of events, acrimonious letters exchanged by George and Johann Reinhold Forster and Wales, a letter by George Forster to the Earl of Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty, regarding authorized publication of material, and a table summarizing names given by Forster to Pacific islands. There is also a bibliography of works cited by the editors, and an extensive index.

This book serves as a complementary account to Cook's journals of the Second Voyage, and as a study of oceanic culture and society. Forster's narrative contains a preface and is divided into three books. The first two books appear in Volume I of this version. They summarize the voyage through mid-July 1774. The third book is contained in Volume II. The editors provide a useful table providing chronology of the voyages of Resolution and Adventure, which became separated off the coast of New Zealand.

Forster's original book has been cited as an example of Enlightenment era travel books, said to be the favorite genre of contemporary German literature. It compares favorably to the Endeavour Journal of Joseph Banks's useful additional account of Cook's First Voyage.

As you might expect, Forster's account focuses far more on the scientific and ethnological aspects of the voyage than does Cook's account. Forster wrote detailed descriptions of seascape and landscape, weather and oceanic conditions, sea life, plants, animals, and especially people and societies, interactions between sailors and natives, living conditions, food, clothing, various material objects, and assessments and judgments about South Seas people and society. The editors cite Forster's observations on Pacific peoples as the most valuable aspect of the account. Cook's journals contain some of these observations, but in much less detail. Cook, the scientists, and others on his voyages would have shared their observations during the journey, and often integrated their observations as they compiled their individual journals.

Forster took great pains in his preface to point out that he was little concerned with "nautical details", or "victualling and refitting the ship", or "how often we reefed, or split a sail in a storm, how many times we tacked to weather a point". He also observed that the navigator "who has been bred on the rough element" may observe certain matters far differently from "the landman" who is the product of "different branches of science." William Wales later interpreted these words as an effort to prejudice readers against Cook's account.

Forster and Cook both wrote assessments of peoples of the Southern Oceans that today are out of fashion. For example, both authors offered observations of people of the Pacific Islands compared to those encountered at Tierra del Fuego. Cook found the Fugean native peoples (the Pecheras) who appeared mostly naked in a harsh climate, living more in bark canoes than on land, concluding they "are certainly the most wretched" among all the nations he visited: "they are doomed to live in one of the most inhospitable climates in the world, without having sagacity enough to provide themselves with such necessaries as may render life convenient."

Forster's comments parallel those of Cook's, similarly citing the stench associated with the mostly naked, forlorn appearing Fugeans: "these wretched natives of a most dreary country", in the face of inclement weather, "were yet too stupid, too indolent, or too wretchedly destitute of means to guard against it. They seemed totally insensible of the superiority of our situation, and did not once, with a single gesture, express their admiration of the ship, and its many great and remarkable objects." Forster's conclusion is that people living in warmer climates were of higher intelligence and industry than those living in more rigorous, colder, and extreme climates, an interpretation based upon geographical determinism that is unacceptable to modern scholars and readers.

On occasion, Forster's sober account employs a measure of humor. In January 1773, as the voyage approached the Antarctic Circle, Forster recalls the ship's company, after great effort, bringing on board large blocks of floating ice which eventually melted to provide weeks of fresh water supply. Forster noted some of the crew were frightened that the melting ice would expand and explode the water casks until Captain Cook demonstrated that melted water took less space than frozen ice. Forster acidly observed, "Ocular demonstration always goes farther than the clearest arguments; but reasoning never has less weight than with sailors."

Forster offers observations about the impact of European visitors on Pacific Islanders, especially "corrupting their morals", including spreading sexually transmitted disease. He finds little "real benefit" provided to the native peoples and that contact, especially that of uncouth seamen, has been "wholly disadvantageous to the nations of the South Seas", and that those who "kept aloof" from the visitors were the better for it. Forster does refer to Cook's efforts to keep infected sailors from contact with natives. He similarly abhorred New Zealand Maori offering daughters and wives to sailors for "infamous commerce" in trifles but he concludes that it was the Europeans, first the Dutch and now the English, who corrupted the natives to behave as such only after their arrival. He notes the prevalence of thievery among native peoples, especially theft of objects belonging to the European visitors.

Forster's narrative includes numerous laudatory references about Cook, "the greatest navigator of his time", with his "indefatigable pursuits after discoveries." Forster recognizes Cook's multiple experiments and achievements to safeguard and improve the health of seamen and, in particular, cites advice to Cook by surgeon James Patten regarding scurvy. He positively recounts Cook's attempts to establish friendly relationships with native peoples. Forster recounts Cook's illnesses during the voyage and efforts undertaken to restore his health, including feeding Cook boiled meat taken from his father's Tahitian dog.

Readers who wish to explore the contentious controversy between the Forsters and astronomer William Wales (as well as the Admiralty) will thoroughly enjoy the appendixes to this book. Wales is quoted citing page after page of inaccuracies in George Forster's narrative of the Second Voyage. He suggests that Johann Reinhold Forster had the "principal" hand in writing the book and, furthermore, the observations were not borne out by the facts. Wales presents a devastating description of J. R. Forster's disagreeable nature from the moment he stepped aboard Resolution. Forster's censure of the behavior of the ship's company in particular raised Wales's ire. Hostile letters flew between Wales and both Forsters over assertions that Wales allowed a chronometer to stop working in June 1773. The acrimonious exchanges included in the appendixes provide interesting, if irresolvable, commentary for readers even today.

George Forster's enjoyable narrative serves as a valuable record of the Second Voyage and a useful reference for persons interested in Captain Cook. The editors, specialists in anthropology and literature, are to be congratulated for providing useful while unobtrusive commentary on Forster's writings, and for compiling an easily readable, interesting text.

Reviewer: James C. Hamilton

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 41, volume 33, number 3 (2010).