For a long time, people have speculated that there is an unknown continent there, but it is not until his arrival that the mystery of this continent is unveiled, and the world map is clear.
It was February 6, 1775, and they were sailing alone on the South Atlantic. When Captain James Cook decided to turn the course, he inadvertently revealed a secret that had been sleeping for 2,000 years. His trip was to search for the fabled "unknown southern continent"—a continent said to be the size of Europe and Asia combined, spanning the entire southern hemisphere. He arrives at the end of the world, only to find that the reality is more bizarre than anyone had guessed.
Around 150 AD, the ancient Greek scholar Ptolemy drew a map marked in Latin for "unknown southern continent." The word "Australia" is derived from this Latin consonant. The Spanish navigator Juan once said to King Philip II of Spain: According to biblical doctrine and philosophical reasoning, according to the proportion of the oceans and continents in the northern hemisphere, the southern hemisphere will also behave in a relatively symmetrical form, and there will be a continent. He strongly demanded that the king provide him with ships to explore. In 1769, an Englishman put it even more bizarrely, saying that the "unknown southern continent" was larger than Asia and home to 50 million people. There are similar legends in Asia.
Beginning in the second half of the 16th century, Europeans made several voyages to the Pacific in search of this land. In 1642, the Dutch Tasman discovered what is now Tasmania and the northern shore of mainland Australia. Later, the British went to the west coast of the continent. But they didn't know that as long as they sailed south, they could reach the imaginary "southern continent". The mission was thus left to James Cook, one of the preeminent navigators and explorers of British history.
Captain Cook set out to explore the voyage
Cook was born in 1728 to a peasant family in Yorkshire. As a result of his poverty, his childhood education was very limited. He grew up familiar with life at sea, apprenticed to the famous Walker Ship Company at the age of 18, joined the Navy, and was promoted to captain at the age of 30. In his spare time, he studied mathematics and astronomy tirelessly, laying a good foundation for future voyages.
In 1768, Cook was commissioned as a conductor to escort several Scientists of the Royal Society to Tahiti in the Pacific Ocean to observe The rotation of Venus around the Sun. After the mission was successfully completed, the research ship headed for the South Pacific ocean and headed for the two major islands that had been discovered by Tasman and marked only by thick lines on the map. Upon reaching the Pacific Ocean, make landfall in New Zealand, a place that no one has been to since Tasman. Cook spent 6 months sailing around the two islands, studying their topographical features and drawing detailed maps.
The ship then sailed west, reaching the southeast coast of Australia on 25 April 1770, where the coastal reefs were so dense that they were in danger of capsizing. Cook boarded this piece of Europe
Continents that the continents have never been to, named this area New South Wales. The great British biologist Joseph Banks, who was with him, asked him to name the place Plant Bay, and Cook agreed.
From April to August 1770 the ship continued north along the coast, cook surveyed the eastern coast of about 3200 kilometers in length, drew a complete map, and the ship successfully sailed through queensland's Great Barrier Reef. Crossing the Coral Sea and crossing the Torres Strait between Australia and the islands of New Guinea, confirming that the two island wells are not connected. On the first voyage alone, adding so many places to the map is an unprecedented adventure.
The major discoveries on this voyage were universally recognized. Upon his return, Cook was received by the King and promoted to lieutenant colonel. From 1772 to 1775 he conducted the second exploration voyage with the Firm. During these 3 years, he always picked the summer season, sailing from the southernmost tip of the Pacific Ocean to the huge iceberg zone. The vessel made three cruises to the South Pole sea, crossing 70 south latitudes, completing the first circumnavigation of the globe from west to east, discovering the islands of New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean and the South Sandwich Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. As a result of his expedition, he broke the legend that "the southern continent is inhabited by highly civilized human beings and is the paradise of the world" that was prevalent in Europe at that time. However, Australia was discovered and became a British colony, and rich natural resources were constantly being shipped to Britain.
Upon his return, Cook was promoted to captain and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. At that time, the crew of the voyage often died of scurvy, and Cook advocated improving the diet and increasing the intake of vitamin C, so that his crew could be saved from the scabies. His paper on the prevention of scurvy was awarded the Copley Gold Medal.
Captain Cook Route Map
Cook's last expedition began in July 1776 to explore whether there was a northwestern or northeastern shipping lane between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
On this voyage, Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands and many other small islands in the North Pacific and recorded the customs and habits of the various peoples he saw along the way vividly and interestingly in his sailing diary. He continued to sail to Alaska, into the Bering Sea, and came to the conclusion that the probability of going from the Bering Strait to the Atlantic Ocean was close to zero.
Encountering an impenetrable ice zone, the ship was forced to turn back and prepare to penetrate deeper into the Bering Strait the following summer. Pass through the Hawaiian Islands on the way, where you will make a stopover. On February 14, 1779, during a clash between the local population and the crew, Captain Cook unfortunately died at the hands of the indigenous people.
Cook's exploration voyage proved that Australia is not part of the continent that extends to Antarctica. Captain Cook has been so accomplished in exploring new lands, navigating, mapping charts, and navigating hygiene, and he has mapped and changed more maps of the world than anyone in history. His nautical diaries became a favorite reading of adventure stories and were translated into many languages.
Captain Cook Monument
In 1874, a Memorial to Captain Cook was erected at the site of Cook's murder.
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