To whom it may concern,
I am writing to you today to discuss why the allocation of funds for the new publicly funded statue should be put towards a statue of Captain James Cook for the work he did upon discovery and eventual mapping and exploration of New Zealand.
James Cook Born in 1728 and was an English navigator, cartographer and explorer. He joined the British merchant navy in his teenage years and later went on to join the Royal navy when he was 27.[1] During his time in the navy he rose through to the eventual rank of Captain and charge of the HMS Endeavour and eventual charting of New Zealand.
His first voyage was aboard the HMS Endeavour, a joint venture between the Royal navy and the Royal Society.[2] This voyage set out with the intention of observe the 1769 transit of Venus and to seek evidence of and find, explore and chart the unknown southern land. For this voyage Cook Had been promoted to lieutenant and given charge of the HMS Endeavour,[3] He was not promoted to the Rank of commander until shortly after his eventual return in 1771.[4] On this voyage, which had been sanctioned by King George the second, he successfully claimed some pacific islands for the British Empire, Huahine, Borabora and Raiatea, before setting course for New Zealand.
James Cook and the crew of the HMS endeavour spent nearly six months navigating and charting New Zealand, which he had been told to do in secret instructions given to him before departure, which had remained sealed until the first part of the voyage had been completed. [5] It was these instructions that he was told to proceed south until he found landmass, which had previously identified as New Zealand, and continue on to find the other continent that was rumoured to be in the area, described as the “Southern unknown” (now known as Australia). Although he had not been the first person to make landfall at New Zealand, as he had been beaten by Able Tasman who arrived nearly 130 years prior to him and the Maori who had arrived a further 600 years prior to that, he made some discoveries, in the six months he diligently navigated and mapped New Zealand that Able Tasman had not. He discovered that there was a stretch of water separating the North and South Islands. Although he made mistakes during this time, for example labelling Banks Peninsula as an Island and thinking that Stewart Island was part of the South Island, it can be said that his journey around New Zealand was expertly done before he departed to continue his voyage.
When he returned to England he was promoted to the rank of Commander, and was once again commissioned by the Royal Society to search for the ‘Unknown land of the south’ which he was unable to find during his first voyage. During this Voyage he once again circum navigated New Zealand and determined that it was not part of any larger continent. After determining this he sailed further east in search of it, where he stumbled upon Norfolk Island. It was after his return from this Voyage that he was promoted to the rank of Captain and was given an honorary retirement from the navy. During this Voyage he landed in New Zealand and traded with the Maori, this was beneficial for both parties, as they were eager to trade items, knowledge and ideals and values, much of this trade was facilitated by the pacific contact that Cook had Tupaia. [6] However, it was not always a pleasurable outcome when the two groups met, with the language and culture barrier often to leading to clashes and deaths between the two. Cooks first landing was in 1769 in what would become to be known as Poverty Bay, named Poverty back because of the lack of food and resources that were found there. After leaving this area Cook and his men left to find another place, later names Bay of Plenty because of the plentiful amount of resources.[7] In the days before this Voyage, Cooks first child, George was born. [8] After his return in 1175 he was promoted to the rank of Captain, and given an honorary retirement, something he did not want, and only took under the condition that if the opportunity to lead another voyage arose, that he have first rights to it. [9]
This opportunity arose in 1176, when Captain James Cook was 48. On this voyage he captained the HMS Resolution for the second time, Whereas the first two voyages had been to seek and claim the great southern unknown, this was about finding the northwest passage, a shipping route at the tip of the Canadian coast line, which connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, drastically lowering the time it would take to trade goods with Asia.[10] During this Voyage he once again returned to New Zealand, however only briefly before setting of for to find the passage. On this stretch of the journey he was the first European settler to discover Hawaii, as well as charting the entire American coastline up to the Bering Strait, he however found the Northern passage to be impassable through frequent attempts. [11] After these unsuccessful attempts as passing the passage he returned to Hawaii in 1779 and landed at Kealakakua Bay, where he returned a month later after another unsuccessful attempt.
It was in this bay that Captain James Cook met his untimely death, after going ashore to retrieve stolen property, some small boats stolen by the natives of the island, he was struck on the head as he turned to leave the island then repeatedly stabbed to death as he lay in the surf.[12] His body was held in high regard by the natives, who had believed him to be an incarnation of their god Juno. [1][1] His body underwent the funeral rituals that were present in the Hawaiian culture at the time. He was aged 50 at the time of his death.
It is because of these aforementioned achievements that I propose the public funds be directed towards a monument to Captain James Cook, located overlooking Cook’s Strait on the hills of Wellington New Zealand. This is an honour that would be bestowed onto a great man who did so much for New Zealand in the time he spent Charting and exploring it.
Yours Sincerely
Jack Daniel Adams.
[1] Vanessa Collingridge, Captain Cook: The Life and Death of Historys Greatest Explorer, London: Ebury, 2002.
[2] James Cook, Journal of the HMS Endeavour, 1768-1771; Available from http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms1, Accessed 6th August 2011.
[3] Nigel Rigby & Pieter Van Der. Merwe, Captain Cook in the Pacific, London: National Maritime museum, 2002, pp.30.
[4] Richard Hough, Captain James Cook, London: Auckland [N.Z]: Hodder & Stoughton, 1994, pp.217.
[5] Ed Hawke, Piercy Brett, C. Spencer, Secret Instructions to Captain Cook, 1768, Available from http://foundingdocs.gov.au/resources/transcripts/nsw1_doc_1768.pdf, Accessed 6th August 2011.
[6] Merate Kawharu, Cook, Tupaia and Maori, 2011, Available from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/cook_tupaia_maori_01.shtml, Accessed on 7th August 2011.
[7] Robert Fisher, Hugh James, Morton Johnstone, Captain James Cook and His Times, Vancouver: Taylor & Francis, 1979.
[8] Steve Amezdroz, Cook “Obsession and Discovery”, New Zealand, 2007.
[9] John C. Beaglehole, The Life of Captain James Cook, London: A. and C. Black, 1974, pp.444
[10] Frederick William Beechy, Narrative of a voyage to the Pacific and Beering's Strait: to co-operate with the Polar expeditions : performed in His Majesty's Ship Blossom, under the command of Captain F.W. Beechey, R.N. ... in the years 1825,26,27,28, 1832, Philadelphia: Carey & Lea.
[11] Gananath Obeyseskere, The Apotheosis of Captain Cook: European Mythmaking in the pacific, Princeton University Press, 1997.
[12] J. C. Beaglehole, The Death of Captain James Cook, Wellington: New Zealand Electronic Text Centre, 2007, p.290.
