James Cook held the rank and position of Commander of the sloop Resolution.  However, he was called Captain by everyone, as was usual for those in charge of ships.

In July 1775, Captain Cook did not write daily accounts of what was happening to his ship and men as he was expecting to be home by the end of the month.  Indeed, he wrote on only three days before they arrived at the Azores.  Johann Reinhold Forster, the naturalist in the ship, wrote only brief comments.  For example, on 1 July, Forster wrote, “The breeze fresh.  Saw many Gulphweed floating.  The Thermo­meter at 74°[Fahrenheit]”.  Gulph weed (Sargassum bacciferum) is a type of seaweed found in the Gulf Stream and elsewhere.  Two days later, “The breeze fell & we had Calms & alternating Squalls”.  Two days later, “A dead Calm & warm weather.  The Therm: at 74°[Fahrenheit]”.  On 7 July, “In the morning at 5 o'clock we had a faint breeze... Caught at 5 P.M. a Dolphin weighing 13 pounds.  In the Evening towering clouds to the West”.

On 10 July, Forster wrote, “The breeze freshen’s.  The Course NEbE.  We approach gently the Western Isles or Azores, whose Situation is looked upon as not yet well settled; we shall perhaps have an Occasion to do it by some good Astronomical Observation.  If we go ashore, I shall have an Opportunity to see the Products of the Country”. 

At the Azores

On 14 July, William Wales the astronomer wrote, “Cap^t Cook, in order to be more certain of the Situation of these Islands which is very dubious at Present, offered to stop here two or three Days, if I choose to examine the Rate of the Watch: I, accordingly got everything ready for going on Shore”.

Cook wrote, “At day-break... made sail for the Bay of Fayal [Faial] where at 8 o’Clock we Anchored in 20 fathom Water...  The Moment we had Anchored, I sent an officer accompanied by M^r Wales on shore to wait on the English Consul and to notify our arrival to the Governor and request permission for M^r Wales to make observations on shore...  They were met on the Beach by M^r Dent...who not only got leave for M^r Wales [to] land his Instruments but accomodated him with a convenient place in his garden to set them up so that he was enabled to observe equal Altitudes the same day...  We found riding in the Bay the Pourvoyeur, a large French Frigate, an American Sloop and a Portuguese Brig from the River Amazon laden with Provisions for the Cape Verde isles which she missed and was obliged to steer for this place”.

The next day, Forster wrote, “we took a walk into the Country, which we found to be highly cultivated...  The Country is full of Quails, Rabbits & wild Pigeons.  The first are heard every where.  We returned towards Noon very much fatigued...  In the Afternoon my Son took another long walk into the Country.  I stood at home & collected various Accounts of the Country & Isles”.

His son George recorded another event that took place that day.  “We paid a visit to the officers of the French frigate, who lodged at the house of Mrs Milton, and a widow.  This good lady, hearing we had been round the world, shed a flood of tears, and told us that our arrival put her in mind of the cruel death of one of her sons, who had embarked in captain Furneaux’s ship, and was one of those unfortunate men that were killed and devoured in New Zeeland”.  William Milton was born in the Azores, but joined Adventure as an able bodied seaman (AB) at Plymouth.  He was one of boat party killed at Grass Cove, Queen Charlotte Sound.

On 16 July, Forster “visited several Churches...  In the Afternoon we paid the Nuns of the S^ta Clara”.  The next day, he “took again a walk into the Country...  About 9 miles from town, there is a Valley on the top of these Hills; it is circular & has about 2 Leagues circumference & is quite excavated & very deep & at its bottom is a Lake of fresh Water”. 

The next day Cook wrote, “about Noon the French Frigate sailed for Madeira for the same purpose as she came here, viz. to take in sweet wine, she was to go next to Tenerif on the same account and then home to Rochelle”.  Forster “took leave of this Island, going to dinner on board with the Consul one Padre Francisco H. Omi, a Captain Suarez in the Land Service & a Captain of a Ship called Chaviers, & one Senhor Ignace Davilla Bethincourt”.

On 19 July, Cook wrote, “at 4 o’CIock in the Morning we left the Bay and steered for the West end of St Georges Island [São Jorge], which lies in the direction of distant about Six Leagues from the NE end of Fayal.  St Georges Island is about 9 Leagues in length in the direction of WNW and ESE, its brea[d]th is inconsiderable.  After passing the point of this Isle we steered for the Island of Tecera [Terceira], leaving Gratiosa [Graciosa] on our Larboard: this Island is about 10 Leagues in Circuit and lies in the direction of NEBE from the West end of St Georges Island, distant Eight Leagues.  At 2 O’Clock in the afternoon we were not more than one League from the West end of Tecera, having run 13 Leagues from the West end of St Georges Island.  We now edged away for the North side with a view of rangeing the Coast to the Eastern point, in order to assertain the length of the isle.  But the Weather coming on very thick and hazy and night approaching I give up the design and hauled off from the Land in the direction of NEBE½E, with a very fresh gale at sw attended with rain.  We have now seen and pretty well determined the situation of five out of the Nine Islands which compose this Archipelago”.

Cook ended this entry with the words “After leaving these Islands, I made the best of my [way] for England”.  His next entry was three days later.  “After two hours Calm... we got the wind at West, the next day it fixed at WNW and increased to a fresh [gale] with which we Steered directly for the Lizard”, the southernmost part of Cornwall.  He did not write again until they arrived ten days later.

Sailing along the English Channel

Forster continued to make brief daily entries in his journal.  For example, on 23 July, “We have a terrible Swell from the West, & the Ship rolls very disagreably”.  Two days later, “The breeze fresh; saw a Shearwater.  Had several Squalls”.  Two days later, “The same Gale stands.  See Porpesses & a small bird”. 

On 29 July, Forster wrote, “Pass in the Morning the Lizard.  Saw all the beforenoon vast Number of Ships plying to windward in order to get out of the Channel.  Had Squalls.  Saw at 4 o’clock [PM] Eddystone Lighthouse & Start Point, the first part of Englands happy Shores.  The numberless Ships & finely cultivated country we see make our hearts Glad, being a Sight from which we were weaned 3 tedious long years.  Our Hopes & Joy now get every moment new food & new Increments & we expect to morrow in the Afternoon to be at an Anchor at farthest”.

The next day, Second Lieutenant Charles Clerke wrote to Joseph Banks a letter that began, “Sunday Morn: 5 0’clock / Dear Sir”.

Clerke continued, “We’re now past Portland with a fine fresh NW Gale and a young flood Tide, so that in a very few Hours we shall anchor at Spithead from our Continent hunting expedition.  I will not now set about relating any of the particulars of our Voyage, as I hope very soon to have the Honour and happiness of paying my personal respects, when I can give you a much clearer idea of any matters you think worth inquiring after, than its possible to do at this distance”.  The letter also included the words, “Excuse the Paper, its gilts I assure you, but the Cockroaches have piss’d upon it".

That day, Cook wrote, “anchored at Spit-head.  Having been absent from England Three Years and Eighteen Days, in which time I lost but four men and one only of them by sickness”.  He wrote to the Commissioners of the Navy, “I herewith transmit to you the Monthly Muster Books of His Majesty’s Sloop Resolution under my Command & four Dead Ticketts”.

Wales “at Noon went on Shore with Capt Cook & took with me M^r Kendall’s Watch intending to Compare it with y^e Clock at y^e Royal Academy...  I compared the Watch with the Clock of the Observatory belonging to the Royal Academy at Portsmouth”.  Then Wales “brought the Watch up with me to London in a Post Chaise”.

On 31 July, Cook wrote to Philip Stephens, the Admiralty Secretary, “Please to Acquaint their Lordships with the arrival of His Majestys Sloop Resolution under my Command at Spithead on the 30th Instant where I left her to the Direction of the first Lieutenant [Robert Palliser Cooper] and in Obedience to their Lordships Instructions, have repaired to London to lay before them a full Account of my proceedings during ye Whole Voyage which you will here with receive together with charts of Lands I have either discovered or explored and such of Mr [William] Hodges’s drawings as were not Transmited to you from the Cape of Good hope but the paintings made by this Gentleman are yet on board the Sloop...  It is with pleasure that I acquaint you that my people Continued to the last and that I have only lost four Men since I left England one died of a Consumption, two were drowned and one was killd by a Fall down the Forehatchway.  The behaviour of my Officers & Crew during ye whole Course of y^e Voyage merits from me the highest recommendations and I Shall be happy if my Conduct meets with their Lordships approbation”.

According to the memoirs of John Elliott, an AB in Resolution, “The same day Captn Cook, with Messrs Forster, Wales, Hodges, and my Messmate Grindal set out for London.  The latter we now found (and not till now) had Married a very handsome young Lady, and left her, within an hour after, on our leaving England”.  Richard Grindall had joined Resolution in 1772.  He had sailed as an AB even though he had passed his lieutenant’s examination three years earlier. 

In London

On 1 August, the London Evening Post printed an “Extract of a letter from Portsmouth, July 31.  Arrived the Resolution storeship, Captain Cook, from the South Seas”.  Wales wrote in his journal, “Carried [the Watch] down to Greenwich in a Coach & delivered it to the Revd Mr Maskelyne”, the Astronomer Royal.  Daniel Solander wrote to Joseph Banks, “This moment Capt Cook is arrived.  I have not yet had an oportunity of conversing with him, as he is still in the board-room [at the Admiralty]—giving an account of himself & Co.  He looks as well as ever.  By and by, I shall be able to say a little more...  he would have wrote to you himself... if he had not been kept too long at the Admiralty and at the same time wishing to see his wife.  He rather looks better than when he left England.  Mr Hodges came up in his chaise, I saw him and his Drawings... Foster Sen^r and Jun^r are also come up, but I have not seen them, they did not call at the Admiralty.  Hodges seems to be a very well-behaved young Man...  Inclosed You will find a Letter from Ch’ Clark”.

On 3 August, at a meeting of the Admiralty it was “Resolved that the Resolution at Portsmouth be order’d up to Galleons Reach”, which lies in the River Thames.  Eight days later, Cooper wrote to Philip Stephens the Admiralty Secretary, “I beg leave to acquaint you of the arrival of His Majesty’s Sloop Resolution at Galleons, as agreeable to Orders from Vice Admiral Sir James Douglas of the 6^th Instant.  Herein I enclose the State & Condition of the said Sloop”.

On 14 August, Solander wrote to Banks, “Our Expedition down to the Resolution, made yesterday quite a feast to all who were concerned.  We set out early from the Tower [of London], reviewd some of the Transports; Visited Deptford yard; went on board the Experiment, afterwards to Wo[o]lwich... and then proceeded to the Galleon’s [Reach] where we were wellcomed in board of the Resolution—and Lord Sandwich made many of them quite happy”.  That day, the Gloucester Journal reported, “Resolu­tion... went into dock at Woolwich, and is ordered to be repaired and got ready with all expedition for another voyage, but where is not yet known”.

Promotions

On 9 August, at a meeting of the Admiralty, it was “Resolved that M^r James Cook be appointed Captain of the Kent... that M^r Joseph Gilbert be appointed Master Attendant at Sheerness Yard”. 

HMS Kent was a 3rd-rate ship of 74 guns and 550 men launched in 1762.  She was built in Deptford Dockyard under the Master Shipwright Adam Hayes, who also worked on the refitting and recommissioning of the collier Earl of Pembroke into Endeavour Bark.  Kent spent most of her life as a guardship at Plymouth.  Command of a “ship of the line” was an Admiralty prerequisite for the rank of Post-Captain, a formal rank or commission, distinct from the courtesy title of “captain” afforded to the commander of any smaller vessel.  With his new rank Cook was on the path to becoming an Admiral, presuming he lived long enough.  It is unlikely that Cook ever stepped aboard Kent.  She was paid off later that month. 

On 10 August, the General Evening Post reported “Yesterday Capt. Cook, who has lately been a voyage round the world, and made several discoveries in the South seas, was presented to his Majesty at St. James’s by Lord Sandwich, and most graciously received”.  According to The London Chronicle “the captain made his own presentation of maps and charts and that the Resolution was “to be repaired for another voyage”.

On 10 August, a meeting of the Admiralty was held.  A “Letter was read from Cap^t James Cook, offering himself as a Candidate to fill up the vacancy of a Captain in Greenwich Hospital, occasioned by the death of Cap^t Clements but requesting he may be permitted to resign it again, whenever the Call of the Country for more active Service shall require it; Resolved that he be appointed to the Vacancy, this request in the other particular be complied with...  Resolved that the Kent be paid off and laid up at Plymouth, & that the Foudroyant be fitted to serve as a Guardship at that Port, in her room”.  Foudroyant was originally a French ship captured in 1758 in the Mediterranean Sea, and refitted as a third-rate ship. 

Captain Richard Clements had been appointed a governor in 1759.  Cook was appointed to the Greenwich Hospital as Fourth Captain.  This was something of a sinecure for Cook as he received a pension and was entitled to live there.  None of the minute books of the Greenwich Hospital Council Meetings from August 1775 (when he was appointed) to February 1776 (when he was discharged) record James Cook as being present, although all of the other Captains were there for at least two of the meetings.  Therefore, it is unlikely that Cook ever took up his appointment at Greenwich, and continued to live at Mile End.

On 14 August, Solander wrote to Banks, “M^r Cooper was made Master and Commander.  M^r Clerke was promised the command of the Resolution to carry M^r Omai home; M^r Pickersgill to be his 1st Lieutenant.  3 Midshipmen were made Lieutenants viz. Smith, Burr & [blank]”. Richard Pickersgill was third lieutenant.  The midshipmen were Isaac Smith, John Davall Burr and John Whitehouse.  John Edgecomb was second lieutenant of marines.  According to the Lloyds Evening Post, “a promotion of Officers took place at the Admiralty for those Gentlemen that lately returned from circumnavigat­ing the Globe, viz. James Cooke, and Tobias Furneaux, Esq; to be Post Captains; Robert Pallisser Cooper, Esq; and Arthur Kempe, Esq; to the rank of Masters and Commanders”.

Furneaux, Commander of Adventure, was made Post-Captain of Syren, a sixth-rate ship with 40 guns, launched in 1773 at Chatham Dockyard, and being fitted out there.  Kempe, first lieutenant in Adven­ture, was promoted Commander of the sloop Wolf.  Cooper was made Commander of the sloop Hawke. 

On 21 August, Cooper wrote from Hawke at Sheerness to Philip Stephens the Admiralty Secretary, “I find by the Builders account that the Hawke will not be out of Dock in less than a Fortnight from this time, as there are but few hands employ’d on her & she seems to be in want of a considerable repair, I am therefore to beg you’ll be pleas’d to move their Lordships to grant me leave of absence from my Duty for that time.  As also that they will be pleas’d to give their directions for establishing a Rendezvous for entering Seamen to Man her, the Lieut^t Mr Burr, I have directed to attend at the Admiralty until their Lordships pleasure shall be known on that head”.  John Davall Burr had been a midshipman in Resolution.

On 26 August, the Admiralty “Resolved that M^r Cha^s Clerke be appointed Commander of the Favorite Sloop”.  Two days later, the Caledonian Mercury reported “Lieutenant Clarke is appointed to the command of the Resolu­tion, which ship is to be fitted for sea, and to proceed again to prosecute their discoveries, and make a settlement on a large island in the South Sea, and to carry back Omiah to Otaheite, which, in the last voyage, they made their general rendezvous”.  According to a letter from Solander to Banks on 22 August, “Mr Clarke, as I hear has been in a sad scrape.  Upon going out, he gave a joint Bond with his Brother, for paying Sir John Clarke’s debts.  I’ve wondered much why I had not seen M^r Clarke since the ship came up to Deptford, but I this day learnt, that he has been obliged to live among Lawyers &c till he could quiet the Creditors, which I hope he has now done, at least I was told so.  S^r John Clarke has now sent some money home from India but not enough—and now I have been told Ch Clark is to pay them 100£ immediately and part of his pay quarterly”.

John Clerke was the eldest brother of Charles Clerke, Second Lieutenant in Resolution.  John had sailed for India and the East Indies without discharging his debts of £4,000, and Charles had stood guarantor for those debts.

Other Resolution People

On 5 September, Solander wrote to Banks

Clarke is made Master & Commander in the Favourite, but is to have the Resolution.  Mr Forster overwhelms me with civilities upon your account.  He is of all men I know either the most open or the greatest fool.  He certainly has made some clever remarks during the Voyage; but he talks rather too much of them.  You cannot imagine how much the Man is mended since he came home: the officers say they hardly know the Man.  He came home thinking himself very great — now he... is reduced even in his own opinion — some days ago he desired to me to call upon him; and he then desir’d me to pick out of his insects two of each species, one for you & one for the Museum, which I did not think proper to refuse... 

Ld Sandwich has desired him to, by way of specimen, send in some sheets, contain an account of what happened in Dusky Bay, New Zealand.  If approv’d of, he is to write the account of the Voyage; and he is to have ½ the profits, and ½ to Captn Cook.  Mr Hodges is to have 250£ a year as long as he is employed by the admiralty to finish the Drawings & Paintings he has made during the Voyage.  They are very fine.  But it will take up 3 or 4 years to finish them, at least. 

Forster’s Drawings of Birds & Fish are pretty.  But his Drawings of Plants mere sketches, not one has a grain of colour laid in.

On 18 September, Cook wrote from Mile End Old Town to the Admiralty Secretary about an unofficial, anonymous publication of the voyage. 

Last Saturday Morning I examined M^r [Robert] Anderson the gunner about the Publication of my late Voyage, said to be in the press, and told him that he was Susspected of being the Author; he afirm’d that he had no knowlidge, or hand in it, and would use his Endeavours to find out the Author, and yesterday made me the Inclosed report, to day [John] Marra Called upon me and confirmed what is therein set forth, and further added that [Samuel] Bordel, my Coxswain, and [Solomon] Reardon the Boatswain mate, each kept a journal which they had offered to the Booksellers but they were so badly written that no one could read them.  I have no reason to suspect this story, but will however, call on the Printer and endeavour to get a Sight of the Manuscript, as I know most of their hand writings.  This Marra was one of the gunners Mates, the same as wanted to remain at Otahiete.  If this is the only account of the Voyage that is printing, I do not think it worth regarding; I have taken some measures to find out if there are any more and such information as I may get shall be communicated to you.

This unofficial account preceded the official one by at least 18 months.

Ian Boreham

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 27, volume 48, number 3 (2025).