Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone BeforeIn an exhilarating tale of historic adventure, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Confederates in the Attic retraces the voyages of Captain James Cook, the Yorkshire farm boy who drew the map of the modern world Captain James Cook's three epic journeys in the 18th century were the last great voyages of discovery. His ships sailed 150,000 miles, from the Artic to the Antarctic, from Tasmania to Oregon, from Easter Island to Siberia. When Cook set off for the Pacific in 1768, a third of the globe remained blank. By the time he died in Hawaii in 1779, the map of the world was substantially complete. Tony Horwitz vividly recounts Cook's voyages and the exotic scenes the captain encountered: tropical orgies, taboo rituals, cannibal feasts, human sacrifice. He also relives Cook's adventures by following in the captain's wake to places such as Tahiti, Savage Island, and the Great Barrier Reef to discover Cook's embattled legacy in the present day. Signing on as a working crewman aboard a replica of Cook's vessel, Horwitz experiences the thrill and terror of sailing a tall ship. He also explores Cook the man: an impoverished farmboy who broke through the barriers of his class and time to become the greatest navigator in British history. By turns harrowing and hilarious, insightful and entertaining, BLUE LATITUDES brings to life a man whose voyages helped create the 'global village' we know today. |
Contents
The Distance Traveled | 1 |
One Week Before the Mast | 9 |
Sic Transit Venus | 42 |
Sold a Pup | 77 |
Warriors Still | 101 |
In the Pure State of Nature | 140 |
Wrecked | 165 |
The Hospital Ship | 199 |
Shipping Out Again | 315 |
Outside Men | 333 |
The Last Island | 375 |
A Bad Day on Black Rock | 405 |
A Period to His Labours | 434 |
NOTES ON SOURCES | 445 |
| 453 | |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 461 |
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Common terms and phrases
aboard Aborigines Aleuts arrived ashore asked Australia Banks wrote Banks's beach Beaglehole beer Bering Sea beside boat Bora-Bora Botany Bay called canoes Captain Cook century Charles Clerke church Cliff coast coconut Cook wrote Cook's day Cook's death Cooktown crew crewmen crowd deck drink Endeavour English European explorers eyes felt fish French Guugu Yimidhirr hand harbor Hawaii Hawaiians head island James Cook Joseph Banks journals Kealakekua Bay king Kurnell land later learned lived London looked Maori marines miles missionaries monument museum named natives navigator night Niue Niueans North Island Nuku'alofa Pacific Pakeha Polynesian reached reef returned Rick road Roger Russian sailed sailors Samwell seemed Sheila ship ship's shore South stood Sydney Tahiti Tahitian third voyage told Tonga took turned Unalaska warriors watch week Whitby wind woman women words young Zealand