Abstract
IT is not an infrequent practice nowadays to supply details respecting the centenaries and bicentenaries of famous men oftentimes considerably in advance of the precise dates when these events fall. This has happened with regard to Capt. James Cook, the two-hundredth anniversary of whose birth at Marton, Yorkshire, is on Oct. 27. A brief account of Capt. Cook's life and explorations appeared in our issue of Sept. 29, p. 484; the following references to his association with the Royal Society will be a fitting and timely supplement to that article. Of Cook's first voyage in the Endeavour (1768–71), Capt. Wharton, F.R.S.—remembered by those of an older generation as Hydrographer to the Admiralty—said that “it was to the English nation the most memorable voyage of discovery that has ever taken place”; and, on thinking over these significant words, we cannot in justice fail to link Cook's continuity of effort and outlook with the fortunate association during the voyage of Joseph Banks, F.R.S., and Dr. Solander.
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