Cold Open

It’s November 13th, 1755, in the Atlantic Ocean.    

27-year-old British sailor James Cook grips the rail to keep his balance as HMS Eagle skims through the waves in pursuit of a French warship.

For the past year, Britain has been at war with France. It’s not unusual for these two powers to be in conflict, but this time, the fighting isn’t just taking place in Europe. The theater of war has expanded to British and French colonies in North America. And over the last few weeks, HMS Eagle has been part of a British fleet patrolling the Atlantic Ocean—and now, the ships have sighted the French warship Esperance nearing the end of a transatlantic crossing.

The nearest British ships to the Esperance open fire, but the Eagle is still too far away to use its cannons. So, at a signal from his captain, Cook turns to a sailor and tells him to unfurl another sail in an attempt to close the gap. As master’s mate, Cook is one of the officers on board the Eagle, and it’s his job to relay the captain’s orders to the crew.

Soon Cook feels the ship accelerate as the extra sail catches wind.

But by the time the Eagle comes alongside the Esperance, flames are already consuming the French warship’s hull. The other British ships have crippled the enemy vessel.

So, Cook watches as French sailors abandon ship, jumping off the side and into the water. Without waiting for his captain’s orders, Cook hurriedly tells the sailors manning the wheel to steer away. There’s no greater danger on the high seas than a warship on fire— and if the Esperance’s gunpowder store explodes, it might take the Eagle down with it.

A few minutes later, the Esperance sinks beneath the waves. It’s the second victory in as many months for HMS Eagle and the British fleet, and soon, several of its officers will be rewarded with promotions. Among them will be master’s mate James Cook. It’s the next step in what will become an illustrious career in the Royal Navy, one that will culminate with Cook leading a voyage of discovery to the other side of the world and raising the British flag over an entire continent on August 22nd, 1770.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is August 22nd, 1770: Captain Cook Claims Australia.

Act One

It’s near midnight on July 23rd, 1758, in the Gulf of St Lawrence, off the coast of Canada, two years after the sinking of the French warship Esperance.

James Cook calls to his fellow crew members on night duty and points into the dark distance. Cook is now a 29-year-old master on board HMS Pembroke. And ahead, he can see the Fortress of Louisburg illuminated by orange, flickering lights. That can mean only one thing—the French citadel is on fire.

During the two years that have passed since his first victories with the Royal Navy, Cook has continued to rise through the ranks. He’s had his first taste of command with smaller vessels and passed exams that entitle him to greater responsibility aboard bigger ships. Cook’s latest posting has sent him here to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. And for the last month, HMS Pembroke has been part of a fleet besieging the Fortress of Louisburg, a key stronghold that guards the entrance to the St. Lawrence River. Now, a lucky shot from a British gun has sparked a blaze in the French fortress.

Cook lifts a telescope to his eye to get a closer look, and all through the night, Cook watches tiny figures silhouetted against the inferno as the French garrison frantically fights the blaze. By morning though, the fortress is a smoking wreck, and a few days later, its commander surrenders to the British. The ships of the Royal Navy are now free to sail into the St. Lawrence River.

But the British don’t rush in. Since this is French land, the British don’t have accurate charts of the region. So, to minimize the risk of losing valuable warships to unknown obstacles or shallow waters, Cook is assigned the task of mapping the River. Although he must often work under cover of darkness to avoid French attack, he soon displays a talent for surveying and cartography. Cook takes accurate soundings and plots a safe course along the waterway. And thanks to his charts, British ships are soon able to navigate the length of the St. Lawrence River, allowing British forces to carry out a surprise attack on the French city of Quebec.

This capture of Quebec ends the fighting between Britain and France in North America. But Cook’s newfound surveying skills mean he’s still in demand. His next orders are to map the jagged coastlines of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. And for almost a decade, Cook undertakes several voyages that painstakingly pick their way north, taking precise recordings and drawing up new charts. And it’s not just the coastline that captures Cook’s attention. In August 1766, he pauses his mapmaking for a few days to carry out a different form of observation. Cook knows that a solar eclipse is due, so he drops anchor off an uninhabited island. The fog that has lingered for days clears just in time for Cook to witness the eclipse, and he records this spectacular event in as much detail as possible.

His notes are passed on to Britain’s top scientists who are impressed with his work. So, when Cook returns to London in late 1767, the British Admiralty soon gives a new job to their top surveyor James Cook. They want a ship to sail to the Pacific Ocean ahead of a rare astronomical event: the planet Venus transitioning across the Sun. Among the passengers on the ship will be two astronomers to take measurements of the once-in-a-century occasion. And the more recordings they take, the more accurately they'll believe they’ll be able to work out Earth’s distance from the Sun.

Cook is the obvious candidate to lead the Pacific expedition. So, he’s promoted to Lieutenant and given command of HMS Endeavour. On August 26th, 1768, Cook sets sail with almost 100 crew, astronomers and other scientists on board. Eight months later, the Endeavour drops anchor at Tahiti, one of the few islands in the Pacific with an accurately plotted longitude and latitude. Cook has arrived well in advance of the transit of Venus, and his crew spends the next two months building an observatory. Cook keeps his fingers crossed for good weather—and on the day of the transit, they’re blessed with clear skies.

After the observatory is dismantled and all the equipment packed away, the Endeavour is soon ready for the high seas again. The ship is more than 9,000 miles from home—but before it returns to England, it will journey even further. Over the next two years, Lieutenant Cook will guide the Endeavour off the edge of the map and go places that no British person has ever gone before.

Act Two

It’s June 1769, off Tahiti, a few days after 40-year-old Lieutenant James Cook charted the transit of Venus.

Aboard HMS Endeavour, Cook closes the door of his cabin, takes a seat at his desk, and pulls an envelope from a drawer. He’s had it safely stashed since leaving Britain ten months ago because it contains secret, sealed orders from the Admiralty. Cook was told not to open them until after the transit of Venus. So now, it’s the time.

Cook breaks the seal, and his eyebrows rise as he reads the next stage of his mission. He’s to sail south and explore uncharted regions of the Pacific Ocean in search of Terra Australis.

For more than 200 years, European geographers have predicted the existence of an enormous southern continent. But they don’t know exactly where it’s located, they think Terra Australis must exist to balance out the other, known landmasses in the northern and southern hemispheres. Some people think that the fabled southern continent will be a land rich with natural resources. Others expect that it’ll be home to five million inhabitants. Whatever the case, Lieutenant Cook’s orders are to find Terra Australis and claim it for Britain before any rival powers get there first.

So, for the next three months, the Endeavour sails south. After reaching 40 degrees latitude without finding land, Cook turns the ship to the west—and after another month at sea, he excitedly spots the first signs of land: floating seaweed and soaring seabirds.

The Endeavour’s crew are jubilant when they make landfall in what is now known as New Zealand. But their excitement soon turns to disappointment. They quickly clash with the indigenous Maoris and kill at least eight of them in violent skirmishes. Then, the Endeavour circumnavigates New Zealand, revealing that the islands aren’t part of a larger continent. Cook concludes with frustration that this isn’t Terra Australis after all, but the same islands that Dutch explorer Abel Tasman discovered more than a century ago.

So, Cook sails the Endeavour further west, but he is growing pessimistic of his chances of finding Terra Australis. But it doesn’t take him long to sight land again though. This time, Cook has found what he's looking for. This is a coastline that no European has explored before. The landscape reminds Cook of the Bristol Channel that separates England from South Wales, so he names his discovery “New South Wales.” After a few days mapping the coast, Cook soon concludes that this new land is much larger than New Zealand—but like New Zealand, it also has its own inhabitants.

When the Endeavour drops anchor in a bay, Cook can see people on the beach. Still, he decides to go ashore and he takes his weapons with him. Most of the Aboriginal people flee at the sight of the landing boat rowed toward the beach, but two remain, defiantly standing their ground. Cook fires a warning shot over their heads, but they respond with a barrage of stones and darts. Only when one of the Aboriginal men is clipped by a shot from Cook’s musket do they retreat into the forest beyond the beach. Cook then claims the honor of being the first European to step ashore.

Exploring the surroundings for supplies, Cook and his crew find an astonishing variety of plants and wildlife. It leads Cook to dub the area “Botany Bay”. And from there, Cook continues exploring north.

After their next stop, though, the Endeavour runs aground on the Great Barrier Reef. The crew rushes up and down the deck, tossing anything made of iron or stone overboard to lighten the load. But when that makes no difference, Cook orders that the ship’s cannons must go into the sea too. Only then does the Endeavour refloat.

But the ship is in bad shape. The reef has left a gouge in the hull, and Cook knows there’s no way the Endeavour will survive on the open sea. If his expedition is going to make it any further, Cook has no choice but to head for land where they can try to repair their ship. So, Cook guides the Endeavour to the safe refuge of a river mouth. And while his crew makes repairs, the scientists on board explore their surroundings, and Cook himself gets his first glimpse of a strange creature that outpaces the ship’s greyhounds with long leaping bounds.

But the kangaroo is just one of the wonders they discover in this land. The weeks pass quickly, and when the gash in the Endeavour’s hull is sealed, Cook’s expedition resumes. Soon, though, the coastline he’s been following will run out—and Cook will step foot on New South Wales one last time, for a ceremony that will ensure that the land he’s discovered will become part of the British Empire.

Act Three

It’s August 22nd, 1770, on an island off northern Australia, two months after the Endeavour was grounded on the Great Barrier Reef.

Lieutenant James Cook steps ashore and makes his way onto a grassy mound at the top of the beach. The handful of sailors who’ve joined him on the island stand to attention as Cook unfurls a British flag.

Since the Endeavour’s hull was repaired, the ship has made its way up the east coast of the land Cook has dubbed “New South Wales.” Cook's made contact with more Aboriginal villagers, spotted a crocodile, and had his first taste of kangaroo meat. Now, the Endeavour has reached the northernmost tip of Australia, and Cook has decided it’s time to head home. But before he goes, he wants to officially claim the coast he’s spent the last four months mapping and exploring.

Cook attaches the British flag to a pole that’s been dug into the grassy soil. He says a few words, claiming the island and its surroundings on behalf of King George III. The ceremony is short, but before he leaves, Cook gives the island he’s standing on a new and apt name: Possession Island.

Then Cook and his crew return to the Endeavour, haul anchor, and begin their long journey home. Eleven long months later, Cook lands in Britain and reports on the success of his expedition.

The land that Cook discovered will soon be considered part of the British Empire. Thanks to Cook’s precise directions, ships filled with settlers will sail from Britain to the other side of the world, and Cook's maps will lay the groundwork for further exploration of Australia. The charts that he created of the Great Barrier Reef will be so accurate they’ll be used well into the 20th century. But British colonial expansion in Australia will come at a steep cost to the communities who already lived there. The Aboriginal inhabitants will face violence and assaults on their culture as the British newcomers seize more and more of their land.

Cook himself will play no further part in the colonization of Australia though. Instead, he’ll be dispatched on another voyage to the Pacific, where he’ll journey south almost as far as Antarctica. But a third expedition will be one too far, as Cook will be killed in a skirmish with Hawaiians in 1779. When news of his death reaches Britain, Cook will be mourned as a national hero and a pioneer of a new age of exploration—a reputation first sealed when he claimed the coast of Australia for the British crown on August 22nd, 1770.

Outro

Next on History Daily. August 23rd, 1944. A coup in Romania sees the country change sides in World War Two.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Matthew Filler.

Music by Thrumm.

This episode is written and researched by Scott Reeves.

Edited by Dorian Merina.

Managing producer, Emily Burke.

Executive Producers are William Simpson for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.