Journal of Captain Cook's Last Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, on Discovery: Performed in the Years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, and 1780 (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781108071819)

John Rickman, second lieutenant on one of the two ships commanded by James Cook on his last expedition, wrote this journal during the voyage. It was first published anonymously in 1781, because the Admiralty embargoed all personal accounts until an official report of the voyage was released. Rickman apparently wanted to anticipate any attempt to blame him (a party under his command had killed a Hawaiian chief) for precipitating Cook's death. This revised edition, 'compared with, and corrected from, the voyage published by authority' was published - again anonymously - in 1785. After an editorial preface and an introductory account of earlier voyages to the South Seas, the journal itself offers a detailed first-hand narrative of the four-year voyage, including the deaths of Cook and of Captain Clerke, who took over command of the expedition but died of tuberculosis while searching for the western entrance to the North-West Passage.

Author: John Rickman
ISBN-10: 1108071813
ISBN-13: 9781108071819
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 08/21/2014
Pages: 468
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.50w x 1.04d