| Pacific Voyages |  |
Cook's third voyage continued his exploration of the Pacific and interactions with the indigenous peoples of that region.
In February 1777, Cook arrived at Ship Cove in Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand. Local Māori were initially wary of Cook's return. Cook's previous visit in 1773 had been marred by an incident when a boat full of people from the Adventure under Captain Furneaux were taken and killed at Cape Cove. Despite this difficult past, Cook and his companions stayed for nearly two weeks, living and working with the local natives who had taken up temporary residence in the vicinity in order to trade.
"The advantages we received from the natives coming to live with us was not inconsiderable. For, everyday, when the weather would permit, some of them went out to catch fish; and we generally got, by exchanges, a good share of the produce of their labours" (Cook, 1842, Vol II, pg 49).
After this relatively successful sojourn in New Zealand the explorers set off for the rest of the Pacific, visiting some of the Cook Islands (including Mangaia and Atiu) in March and April; the Tongan Islands in July; and Tahiti from August to December 1777. Cook was particularly intrigued by the cultural similarities and differences, he found between Māori and other Pacific peoples, most notably the Tahitians:
"They salute strangers much after the manner of the New Zealander's, by joining noses; adding however the additional ceremony of taking the hand of the person to whom they are paying civilities, and rubbing it with a degree of force upon their nose and mouth" (The Voyages of James Cook Around the World, Vol II, p. 69).
Cook's impressions of the Pacific, as well as those of the other expedition commanders, were recorded in 'A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, undertaken, by the command of His Majesty, for making discoveries in His Majesty's ships the Resolution and the Discovery in the years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, and 1780'. Several editions of all three volumes of this publication are available for viewing in the Macmillan Brown Library.
View a timeline of Cook's Voyage on the Resolution.
