TasNat 1927 Vol2 No3 Pp4-9 CrowtherPChairmansAddress

7/28/2019 TasNat 1927 Vol2 No3 Pp4-9 CrowtherPChairmansAddress

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4 THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.

New Aspects of the Third Voyage ofCaptain Cook, 1776-1780.

By w. L. Crowther, D.S.O., M.B.CHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS, 1926 -27.

Introduction.

The historian in Australia turns in his researches to twoinstitutions: the Mitchell Library, of Sydney, and the AlexanderTurnbull Library, of Wellington, N.Z. The latter has recentlyissued in its Bulletin No. 2 a reprint of Zimmermann ' s thirdvoyage of Captain Cook, 1776-1780.

This voyage, the principal object of which was to discovera passage back to Europe extending either in an easterly ocwesterly direction from Behrings S b -aits, had as its outstandin!;event the death of Captain Cook.

Zimmermann, the author of the book under consideration.was a German, who signed as


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THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST. 5

see from i t how Captain Cook appeared from day to day on thelo ng monotonous voyage, to the men whom he commanded.

We know how sickness of his ships was reduced to a minim um, and scurvy (the greatest menace) unknown- th i s -bookwill tell of the measures he took to improve the diety andh ygiene of his ships' companies.

I have in this short paper selected certain passages fOl:r eproduction, and as i t is intended for Tasmanians commenceswith the account of the visit of the "Discovery" to AdventureB ay.

"On 26th January, 1777, we arrived at the southernmostp art of New Holland, the so-called Van Diemen's Land;* andcast anchor in a convenient harbour at about 42 t degrees southl ati tude and 150 east longitude.

"As there were several good springs here and a plentifulsu pply of wood, preparations were made to provision the shipswith both.

"Very soon seven of the native inhabitants appeared in theshore and began to play with the bungs which were lying onthe water-barrels; then they turned the barrels over and rolledthem to and fro, without, however, disturbing us in our work inth e least.

"From the bush where we were collecting our supplies wecould hear the laughter and the cries of joy; we ran in alarm toth e boats, in which we had left our guns, and the sub-lieutenant,Mr. Hume, a Scotchman, fired off a gun over the heads of then atives. The lat ter, who had shown no fear when we came outof the hush, and who quietly continued their games, upon hearing the shot, set up a pitiful cry, struck their heads with thep alms of their hands, and hurried away into the forest.

"Captain Cook was very angry at this careless act, because,in spite ' of every effort, he had been unahle, on his formervoyages, to get in'to friendly terms with the natives on the wholeof the coast of New Holland, nor had he observed any inhabita nts on this coast of Van Diemen's Land with which we are nowconcerned.

"The same day, Cook, with some of the men, went a good dist ance inland, and was fortunate enough to bring about 9 of th en atives back with him. He made them presents of mirrors, whit es h i r t ~ ,bead necklaces, and some medals of His Majesty King

G eorge I l l . of Great Britain, and this produced such a good

*''T h e so called Van Diemen's Land ." Cook took this to be a peninsula.wh ic h is wh y Zimmenua n n call s it th e southernmost part of NewHolland (Austra li a) .


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THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST. 7

but worked his way up until he became one of "the most famou:;navigators. He was exceedingly strict, and so hasty temperedthat the least contradiction on the part of an officer or sailormade him very angry. He was inexorable regarding the ships'regulation s and the punishments connected with th e m - s o muchso, ind eed, that if, when we were amongst the natives, anythingwas ftolen from us by them th e man on watch at the t ime wasseverely punished for hi s negle ct .

"Probably no sea-officer has ever had such an extensivecommand over the officers se rving under h im as Captain Cook.No officer ever presumed to contradict him. When at table with

his officers he frequently sat without saying a word. He was, infact, very reserved. In small matters the common sailors weremore severely disciplined than the officers, but at times he war;exceedingly affable to the crew.

"H e n ever mentioned religion, and would have no priest.,on his ships; and, although he seldom celebratf 'd the Sabbath,he was a ju st and upright man in all his dealings. He nevcrswore, not even when in a rage.

"H c was scrupulously clean, and the example which he se.in this direction had to be followed by every man on board. I twas a regulation that every member of the crew should put oncleau clothes every Sunday.

"Modf'ration was one of his chief virtues. Throughout theen t ire voyage no one ever Raw him drunk. I t was never perm ittC'd to the sailors to save up their brand" for several days an.1th en get drunk. and if i t happened at any t ime that a man w a ~

too :11 unk to carry out his duties he was severely punished ."H e ate very spar ingly-much more so than any other sea

o ffi cer. His food consisted mainly of pickled cabbage, with ap Iece of salt meat, and a few peas. He rarely had more than two,or at most three, dishes.

"'On Saturdays he was usually more affable than at othel'ti mes, and on that day he frequently drank an extra glass ofpun "h, pledging a toast to all beautiful women.

":Fearlessness was his most outstanding characteristic. Onth e unknown coast of America the ships ran on foggy nightsun der full sail, and the Captain slept peacefully the while. But,On the other hand, when no one else had a suspicion of dangerh e often came up on deck and changed the course of the shipb ecause land was near. This was so pronounced that every oneb el ieved he had some secret source of foreknowing and avoidingda nger. At least I can say with certainty that such occasion"Were frequent when he alone was sensible of the existence ofl and; and he was always right.


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8 THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.

"One of his regulations which was particularly praiseworth ywas the organisation of the ship's police, especially in respect t o

the health of the crew. Being of the opinion that idleness iathe greatest enemy to health, he was a t pains to provide the m enwith constant employment, and when there was nothi n gparticular to be done he had something pulled down and fix edup again, or sea -manoeuvres were carried out, so that the cr ew swere kept occupied. All jobs had to be done before they wer eactually needed, and each branch of the ship's trades had t okeep a good supply of tools on hand. I t is to this continu al

occupation, combined with moderate living, that I ascribe t h efact that the health of the crews was excellent througho ut .Every week the whole ship was thoroughly washed, an Jfumigated with powder, and daily, unless the weather w asstormy, the hammocks had to be brought up on deck; they w er eonly taken below at sunset. Captain Cook continually warn e dus against the excessive eating of meat, and was always willing t oprovide us with flour for the preparation of other dishes inste a dof meat. Three times a week pickled cabbage formed part ofour ration s ; of this the English became very fond after weGermans had taught them how to prepare it. Twice a week W~had soup made from meat stock, to which peas were added.

"Whenever we landed on an island a party was at once sen tout to gather green stuff, and this was cooked in our soup ; i f ,however, there was no vegetation on the i ,sland, then the n et swere thrown out so that we might have a fresh supply of fi sh ,

and the amount of meat in our rations be reduced. But if i twere possibl e to buy fresh food, this was his first care. Owing t othese wise precautions, not a single member of the crew ev ersuffered from scrofula.

"Whenever any member of the crew took ill one of his CO l l lna nions was told off as his sick-nurse, and Captain Cook k ep thimself well informed as to the sick man's progress; he sent adoctor to attend to him, and in every way took upon himself t h eduties of a father. I f fresh food was available, i t was set asid efor the patient, and every day he was given some of the afor ementioned meat-stock soup, and also wine and tea, whi chCaptain Cook kept by him for this special purpose. We h a dwith us excellent doctors and surgeons; as a proof of their sk ill .I may mention that they cured a broken arm and a broken l e ;!in eight we eks, and that the two men who were the sufferer s -W oodfield and Wacker-were completely restored: this was a

remarkable feat for a surgeon at sea ."The universal consternation caused by the death of ou r

Commodore is the highest praise which could possibly have be engiven him. Everyone on the ships was silent and depressed ;


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TRE TASMANIAN NATURALIST. 9

we all felt tha t we had lo st a father, and i t will readily be seenfrom th i s narrative that after Cook's death the spirit of dis-covery, the decision, and the indomitable courage, were gone."

Conclusion.

Much Qf the greatest interest has had to be Qmitted, bu t thevalue of the work has been shown. I t and "The V Qyage Qf theEnd eavQur," by PrQfessQr G. ArnQld WQQd, should be meat anddrink for every normal Australian child. I t WQuid be very diffi-cult to. Qverrate their interest and attractiQn. Surely such bQQksmight be included in the curriculum Qf Qur schQQls?

I must acknQwledge my g r a t i ~ u d eto. Professor Ernest SCQttfQr my first intimatiQn as to. the wQrk frQm which I have qUQted.My remarks follQW the lines Qf an article Qf his published somemQnths ago. in the MelbQurne "Argus ."

Outlines of Tasmanian Geology(CQntinued)

SECTION 23.

ORE DEPOSITS.

This chapter may be well cQncluded with a few remarks Qnthe mQre valuable Qf Qur rQck types. I t must, hQwever, alwaysbe bQrne in mind tha t there is nQthing unusual in an Qre depQsitQr occurrence Qf coal Qr Qther eCQnomically valuable rQck.Th ey are Qnly types Qf rQck which have SQme particular valueQf themselves Qr from the uses to. which they may be put, andbQth in structure and mode Qf Qccurrence, and also. in Qriginthe y cQnfQrm to. the same general principles as do. any Qthertypes Qf rocks.

Mining is chiefly a questiQn of CQsts and different types Qfrock have to. possess a certain standard Qf puri ty to. make i t payto. mine them. Many Qther cQnsideratiQns also. affect thequestion. But these prQblems do. nQt cQnfrQnt the geologist.He cQnsiders an Qre deposit sQlely from the questiQn Qf cQntent,origin and nature and leaves the questiQn Qf CQsts to. the miner.Thu s. to. a geolQgist a lQde Qf pure Qre is in the same categQry as

one with the sma lle st trace Qf Qre, prQvided the mQde Qf Qriginis the same. There ex ix sts every PQssible variatiQn and mQstfrequ ent ly there is no. ore in the fQrmatiQn at all. This makesno. difference to. the geQlogical classificatiQn Qf types Qf depositand the enunciating Qf general rules applicable to allQccurrences.

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TasNat 1927 Vol2 No3 Pp4-9 CrowtherPChairmansAddress